Duck: fat, internal temp, and smoke v grill

[joemfbrown]

Hi!

I'm trying an experiment: For the month of August, I'm only eating poultry protein. It is day 2. I miss steak. So... yeah, it's time to make some duck.

I've been reading a lot of threads about duck, and some things stand out that I'd love to get your weigh-in on:

1. There's a ton of [yummy] fat that will likely end up all over the inside of my [Weber Summit Charcoal] smoker. How do you guys deal with that? Big drip pan? Foil lining? How is the splatter factor? I imagine it differs with temperature, but I'd love to hear your experience.

2. Grilling vs. Smoking. I honestly read so many threads that I can't remember or find the one that argued adamantly for grilling over smoking. While I understand the appeal of a duck whose breast is as close to medium rare as is possible, I can also imagine that a) it's borderline IMpossible to get to medium rare when roasting an entire duck and b) if you're not gonna get medium rare, maybe you should aim for fally-aparty meat? I'd love to hear your experiences with each.

3. Depending on which way we go, what internal temps do you shoot for? Someone advocated for 140 at the breast and 165 at the thigh, but, again, *aiming* for well-done seems like a criminal offense to me...

Thanks in advance!
Joe

[Potkettleblack]

I butcher the duck into breast and aught else. The aught else gets confitted. The breast gets done in the oven or grill or sous vider. I score the breast and usually cook in a pan, to get some of that duck frying in duck fat action.

[CandySueQ]

I've smoked a whole duck before. You can't do the breast medium rare that way though. But it's still really good.

[joemfbrown]

I've smoked a whole duck before. You can't do the breast medium rare that way though. But it's still really good.

CandySueQ what temp did you aim for?

[CandySueQ]

joemfbrown, I think it was 180 in the leg/thigh. I parted all meat off the bones and sauced with Grand Marnier and sweet orange marmalade mixed together (about 50/50). Slice the overdone breast across grain, really thin. Tasty!

[HorseDoctor]

Love duck domestic, wild only a little bit... Totally apples & oranges difference!!! My favoritist domestic duck recipe of all time comes from: https://www.thehungrymouse.com/2009/...o-crispy-skin/ It is awesome and in the end you have a LOT of great duck fat to use for whtever you want (fried potatoes please). I have to do one every few months just to replenish my supply of duck fat. The duck is also awesome even if it doesn't involve a smoker or grill. I suppose one could adjust this recipe to roast a duck on the grill if you really needed to do that.

[Potkettleblack]

Fun fact: for three months back in 1997 or 1998, I dated the Hungry Mouse. For real.

[Henrik]

I'm a big fan of duck!

1. I use a drip pan, nothing else. It won't splatter unless you nuke it over glowing hot embers. Which would ruin the duck...

2. I grill my ducks almost always. It is quick and easy, and hitting target temp is easy with a thermometer. However, I rarely cook duck whole, I split/cut it up in its parts. It's so small anyway, and I've done a few duck breasts where I went over target temp, not fun. There's a small window, and I don't want to miss it. As for going for fall-apart temps: go ahead and try it, but I think you will have to wrap the duck to get it to that state without drying it out completely. In my mind that would be like making ground beef out of beef tenderloin :-)
But then again, there's more than one way to skin a cat, so it would be interesting to hear how other pit members cook their ducks. My target temp for duck breasts i 142-143 deg F (62 deg C), and not a single degree higher.

[HouseHomey]

Goodness yes! Spinaker nice call. Jeeze I can't get the duck fat taters out of my head from the comment above. Love this! So if you grill your duck 🦆 breast do you render enough fat from the breast or is there still a lot fat left as compared to a pan?

[Henrik]

So, I didn't get a whole duck, but at least two duck breasts, imported from France. Pics will follow. And no, I don't render fat from breasts only, that goes on the plate, and in my mouth. Yum!

[Spinaker]

Cool brother! I am looking forward to it. Thanks for taking the time. Henrik

[Ernest]

You won't get 140 breast and 165 legs if you cook a whole bird.
Butcher that baby.
Sous Vide or wrap tightly in foil and slow roast the legs (cheap confit). Then finish in a Hot grill, NOT over hot coals.
Breast should be treated like a steak but seared in a pan.
Collecting duck fat on the grill is trick if you use added wood. Fat gets too smokey, at least for me.

Maybe I should cook a duck this weekend.

[Henrik]

So, fellow pit members, let's have a duck cookdown! I'm getting all excited about this weekend's cook, thanks for pushing me in the right direction Spinaker !

[Spinaker]

You bet. I think we are all instigators!

[Karon Adams]

Enablers

[Karon Adams]

Drip pan with plenty of water in it to prevent burning, will catch not only the beautiful duck fat but the luscious juices from that Quacker!

[Henrik]

Good point about the water :-)

[joemfbrown]

OK, I want smokey flavor but also medium rare, so.... Here's what I'm planning:

- Cold smoke some duck breasts for an hour or two to get the flavor, keep internal temp below 100
- Sous vide while we're seeing Dunkirk—with sage? Suggestions welcome—to 130
- Sear that gorgeous fat cap for cracklin skin
- Serve with some kind of berry something something

This is going down on Sunday; I'll post pics after.

[Potkettleblack]

Don't waste the sage unless you're going to use the purge.

[Ernest]

Orange goes great with Duck. Depending on how you are serving it.

[Potkettleblack]

Any acidic fruit goes nicely. Or a good balsamic. I had a nice one from Reggio-Emilia that was sublime on duck breast.

[joemfbrown]

I have a homemade black raspberry jam that we got at an AirBnB in the Catskills. Thinking of adding that to the sous vide purge and reducing for a pan sauce. Should work.

[joemfbrown]

That was pretty good! I left the breasts sit uncovered, seasoned, in the fridge overnight to dry out a little. Then I cold smoked them for an hour over applewood, never letting the smoker get above 100 degrees. I vacuum-sealed them and cooked them sous vide for a few hours. ( Potkettleblack I did not use sage... more because I didn't have any in the fridge and was lazy than anything else... turned out to be a good call.) Then I seared them in canola and sliced them thin.

A couple things I would do differently:

- I probably wouldn't dry them overnight. I had almost zero juice left in the sous vide bags, and I was counting on that stuff for a pan sauce. I ended up just making a sauce out of jam, butter, and wine; it was fine, but I was missing the unifying note from the purge.

- I'd likely smoke the breasts for 30 mins instead of an hour. They were smoky and delicious, but actually maybe TOO smoky, if there is such a thing. The smoke drowned out every other flavor, including the duck and the black pepper. Don't get me wrong, it was delicious; but I paid like $15 a pound for this duck and I wanted to taste it more.

I wonder if the sous vide concentrated the smoke flavor? Probably? Anyway, lots to experiment with. My wife loved it, which is important. (Hilarious fun fact: she doesn't like the fat cap... works for me!)

OK, here are some photos:

[Huskee]

I'd suggest doing the breasts hot & fast. Lean meat too low dries it out worse in my experience. Beautiful pics!

[CandySueQ]

It's not smoked but, I have a small CI skillet that I get smoking hot. Cross-hatch the fat side of breast. Season heavily with Wicked Q's habanero orange seasoning. Sear the fat side first, then flip over to sear flesh (there's plenty of fat in the pan). Turn back over so the fat is in the bottom. Put in 350 oven and make the rest of the meal. Usually wild rice with veggies, cesar salad and fake crepe suzettes for dessert. Make up sauce for duck 2 T Smuckers orange marmalade (I think the brand matters) and same amount of Grand Marnier. By the time the crepes are made, duck is ready to slice. Slice thin and serve with sauce on side.

This sounds good for supper!