Duck Question

Steve Pope said:

Have a five-pound duck on hand.

One issue with roasting a duck is that if you cook it long
enough that the leg meat is done, then the breast is overdone
(assuming you like rare-ish duck breast).

The solution according to Elizabeth David is to roast it
until the breast is cooked to the desired state, eat the
breast, and then re-roast it to cook the rest of the duck.
But I'd rather cook this rather large bird all at once.

So my plan is to take the duck out of the refrigerator a
couple hours ahead of time, and keep an ice pack pressed
against the breast. That way, the breast will maybe not have
been overcooked when the legs reach temperature.

Does this sound sensible? Has anyone ever tried this?

Steve

It sounds reasonable but who knows - consider covering the breast with
foil for part of the cooking.

Peter

On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 19:11:10 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

Have a five-pound duck on hand.

One issue with roasting a duck is that if you cook it long
enough that the leg meat is done, then the breast is overdone
(assuming you like rare-ish duck breast).

The solution according to Elizabeth David is to roast it
until the breast is cooked to the desired state, eat the
breast, and then re-roast it to cook the rest of the duck.
But I'd rather cook this rather large bird all at once.

So my plan is to take the duck out of the refrigerator a
couple hours ahead of time, and keep an ice pack pressed
against the breast. That way, the breast will maybe not have
been overcooked when the legs reach temperature.

Does this sound sensible? Has anyone ever tried this?

If I do a whole duck (or chicken) in the oven, I cook it breast
down so the breast gets basted with all the juices from the "top"
of the duck (or chicken). Doesn't look as nice, but it works
better.

I don't think chilling the breasts will slow down cooking all that
much.

-sw

Steve Wertz said:

Quoted message said:

So my plan is to take the duck out of the refrigerator a
couple hours ahead of time, and keep an ice pack pressed
against the breast. That way, the breast will maybe not have
been overcooked when the legs reach temperature.

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

Does this sound sensible? Has anyone ever tried this?

Quoted message said:

If I do a whole duck (or chicken) in the oven, I cook it breast
down so the breast gets basted with all the juices from the "top"
of the duck (or chicken). Doesn't look as nice, but it works
better.

E. David says to cook it first laying on one side, then the
other side.

Quoted message said:

I don't think chilling the breasts will slow down cooking all that
much.

I'll let y'all know how it turns out. My logic is that
if the breast is say 20 degrees colder than the legs
when it goes into the oven, then it'll be 20 degrees less
warm when it comes out. I will attempt to verify this
using meat thermometers.

Steve

Steve Pope said:

Have a five-pound duck on hand.

One issue with roasting a duck is that if you cook it long
enough that the leg meat is done, then the breast is overdone
(assuming you like rare-ish duck breast).

The solution according to Elizabeth David is to roast it
until the breast is cooked to the desired state, eat the
breast, and then re-roast it to cook the rest of the duck.
But I'd rather cook this rather large bird all at once.

So my plan is to take the duck out of the refrigerator a
couple hours ahead of time, and keep an ice pack pressed
against the breast. That way, the breast will maybe not have
been overcooked when the legs reach temperature.

Does this sound sensible? Has anyone ever tried this?

If you halve the duck longitudinally the entire half will roast
evenly... that's how Lung Guyland restaurants do duckling le orange.

Sheldon said:

If you halve the duck longitudinally the entire half will roast
evenly... that's how Lung Guyland restaurants do duckling le orange.

Thanks.

(I'm not trying to roast it evenly though 😉 )

Steve

Steve Wertz said:

I don't think chilling the breasts will slow down cooking all that
much.

It might not, but it has given me a great idea for next July.

Boron

Steve Pope said:

Sheldon said:

If you halve the duck longitudinally the entire half will roast
evenly... that's how Lung Guyland restaurants do duckling le orange.

Thanks.

(I'm not trying to roast it evenly though 😉 )

Steve

Try spatchcocking it. It think that's the word - cut it down the back
and spread out flat, tucking the legs under. THis way the legs are
outside and the breasts are inside, and the latter will cook slower. I
used this technique - from Julia and Jacques - on a turkey and it worked
beautifully.

Peter

On Sun, 25 Dec 2005 21:07:54 +0000 (UTC), [email hidden]

(Steve Pope) said:

Steve Wertz <[email hidden]> wrote:

Quoted message said:

Quoted message said:

If I do a whole duck (or chicken) in the oven, I cook it breast
down so the breast gets basted with all the juices from the "top"
of the duck (or chicken). Doesn't look as nice, but it works
better.

E. David says to cook it first laying on one side, then the
other side.

Maybe you could teach it to roll over. Course you'll have to get
a duck with it head still on.

-sw

Boron said:

Quoted message said:

I don't think chilling the breasts will slow down cooking all that
much.

It might not, but it has given me a great idea for next July.

You'll be chilling your breasts to keep from cooking in the summer sunlight?

Bob

The outcome:

No, despite the breast being really chilled upon entering
the oven, and the legs being room temperature, there
was no temperature difference by the time the duck was cooked.
(We had run over and grabbed a second meat thermometer from
a neighbor.)

However, further research has revealed a published technique
involving puttting icewater onto the duck breast at intervals
during roasting. Maybe that would work. Next time.

Steve

On 25 Dec 2005 19:22:02 -0600, "Bob Terwilliger"

virtualgoth@die_spammer.biz said:

Boron said:

Quoted message said:

I don't think chilling the breasts will slow down cooking all that
much.

It might not, but it has given me a great idea for next July.

You'll be chilling your breasts to keep from cooking in the summer sunlight?

Bob

Cheaper than air conditioning.

Boron