Roast Duck For Christmas
This past Thanksgiving Scott suggested to try out duck for our Christmas dinner. I was all over the idea since the few times I had duck I remember it being good and it will be a new experience for me to cook a whole one that of course leads to a new foodblogging subject. As the phrase goes or whatever, everything has a purpose.
Scott saw the frozen whole ducks in Walmart back in November but the store ran out when we were ready to buy it last week. Thankfully Food Lion has them. 6 pounds for $16 thanks to our MVP card. Duck is a bit pricey.
It was my first time to cook a whole duck so I relied on the web to help me out. I found a step-by-step guide on how to roast a duck from The Hungry Mouse. Everything worked out perfectly. The duck had crispy skin, meat was succulent, and I can proudly say that my first roast whole duck was successful.
Roast Duck For Christmas
Ingredients
- 1 whole duck (5-6 pounds)
- sprinkles of lemon pepper
- roasting pan
Instructions
- Unwrap the duck, take out the giblets tucked inside the duck. Set them aside to cook for stock or freeze or throw them away. It’s up to you. There might also be a packet of glaze too so set that aside to pour after roasting the duck.
- Wash the duck thoroughly in cold water. Pat dry completely with paper towels. Preheat the oven to 350°
- Using a sharp knife, score a diamond pattern into the duck’s skin(breast up). Do not cut too deep into the meat. Just the skin and fat. Season the whole duck with lemon pepper, including inside the duck. Line a roasting pan with foil(for easy clean up), place a rack in the middle then place the duck on top, breast side up. Cross the legs and tie with a twine. I didn’t have any so I just use a strip of foil. Tuck the wings underneath.
- Stick it in the oven, uncovered, to cook for an hour.
- After an hour, take the pan out, poke the duck a few times, baste with the fat from the pat, flip it breast side down, baste the top then return the pan to cook for another hour.
- Once that hour is done, repeat the process of poking, basting, then flip it back breast side up. Put it back into the oven to cook for another 45 minutes or so. Take the pan out of the oven and let the duck rest for a few minutes.
Use the packet of glaze that came with the duck if you want to. Just follow the instructions on the packet itself. I got a pack of orange sauce that Scott doesn’t really like so I opted not to use that. I just basted the duck with it’s own fat before I put it in the platter to take a picture of then Scott carved it just like you would carve a chicken or turkey.
I bought a jar of duck sauce which serves as the condiment during dinner. Duck is good as is actually. Now I can officially say that I’ve cooked a whole duck for Christmas and it was delicious.
