Old dude BBQ
Got Wood.
- Joined
- Oct 17, 2010
- Location
- San...
I’ve always loved duck – but I’d never cooked one myself. Asking around the BBQ forums I learned that duck is a bit tougher to prepare than say, chicken. Duck has a thick layer of fat beneath the skin that makes it difficult to get crispy skin – and the skin, if you’ve ever had Peking Duck, is completely over the top awesome.
Some people separate the duck’s skin from the body and let it air for 24 hours or so. One gentleman here told me he just puts his lips on the duck carcass and blows air between the skin and body … yeah – I’m not ready for that.
So I watched about 20 youtube videos and finally settled on a [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaZO3p_OPnw"]method.[/ame]
I opted for the scalding method, followed by hanging the carcass over my stove with a pan underneath to catch any fluids that might escape. Note the needle tracks on the duck where I tried using my cajun injector to pump air under the skin – don’t bother trying this …
So here’s my crucified duck and I have to tell you, my wife thought I’d gone crazy. Who ever heard of drying a duck for 24 hours (unrefrigerated)? I opted not to tell her about the guy here that told me he just blew air into the raw carcass …
I planned to grill this bird on my Weber Smokey Mountain without the water pan. I was aiming for a temperature of 300-325. But Lady Luck was not with me: it was a windy day and I struggled to keep my temps below 370. Ouch – I was sure the duck was going to be dry – I was wrong but not really in a good way. This duck was a juicy SOB and when I pulled it off the grill with an internal temp of about 170, the body cavity was flooded with liquid and the skin was soft.
So I cheated – I threw the heat resistant little guy into the broiler at 500 for nearly 15 minutes – and it worked. I served the duck Chinese style with tortillas, scallions and hoisin sauce with Sam Adams on the side. Wife was happy with the dinner and she might let me crucify a duck in her kitchen again – in a year or two …
Some people separate the duck’s skin from the body and let it air for 24 hours or so. One gentleman here told me he just puts his lips on the duck carcass and blows air between the skin and body … yeah – I’m not ready for that.
So I watched about 20 youtube videos and finally settled on a [ame="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VaZO3p_OPnw"]method.[/ame]
I opted for the scalding method, followed by hanging the carcass over my stove with a pan underneath to catch any fluids that might escape. Note the needle tracks on the duck where I tried using my cajun injector to pump air under the skin – don’t bother trying this …
So here’s my crucified duck and I have to tell you, my wife thought I’d gone crazy. Who ever heard of drying a duck for 24 hours (unrefrigerated)? I opted not to tell her about the guy here that told me he just blew air into the raw carcass …
I planned to grill this bird on my Weber Smokey Mountain without the water pan. I was aiming for a temperature of 300-325. But Lady Luck was not with me: it was a windy day and I struggled to keep my temps below 370. Ouch – I was sure the duck was going to be dry – I was wrong but not really in a good way. This duck was a juicy SOB and when I pulled it off the grill with an internal temp of about 170, the body cavity was flooded with liquid and the skin was soft.
So I cheated – I threw the heat resistant little guy into the broiler at 500 for nearly 15 minutes – and it worked. I served the duck Chinese style with tortillas, scallions and hoisin sauce with Sam Adams on the side. Wife was happy with the dinner and she might let me crucify a duck in her kitchen again – in a year or two …