Whether you are serving up some Turducken or just a plain duck, it is quite a difficult meat to get just right. You spend hours cooking to entertain your friends and family, and you follow all kinds of hand-me-down – foolproof – old wives’ recipes. Hours later it comes out of the oven and your mouth is watering out of simply the idea of biting into this incredible piece of meat.
Then, instead of love at first bite, your tongue sticks to the roof of your mouth. The meat is dry, flavorless, and tough. You end up drinking a bottle of wine just to be able to swallow the duck and your regret. None of us wants this to happen to us again. Here are some foolproof ways that you can use to make sure that you have the best duck in town.
Your duck should be moist. But one thing that is as important on duck as on any other bird is that you want that crispy skin that crackles in your mouth as you bite it. One would think that it is as easy as leaving the duck out overnight – uncovered – in the fridge. Even though this helps, you also need to score the skin a bit.
Using a pin, you can score the skin by scraping it, being careful not to pierce it or give it dry needling. This allows some of the fat to leave the skin and will give that crispy skin that makes everyone wants some more. Cook, slow on a steady heat and then turns up that heat for the last 15 – 30 minutes. This is what really gets it going.
Wash And Season
Duck meat is known for its incredible amount of fat. That is why most people rip the skin so that the fat can come out and this is what often leaves it too dry. You want most of the fat out but leave some of it in there to save you from not choking. A great trick that you can do that help this process, is to give it a quick wash in boiling water before you cook it. Just let the boiling water wash over it, melting the fat a little bit.
The next step is that ever-important seasoning that’s as essential as getting great odds when enjoying apostas esportivas no Brasil. What is important to remember with this step is that duck is far blander in taste than chicken. When you season your duck, you need to be incredibly generous with your salt and pepper and any other spice that you wish to add. Rub your seasoning nicely into the skin. The good news is that if done correctly, you only need to do this to only one side, the skin side, of the duck.
This is a step that you cannot take shortcuts with. Pop the duck into the oven at about 150 degrees Celsius. Let it go for an hour and then turn around for another hour. Don’t check on it or fiddle with it. Just let it go. After the second hour, turn it skin side up again and let it go for 15 minutes to 30 minutes at about 190 degrees. Et Voila, the best duck in town.
Johnny Thompson is a senior reporter for Generator Research in Los Angeles, reporting on technology, business, finances, and more. He previously worked as a reporter for the Wall Street Journal and got his start at newspapers in New York, Connecticut, and Massachusetts.
Whether or not you believe in global warming is irrespective of the fact that we are burning through our planet’s resources. As humans, we are not being mindful enough of what it is that we are using once and what we are reusing. The landfills of waste on the planet […]
