Oh Duck is just a wonderful bird to roast. And so is Goose. Both are so much richer in flavor than turkey or chicken. But they do require rather different methods of roasting.
Trust me, they do.
You see, both are highly fat. In fact when you get your bird, you will find big clumps of fat at the neck. Remove this. Go ahead and brine it as I explained here. Do that for the 12 hours, and then lay it uncovered in a pan in the fridge for another 12 hours to dry out.
INGREDIENTS:
- 1 duck or goose. Ducks are typically about 5 pounds so you may want more than one. Geese tend to run between 8-13 pounds.
- 2 onions, 2 carrots, 2 ribs or celery roughly chopped
- 1 bunch of fresh herbs in a combination of parsley, thyme, rosemary and sage.
- 1-2 c of chicken stock
- 1/4 c molasses or honey or a combination
- 2 tbsp soy sauce
INSTRUCTIONS:
- Prepare your bird for the oven. Prick it all over with a sharp fork being careful to not penetrate into the flesh if you can avoid it.
- Now there are two ways to proceed. I prefer the former but it’s your choice.
- Place the bird in an empty roasting pan in a v-rack. Tent with foil. (trust me on this one)
- Place in a preheated 500° for 30 minutes. Remove from the oven. Remove the bird, and pour off the fat. (You can save this like bacon grease if you desire)
- Return the bird to the roasting pan, and place the veggies around and enough chicken stock to cover the bottom. PLace the fresh herbs in the neck. Reduce the oven to 300°. Roast breast side down for 15 minutes, and turn a quarter turn, baste, and roast for 15 more. Do these until you have turned it fully and an hour has gone by.
- Continue to roast, and baste occasionally until the thigh reaches 165°. Remove, cover loosely and let rest for 30 minutes.
- Times are hard to judge. the finally roasting after all the turning might take 1 1/2 hours. Follow your instant thermometer, and check every 20 minutes or so.
- The other method is simply to set the temp at 275°, turn every 30 minutes and baste as above. It doesn’t do the quick hard heat to bleed out the fat. I don’t care for this method because I want to get rid of the fat so I can use the aromatic veggies.
**Note: I never put dressing in either ducks or geese. They are just too fatty, and the dressing gets too greasy. But then I don’t like dressing in the bird anyway.
What's On the Stove? 