You haven't really had duck until you cook it following these 6 tips
Duck is one of those ingredients that appears on the menu of so many gourmet restaurants because it looks so fancy and elegant. And let's face it, it's something that many people don't prepare at home because it can seem a little overwhelming to get just right. But it doesn't need to be complicated. Cooking duck is really quite simple.
Of course like other proteins, there are lots of ways to cook duck. And each one comes with its own cooking methods and techniques. Because of that, here we'll be focusing on duck breast. It's the most commonly used, and it also happens to be one of the easiest ways to become acquainted with cooking duck.
1. Prepare the duck While you can't just take a duck breast out of the fridge and throw it into a hot pan, preparing it for cooking isn't very difficult. Like other proteins, such as steak, pork chops, and chicken, duck should be patted dry with paper towels before being cooked. This will remove any moisture and juices that may be on the breast so when the heat hits it, the skin will sear and not steam.
Speaking of that skin, it's very fatty. And if you don't render it down properly (more on that later), you will end up with tough and rubbery duck instead of beautiful, delicious duck. You can help that fat render out before you even start cooking it by scoring the fat. To do this, slice diagonally down the fat, piercing through most of the fat but being careful not to cut through the meat. Then season the fat generously with salt. This will not only flavor the duck, but will also help extract some of the water out of the fat, thereby rendering it even more so.
2. Start cooking the duck Once the duck breast is prepared, it's then ready to be cooked. To do this, place the duck breast fat-side down into a cold oven-proof pan. Then the heat can be turned to medium-high, allowing it to gradually become very hot.
Starting a duck breast this way allows the fat to also gradually warm up, so it can start rendering right away. And if the pan is too hot when the duck breast is placed into it, it will seal and sear the fat, preventing the fat from actually rendering out.
3. Continue cooking until duck is 90% done By now your duck breast should be fat-side down in a pretty hot pan. And it should stay that way for 90 percent of the cooking time. This will allow as much fat as possible to render it and will make the skin super crispy. You'll be able to see how well the duck is being cooked from the side of the breast and when it's nearly cooked and only has about 10 percent more to go, it's time to flip it.
5. Let it rest Also similarly to steak, duck breast needs to rest when it's taken out of the oven. This will allow all of the juices to redistribute back throughout it so that when it's time to slice, they don't run all over the cutting board and the duck keeps it beautiful texture. Let it rest for about 5 minutes completely off the heat and then slice it into thicker slices. Cutting the duck breast too thin will cause it to cool down much faster, and duck breast is best when it's warm.
6. Keep the fat If you've ever kept bacon fat lying around after rendering the fat out of it, you can understand just what gold duck fat can be. Duck fat should be stored in the fridge and then can be used as a substitute for any other kind of fat in any other recipe. If you really want to bring that delicious salty taste to the forefront, toss pan-roasted potatoes in hot duck fat and you won't ever believe that potatoes could taste so good.
