Duck-- my cooking experience.

I don't know anything about cooking a duck on a grill but when you cook it in
the oven you need to poke a lot of holes in the skin to let the fat drain down
from under the skin into the meat so that the skin gets crispy and the meat is
not dry. Duck meat cooked properly is incredible. I wouldn't give up on duck as
of yet, I would really look into getting a good recipe for how to cook it
properly.

Quoted message said:

Well, I just cooked a fresh duck for lunch. I am not that impressed to be
honest. Maybe I didn't cook it right.

I started out with a fresh free range duck. I fired up my charcoal grill
and set it up like I would cook a whole chicken, indirect heat with lid on.
(same idea as a convection oven for those that don't use a grill in this
way) I cooked the duck for about 45 minutes and the skin looked and was
quite good. Quite a bit of fat on the skin, even for a person that leaves
no fat on my plate when I eat prime rib. Anyway, I found the meat to be
pretty tough. It was juicy enough, but just tough.

Did I do something wrong? Is this just why duck is not as popular as
chicken?

"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:FavOc.109$7k6.0@trndny05...

Quoted message said:

Did I do something wrong? Is this just why duck is not as popular as
chicken?

Most duck I have ate has been very tender. I have never cooked it
myself but understand there are tricks to it.

Chickens are likely easier and cheaper to raise.

BJ

When I first read the subject line, I thought "Kitchen explosion!
Watch out!"

Have you tried www.foodnetwork.com? Emeril cooks duck a lot.

I only roasted ducks in oven.

Apparently you should cook the duck breast side down, then turn it over in the
last 30 - 45 minutes. The breasts on my ducks ended up looking a bit squashed
but it's tasty and I wasn't looking to impress anyone... YMMV.

Did you wait for 15 minutes before you carve?

How big is your duck? It's an hour for every 1 kg (2.2 lb)...

Why duck isn't as popular as chicken? If you'd let me talk about chinese med, I
think it's because duck gives you more "hot air" than chicken. Same for lamb
for a greater extent and beef for a lesser extent. For a few days after I had
duck, every morning I'll find loads of eye boogey (what do you call them btw?)
on my eyes. That's one of the symptoms of having "hot air". Another is having
loads of phlegm. YMMV. If you look at Chinese recipes for broth (especially
those made with herbal med), most of them would use either pork or chicken,
sometimes fish and very occassionally beef, but hardly ever duck or lamb.

curt said:

Well, I just cooked a fresh duck for lunch. I am not that impressed to be
honest. Maybe I didn't cook it right.

I started out with a fresh free range duck. I fired up my charcoal grill
and set it up like I would cook a whole chicken, indirect heat with lid on.
(same idea as a convection oven for those that don't use a grill in this
way) I cooked the duck for about 45 minutes and the skin looked and was
quite good. Quite a bit of fat on the skin, even for a person that leaves
no fat on my plate when I eat prime rib. Anyway, I found the meat to be
pretty tough. It was juicy enough, but just tough.

Did I do something wrong? Is this just why duck is not as popular as
chicken?

Thanks,
Curt

In article <[email hidden]>,

BJ in Texas said:

"curt" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:FavOc.109$7k6.0@trndny05...

Quoted message said:

Did I do something wrong? Is this just why duck is not as popular as
chicken?

Most duck I have ate has been very tender. I have never cooked it
myself but understand there are tricks to it.

Chickens are likely easier and cheaper to raise.

Actually, ducks are easier to raise as they take care of themselves.

That's why ducks and pigs are so popular in China.

Chuck Demas

--
Eat Healthy | _ _ | Nothing would be done at all,
Stay Fit | @ @ | If a man waited to do it so well,
Die Anyway | v | That no one could find fault with it.
[email hidden] | \___/ | http://world.std.com/~cpd

In article <FavOc.109$7k6.0@trndny05>, "curt" <[email hidden]>

Quoted message said:

Well, I just cooked a fresh duck for lunch. I am not that impressed to be
honest. Maybe I didn't cook it right.

I started out with a fresh free range duck. I fired up my charcoal grill
and set it up like I would cook a whole chicken, indirect heat with lid on.
(same idea as a convection oven for those that don't use a grill in this
way) I cooked the duck for about 45 minutes and the skin looked and was
quite good. Quite a bit of fat on the skin, even for a person that leaves
no fat on my plate when I eat prime rib. Anyway, I found the meat to be
pretty tough. It was juicy enough, but just tough.

Did I do something wrong? Is this just why duck is not as popular as
chicken?

Thanks,
Curt

First of all, you really should ask this question in the
alt.food.barbecue newsgroup. There are some real experts there that can
give you some good advice. You should also check out the BBQ FAQ at:

http://www.eaglequest.com/~bbq/faq2/toc.html

Secondly, if you are going to cook a duck the way you did, 45 minutes is
not nearly long enough! You might also try brining the bird before
cooking it. (Again, ask about this in the a.f.b. newsgroup. There is
also some good info on brining in the BBQ FAQ.)

Stan