Standing duck roast

On New Year’s Eve, I bought a frozen duck, which has been thawing in my fridge. On Sunday, I decided it was time to roast it. I’ve learned over the years, to cook duck nice and slow, so the meat isn’t greasy. 

I decided to try my poultry stand to roast the duck. Normally, I just set the duck in the cast iron and start roasting. By allowing the duck to sit upright, the stand lets the fat drain off as it cooks. It also allows the duck to roast more evenly, with more exposure to the air. If you don’t have a stand, just roast it in cast iron, and it will be fine. Here’s how I prepared it. 

1 duckling, around 4-1/2 lb. 

Poultry seasoning

Dill

Cajun seasoning

White pepper

1 bay leaf

1/4 cup of onion flakes

Flour

Watet

Worcestershire sauce

Maggi Seasoning

Preparation

An hour before you plan on cooking, remove the duck from the packaging. Since most ducks are sold frozen, their is usually ice crystals inside, after it thaws. The giblets inside were still pretty icy. 

Remove the giblets to a pot, and set that in the fridge. Season the duck with some poultry seasoning, a little dill, and a sprinkle of cajun seasoning and white pepper. If you are using a stand,  set it in a large cast iron pan, and then set the duck over the dome, so that its legs rest and form a tripod with the dome. Give the duck a full hour at room temperature, before you start roasting.

Preheat the oven to 350º.  Add a quart or more of water to the saucepan with he giblets, and then add a bay leaf and the onion flakes. Sprinkle in a little dill and some more poultry seasoning. Bring that to a boil, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer the giblets very lightly, uncovered, until they are needed for gravy.

Place the duck into the oven. Roasting time will vary, but somewhere between two, and two and a half hours, will work. Mine was perfect at two hours and fifteen minutes. When it is ready, the skin will be golden, crispy, and loose from the meat. Place the duck on a pie plate and keep warm, while you make gravy.

Now, after you remove the poultry stand,  you will have way more duck fat in the cast iron pan, than you need for gravy. Don’t waste the excess. Good, clear duck fat is a delicious cooking fat for chicken, potatoes, or dishes like jambalaya, or stew. It will keep for a couple of weeks in the fridge. 

Leave about an eighth inch of fat in the cast iron pan. Heat that up, while you chop the giblets from the broth. Add the giblets to the fat, and enough flour to make a wet slurry. Stir that for about a minute to cook the flour, and then add the giblet broth, a little at a time, to make the gravy. If needed, use extra water if there isn’t enough broth. Simmer the gravy, and add a splash of Worcestershire sauce, and a few drops of Maggi Seasoning. Taste and adjust for salt and pepper, and you are ready to serve.

Serving

I served a duck breast and thigh, with a pile of mashed potatoes, and the giblet gravy. Next I added a pile of sauerkraut that was simmered with some caraway. Finally, some mixed vegetables and some homemade bread completed the meal. I opted for a cold German beer.