English Roast Duck
Ingredients
Directions
Prepare the duck
Select a young, fat duck.
Check that the lower part of the legs and the webbing of the feet are soft.
Singe and draw the duck in the same manner as a chicken.
Wipe it inside and out with a damp cloth.
Weigh the duck.
Fill the duck with potato or bread stuffing.
Truss the duck in the same manner as a chicken.
Roast and serve
Place the duck on a rack in a baking pan.
Cover the breast with slices of bacon.
Put one-half cup water and one-half teaspoon salt in the pan.
Bake in a hot oven, allowing twenty minutes for every pound and twenty minutes over.
Serve with giblet sauce.
Transcribed from a scanned cookbook and modernised for today's kitchens. Where the book gave no heat or time, or said "a moderate oven", the temperatures and times here may be modern equivalents rather than the book's own figures. See the original page.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Duck (in the method)
- Provides the main meat, and its fat renders during roasting to moisten and brown the bird.
- Bacon (in the method)
- Lays fat over the breast, basting it as it renders and helping keep the meat moist.
The step that matters
Bake in a hot oven, allowing twenty minutes for every pound and twenty minutes over.. Duck must be cooked through, yet overcooking dries the meat. Timing by weight gives a starting point, and the cook should check doneness rather than rely on the count alone.
“What each ingredient does” and “The step that matters” were written by Claude from this recipe’s own method and reviewed in samples by CompKitchen.
More roast duck recipes
You might also like
Tomato Soup526 recipes
Brown Bread461 recipes
Mutton Broth292 recipes
Yorkshire Pudding264 recipesThe free Flavor Lab newsletter: one surprising pairing a week and the molecular reason it works, in 60 seconds. No spam, unsubscribe anytime.
Prefer an account? Create a free account to save pairings and unlock the full chemistry.