Canvas-back Duck
Ingredients
Directions
The book gives no oven temperature. The 400°F (200°C) in the steps was added when the recipe was transcribed, as a starting point.
Prepare
Pluck, singe, and draw the duck.
Wipe the duck with a wet towel.
Truss the head under the wing.
Place the duck in a dripping pan.
Roast and serve
Roast the duck in a hot oven at 400°F (200°C) for 30 minutes, basting often.
Season the duck with salt and pepper when done.
Pour the gravy from the pan over the duck.
Serve immediately while hot.
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.
Explore the science
What each ingredient does
- Canvas-back duck
- Provides the main meat, whose fat renders during roasting to keep the flesh moist and crisp the skin.
- Coarse sea salt
- Seasons the skin and flesh, adding savory flavor after roasting.
- Black pepper
- Adds mild aromatic heat to the finished seasoning.
The step that matters
Roast the duck in a hot oven, basting often. A hot oven and regular basting help render the fat from under the skin and brown it evenly. Without basting, the skin can dry out or turn leathery before the meat is cooked through.
“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.
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