Impressive holiday roast.
Baked duck is a delicious, nourishing, and useful dish. It is usually the centerpiece of the festive table, embodying peace, abundance, and family welfare.
Whether you serve it for Christmas, New Year, Easter, etc. it makes family gatherings special.
It would seem what could be easier than simply baking a duck? But there are some secrets and tips you should know to get juicy and fragrant duck.
– It is better to take a medium-sized duck. The small one can dry quickly in the oven; the big one may not roast thoroughly inside.
– To give the poultry a juicy and rich taste, stuff the duck with juicy fruits like apples or berries such as cranberries or cranberries or red bilberries.
– If you bake a duck with apples, you’ll need around 4-5 large apples for a medium-sized duck. It is better to take hard apples that have sour or sweet-sour taste. They will very harmoniously complement the poultry taste.
– Some housewives boil the duck for 20 minutes before baking and after they cook the poultry according to the traditional recipe, thus ensuring the meat won’t be raw.
– Cooking in a cast-iron roasting pan makes for especially tender poultry.
– To give the duck golden color and delicious crispy crust – take it from the oven from time to time and drizzle with the rendered oil during baking.
– If you cover the duck with foil or bake it in a pan with the lid closed, in 20 minutes before the end of cooking remove the foil or open the lid to let the duck get nice and brown.
– Since duck meat has a special taste, it is recommended to marinate it for a long time before baking. It is also recommended to cut off the tail before cooking to avoid specific odor.
– To properly calculate the cooking time and ensure your duck won’t be raw, you need to take into account the size and age of the duck as well as meat toughness. In general, it will take around 45-60 minutes per 1 kg (2,2 lb) of meat.
Today we’re going to cook the A-mazing Apple-stuffed duck with honey glazed skin and tender, juicy meat.
Ingredients:
- 2 kg (4,5 lb) duck
- 10 tbsp honey
- 4 medium green sweet-sour apples
- 2 tsp salt, more to your taste
- 1/2 tsp ground red pepper, more to your taste
- 2 sp dried herbs mix, more to your taste
Cooking
Before baking, rinse you duck thoroughly and dry it inside and out with kitchen towels.
Combine salt, pepper, and herbs. Rub the duck with this mass carefully. Leave the poultry to marinate for a couple of hours – to let all the flavors come together.
Wash and slice apples into wedges. Pour around 5 tbsp of honey above and toss gently to mix. Insert apple slices into the duck cavity. Close the body cavity with toothpicks or skewers or sew it with a needle and kitchen twine.
Thoroughly brush the poultry skin with 5 tbsp of remaining honey to give the duck a nice brown color.
Cover the duck with foil or sleeve. Place it onto a rack over a roasting pan, breast side down (ducks have fat on their breast and by lying them in such a way we ensure the fat will render easier).
First, set the oven temperature to 450°F/230°C and bake the duck for an hour. Then reduce the temperature to 350°F/180°C and bake for 1 hour more.
During baking, pour the duck with the rendered juices. If there isn’t enough juice, add some water.
In 20 minutes before the end of roasting, remove foil or sleeve to let the duck get crusty skin.
To test whether the duck is done or not, insert a skewer or fork into the thickest part – the juice should be clear.
At the end, remove the duck from the oven and let it rest in the roasting pan before carving. While cooling down, the poultry will soak up all the juices even more.
Have you liked the recipe for honey-baked duck?
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