Grilled Duck Breast

[Clark Deutscher]

So the last couple nights I grilled steaks instead of my usual pan fry. I decided to stick with that and grilled up a couple of duck breast tonight. They were different than the pan fried but excellent, wickedly crisp skin and moist.

I also made a white wine, grilled onion and mushroom risotto finished with thyme and parmesan cheese. As well as Wilted spinach and then topped it all with a Saskatoon berry sauce finished with savory.

Overall it came together well.

Clark

 

[michele p]

Forgive me for this, but I can only find one way to describe those pics, and that fantastic meal...
OMG!!!

 

[John Solak]

Great looking meal. What temp were you cooking at and what temp is duck done at?

 

[Gary H. NJ]

That looks delicious Clark. How'd you do it without flair-ups? BTW, I hope you kept any rendered fat. Duck fat is the absolute best fat for frying Sunday morning eggs and home fries.
Cheers!

 

[Another Bob B]

Clark - I can only be an echo for Michelle this time. OMG That was absolutely fantastic my friend.

Bob B

 

[Clark Deutscher]

Thanks folks!

John I didn't temp the grill, it was as hot as I could get it with lump though. It would have buried the needle on my therm so we're talking high. Basically a chimney of lit ontop of some unlit, let it heat up for about 10 minutes and give it. Not sure the exact internal of the duck, I do it by feel. I like duck breast rare so I would usually be looking at pulling it off at 125 if I was temping. This one went a little farther to get a nice crust, I would guess med rare so around 135. Hope this somewhat answers the question, sorry it couldn't be more precise.

Gary I'm with you on the duck fat, it would have been scorched in this one though! I actually found this pack of breasts in the freezer from a while ago. I don't buy breasts anymore. I buy the whole duck, take off the breasts and legs then render the fat of the carcass. Your right it's wicked to fry with, it also makes good confit with the legs if you save it up for a bit! I found it much more cost effective this way. For the flare ups it wasn't much of an issue. Just tossed the breast skin side down on the direct heat and put the lid on. Left it for about a minute and then turned it 90 degrees, got a nice flare up with the lid off but once it was back on it went out. Let it go for a couple minutes, flipped, lots of smoke but minor flare, let it go for about a minute once I had a decent crust and went indirect for about two minutes.

Clark

 

[Don Cash]

Wow. Just...Wow!!

 

[G Dechaine]

I love duck. Your pictures are great. How much does a whole duck set you back in your neck of the woods? Do you have any Asian grocers nearby?

I'm with you on buying the whole duck. I've got two in my freezer right now, waiting to be broken down when I finally get a free weekend. Don't forget the carcass for stock. It's great for soups (asian-style, with noodles) and, yes, risotto.

I try to save enough duck fat for making confit, but I just haven't gotten around to it yet. It ends up being used for potatoes. I do, however, have a lot of success using the legs to make rillettes.

 

[Clark Deutscher]

For a whole duck I'm looking at paying $2.75 a pound. I haven't picked one up from the Asian Grocers in Vancouver yet (the last few times I went without a car and did the sky train thing) but I think they would be a little cheaper. Still considerably better than these duck breasts at $11.59 a pound. It's actually cheaper for me to buy the whole duck than two breasts. Go figure.

Yeah the carcass does make wicked stock. It's a great base for sauces as well. Overall I would actually be willing to say that duck is my favorite meat when done well. It can be really bad though, had that in a fair number of restaurants! I usually don't make the stock after I render the fat. Not sure why, I usually either make stock or render the fat I suppose it doesn't really make any sense since I roast the carcass before making stock anyways. I'll have to start doing both from now on. Thanks G!

Save it for the confit! It's worth it!!!!!! Although it is wicked to fry almost anything in. Duck fat french fries are incredible!

Thanks again for all the comments folks.

Clark

 

[r benash]

Originally posted by Don Cash:
Wow. Just...Wow!!

And again! I couldn't stop looking at the pics.

 

[j biesinger]

looks Great Clark!

I've only tried duck once and it came from a freezer case from a butcher shop. I was pretty cheap so I figured it was worth trying out. I found it to be pretty tough. I don't know if it was me or the bird but I'm looking for a new source, unfortunately most of what I see ain't cheap!