Peking Duck


 
S

ScottKeen

New member
I'm new here, new to smoking. I'm looking to use the WSM to make a Peking Duck, any recipes, hints, tips would be appreciated!

Here's my first attempt. I figured it would be best to suspend the duck so that the fat drips away. I lined the water pan with foil to catch the dripping fat. I ran a chopstick through the duck near the neck hole, and suspended it from the top grate with an S-hook.

To prepare the duck, I sewed up the tail section with a sharpened chopstick. I then pumped up the space between the skin and the flesh with air from an air compressor to separate the skin from the flesh to make it easier for the fat to drip away while cooking. I then basted the duck for a few minutes in a wok with water, soy sauce, sugar (should use maltose), and vinegar (should use rice wine vinegar). I was supposed to hang the duck up to dry for 5-6 hours, but I couldn't wait, so it went straight to the smoker.

Things I'd do differently:
Pump more air and do a better job separating the skin from the flesh. It didn't get as crispy as I wanted.
Maybe cook at a higher temp would make it crispier.
The basting sauce needs work, needs to be sweeter. I'm going to try maltose or honey next time.
I will also hang the duck up to dry out for 5-6 hours. That may have something to do with crispiness.

But the suspension system worked great! That, I wouldn't change.

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Hand-made peking duck pancakes. I made them myself.

Peking Duck Pancakes:

Put about 2 cups of flour in a bowl.
Heat up some water to almost boiling, stir into flour a little at a time until you get a dough texture you can shape (I know, it's hot on your fingers).
Pinch off 2 ping-pong ball size dough pieces, flatten both slightly on a floured surface.
Smear sesame oil on the top of one dough flat, and put the other dough flat on top of the other, like a sandwich.
Roll both together with a rolling pin to about tortilla size. The sesame oil keeps them from sticking together permanently.
Cook in a medium heat skillet or wok, flip.
Separate the pancakes from each other, careful the steam is hot.
 
It was pegged at 275 pretty much the entire 3 hours.

Thanks for the link on the smoking rack -- yes! that looks really, really useful for this.

EDIT: That's for the 22-inch WSM. The one for the 18-inch WSM is Weber # 7472
 
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That Duck Looks SENSATIONAL Scott!
and I'll Bet It Tasted Like HEAVEN!! VERY NICE!
Welcome Home!!
 
Jim Lampe said:
That Duck Looks SENSATIONAL Scott!
and I'll Bet It Tasted Like HEAVEN!! VERY NICE!
Welcome Home!!
Click to expand...

Thanks for the welcome.

It actually looks better than it tasted, I mean, it tasted fine, but it could have tasted a lot better if I used the right basting concoction. I once did a hoisin sauce with honey and vinegar basting sauce before, and it was incredible. But, that's not a true "peking duck" basting sauce. But the hoisin/honey/vinegar basting sauce was so good that I think I may just go with that in the future.
 
Thanks, it was delicious, but could be better! That's the "bug", I think, with smoking isn't it? Tweaking, adjusting, experimenting.

I'm not sure where the rich red color came from, but I think it had something to do with the soy sauce and sugar in the basting mixture.
 
I just did a Duck and really enjoyed it on the rotisserie, but I love the color you got on that bird. Very well done. Playing with the sauce's is fun and I know you will peg it the way you want next time.
 
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