What are you doing right now

[PeachFuzz]

@reciprocityThat sounds so good!  OMGOodness Mmmm 

 

[Reciprocity]

Here's the results of the 'smoke a duck' experience today  

Duck was dry-brined last night in the fridge overnight.

Fired up the smoker and prepared the duck with some Kosher Salt, Coarse grind black pepper and some orange zest rubbed onto the skin. brush on some of the Orange/Honey/Maple glaze. Stuff the cavity with orange quarters, onions, thyme and rosemary.

 

Onto the smoker it goes at 300F:

 

After 1 hour cooking time with spritzing the glaze every 15 minutes:

 

Added some apple wood chunks for the smoke flavor:

 

After 2 hours cook time:

 

Internal temp was 155F so I pulled it and wrapped in foil for 15 mins. resting time.

 

Carved and on the table after resting  

 

Plated with the Raspberry sauce made from scratch last night:

 

Turned out better than I thought it would as I've never cooked duck before so was a little intimidated. The only lesson I really learned after the cook was finish is that my original time calculation was off by 1 hour. Only took 2 hours and I calculate 3 originally. I always go by internal meat temp rather than recommended cooking time otherwise you risk under or over cooking.

 

[Gus]

6 minutes ago, reciprocity said:

I always go by internal meat temp rather than recommended cooking time otherwise you risk under or over cooking.

OMG! You need to start doing this for us at least every other weekend. My stomach is growling and my mouth is watering! I just finished my own pathetic meal too. HaHa Your photography is excellent by the way. You’re so talented. I’m just going to sit over here and drool for awhile. 
also, I overcook everything. I ruin everything I cook. I’m pathetic at cooking. I don’t know how my children survived me. LOL Thank you for your attention to detail and I do love those plates. 

[Cbdave]

G’day 

Great looking bird. Not a duck lover myself but my eldest loves his duck. Never thought of using a bullet smoker for duck. So any other hints are appreciated. Did notice you you slashed the skin to let out that excess fat. 

Regards Chris

[jillar]

Very impressive @reciprocity. I had heat and eat sausage links and baked beans.

[Reciprocity]

15 minutes ago, jillar said:

Very impressive @reciprocity. I had heat and eat sausage links and baked beans.

Had beans, fired eggs and toast the other night - tasted great! Simple is just fine in my books  

[jillar]

I discovered frozen peppers and onions and tried adding them to scrambled eggs....OMG top with ketchup and its freaking yum!

[Gus]

2 minutes ago, jillar said:

top with ketchup

Really? Ketchup? I’ll take your word for it. HaHa I would have just topped it off with shredded cheese. Ohhh. Some spinach and mushroom too! Ohhh man! I don’t know how I’m supposed to get to sleep now. 

[jillar]

@Gus, I ALWAYS mix my scrambled eggs with ketchup its THE only way to eat them!

[Reciprocity]

36 minutes ago, Cbdave said:

G’day 

Great looking bird. Not a duck lover myself but my eldest loves his duck. Never thought of using a bullet smoker for duck. So any other hints are appreciated. Did notice you you slashed the skin to let out that excess fat. 

Regards Chris

Got lucky as today the weather was very hot and it was windy so that helps get the temp. up. I stayed even at 300 for 2 hours which is unusual. I'm normally smoking ribs at 225F - 250F with water in the pan to keep temps down. Had a few cups of water in the pan to keep things moist and cooked it on the lower rack where temps will be a little higher than the upper rack.

Yes, I slashed the skin/fat layer but not the meat itself. Gotta render that duck fat during the cook or the meat goes greasy. You can just prick the skin with a metal pick or the tip of a knife if you prefer long as there's an escape route for the liquified fat.

 

Rub was just salt pepper and some orange zest from the orange I stuffed into the cavity of the bird. I dry brined the duck night before. 1/2 cup of Kosher salt all over the bird and in the cavity; let stand in the fridge overnight.

 

The glaze I used was Honey/Orange/Maple syrup with balsamic Vinegar, dried thyme, honey, maple syrup and orange juice. There's other glaze recipes you could use. The interweb is full of them.

 

Stuff the cavity with whatever you have on hand. Apples, oranges celery, onions, any spices you like. Helps to keep the breast from collapsing while cooking. Most will say to pull the bird when the breast temp is 160F. I was going for 145F because I heard 160 would be a little too well done. I pulled it at 150-155F internal. That seemed to be about right. Med/rare but a little more on the medium side. Not dried out though & that's key  

The Raspberry sauce was a huge pain in the as*!! Took an hour and a half to get the seeds out after cooking. Pushing all that mush through a fine sieve (strainer) was brutal!! The liquid gold that resulted was very worthwhile though. Paired perfectly with the roasted duck Yum!

 

And yes, I agree. Duck, even cooked well, is dense almost to the point of being chewy. Add dryness from over cooking or a bunch of duck fat because the fat wasn't rendered properly during cooking and you have a disaster  It's not something I would cook often but I wanted to give it a try at least once   

[Reciprocity]

26 minutes ago, jillar said:

I discovered frozen peppers and onions and tried adding them to scrambled eggs....OMG top with ketchup and its freaking yum!

There's so many great things to discover with food recipes. Some we just stumble across through experimentation. I read one the other day about mixing some cream cheese in with mashed potatoes. Think I'm gonna try that one sometime. Sounded interesting.

[Lilley]

15 hours ago, reciprocity said:

There's so many great things to discover with food recipes. Some we just stumble across through experimentation. I read one the other day about mixing some cream cheese in with mashed potatoes. Think I'm gonna try that one sometime. Sounded interesting.

 

Lovely with some wholegrain mustard. 

[Doreensfree]

How did I miss that duck ????

I'm very impressed ....my taste buds are on over drive ....

Im thinking it's just be nice to have a guy that can cook ....my hub never went past toast ...

Im for mustard in mash too..

[Opah]

having to look on the blood healthier side of things now and I was looking at cauliflower whipped with cream cheese as a sub for potatoes.

Any body give this a go ?  looking at some bacon bits and colby jack cheese on top, figure you can make Glue taste good with enough seasoning should be the same with cauliflower.

[PeachFuzz]

Awe jeesh @reciprocity how am I supposed to sleep now, haha. Seriously though you aced that, and the raspberry sauce I'm sure just complimented the duck so well with that yummy glaze. Your wife is a very lucky lady! 

 

@Doreensfree Next time you make a potatoe salad,  add a generous dollop of mustard (French or grain, not Hot English)  to your tangy mayo. Thank me later.  Similar kind of thing to adding it to your mash. 

[Opah]

Potato salad Mustard and dill pickle juice,  yes sir

[Linda]

You guys are making me. hungry lol

[Doreensfree]

Thank you Peach ....I will try this for sure ...I'm drooling ...

[Lilley]

@PeachFuzz will be trying that for sure.

 

I like honey and mustard dressing poured over those bacon bits you get in the jar. It's not real bacon but yummy 

[Reciprocity]

1 hour ago, PeachFuzz said:

 Your wife is a very lucky lady! 

She had to do the clean up 

[jillar]

That's a fair trade for sure @reciprocity

[PeachFuzz]

14 hours ago, Opah said:

having to look on the blood healthier side of things now and I was looking at cauliflower whipped with cream cheese as a sub for potatoes.

Any body give this a go ?  looking at some bacon bits and colby jack cheese on top, figure you can make Glue taste good with enough seasoning should be the same with cauliflower.

Oh yeah it's a great substitute if you are low carbing or keto'ing.  Really stick blend the cauliflower to within an inch of its life, so it's more like a rich creamy puree, add some cream cheese and grated strong cheddar. Perfect topping for fish bakes,  cottage pies. Anytime a recipe calls for mash potatoes. Damn,  I'm making myself hungry

 

Did someone say bacon?  *drool*

[Boo]

I just figured out how to post gifs again.

 

This makes me happier than a monkey driving a boat...

 

 

[Linda]

Having a good glass of wine!!!

[Linda]

Making homemade spaghetti sauce, salad and garlic toast