If what you think of when considering duck is its fat content, keep thinking. Duck is a good source of high-quality protein and a host of essential minerals, including iron, phosphorous, niacin, zinc and copper, according to Cornell University's College of Veterinary Medicine. The trick is to understand how to cook duck without increasing its fat and sodium levels. Once you do, it becomes easier enjoy oven baked duck in guilt-free moderation.
Step 1
Pierce the skin and underlying fat layer of a whole duck before and during cooking. This allows fat to drain away from, rather than into, the meat as the fat layer melts during cooking. Using the tip of a sharp knife, make a series of small, shallow cuts, 1 inch apart, over the entire surface of the duck, piercing only the skin and fat layer. Halfway through cooking, make another series of shallow cuts over the entire surface of the duck, in between those already present, HelpWithCooking.com recommends.
Step 2
Set the duck on a rack in a roasting pan breast side up to separate the meat and draining fat.
Step 3
Bake the duck using moist heat cooking to ensure the fat layer melts completely. Pour 1 to 2 cups of boiling water into the roasting pan, adding additional boiling water as necessary to maintain water levels during cooking.
Step 4
Cook the duck a minimum of three hours at 300 to 325 degrees F. Increase the temperature of your oven to 450 degrees and continue cooking for another 30 minutes to brown the skin. As an alternate option, cook the duck at 375 degrees for three hours. If the skin browns too quickly, fold a sheet of aluminum foil in half and set it over the breast area of the duck until the final 15 to 30 minutes of cooking.
Step 5
Insert a meat thermometer into the thigh, wing and breast of the duck to check for doneness. Remove the duck when the meat reaches a temperature of 165 degrees F.
Tips and Warnings
- Basting the duck with pan juices as it cooks is not a requirement, but may help in releasing fat. For better nutrition, remove all skin before serving oven-baked duck. A 1-cup serving of duck meat with the skin has 472 calories, 357 of which come from fat, as well as 13.5 g of saturated fat. In contrast, a 1-cup serving of duck meat without the skin has 281 calories, of which 141 come from fat, and only 5.8 g of saturated fat.
Things You'll Need
- Kitchen knife
- Roasting pan
- Roasting rack
- Boiling water
- Aluminum foil
- Meat thermometer
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