I bought a whole duck and deboned it. Now it’s whole, seasoned (salt on the inside and out and in the fridge drying) and trussed with zero bones. It doesn’t need to be trussed, and I would fine roasting it laid out flat. However, there is SO much fat as usual, and I’d rather reserve and save it than slice up greasy pieces with 1/4" of fat beneath the skin. So I’d like to do some kind of first cook, whether it’s ladling hot water over it, sous vide, etc, and then refrigerate again to dry, and then roast to get super crispy skin. Saving the fat for cooking would be a bonus. Anyone with experience or ideas? Thanks.
If you’re doing it flat it’s very easy to render pretty much all the fat in a wide skillet on the stove-don’t preheat the pan and go quite slowly. You could make some shallow holes in the skin first. pour off the fat, turn it over and finish in a fairly hot oven, it won’t take long.
Boil to render the fat and then roast super hot. Chinese style. But they don’t debone it first.
Other option at this point is take the breasts off and sear them rare and roast the legs.
I’ve been pretty happy with just scoring the skin, roasting low and slow and cranking the heat at the end to sear. Here is a Hank Shaw recipe that I like, which I think is improved by covering the breast with foil for the first half of the roasting period. Next time I try it, I will instead start with the duck breast upside down on an elevated bed of vegetables.
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agree with taking it apart and cooking legs and breasts separately. in the future, leave it whole, unseasoned, and age in the fridge for a few days to dry it out. will make the biggest impact on rendered and crisp skin.