Beer Can Duck

DoctorDave's Note:

A variation on beer can chicken. I did this with a can of iced tea rather than beer but I don't think it makes that big a difference (my beer can chicken does not taste like beer and this duck did not taste like tea - the flavors come from the rub). Remember roasting duck is not like roasting chicken. The skin of a duck is massively fatty and the meat is dark meat. You need a lot of cooking time and you want the fat to drip out. Piercing the outer layer of skin and long roasting time will accomplish this and will leave you with a crispy delicious skin.

• Total Time: 3 hrs 15 mins
• Prep Time: 15 mins
• Cook Time: 3 hrs

Ingredients:

Servings: 2

• 1 duck (4-5 pound)
• 1 (8 ounce) can beer or 1 (8 ounce) can iced tea
• salt

for the rub

• 2 teaspoons salt
• 1 teaspoon star anise , freshly ground
• 1 teaspoon paprika
• 1 teaspoon black pepper
• 2 teaspoons mustard seeds , freshly ground
• ½ teaspoon msg
• 1 tablespoon sugar

Directions:

1. Salt the duck and place it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight to dry out.
2. Preheat oven to 425.
3. Pierce the duck skin with a sharp knife in multiple locations (10 to 20 pierces over the whole duck). Make sure not to pierce through to the meat. Piercing at an angle will help to ensure you only go through skin and fat.
4. Combine ingredients for the rub and rub over the entire duck.
5. Open the can, empty half and pierce 2-3 extra holes in the top. Optionally you can make extra rub and add to the can.
6. Plug the duck neck opening with a small lime or shallot or spud (whatever you have handy that's golfball size).
7. Stand the can in a relatively deep drip pan with a bit of water in the pan (preferably using a beer butt stand which you can get for $6 or less) and lower the duck onto the can shoving it into the backside as far up as it goes.
8. Place in oven and roast for one hour at 425, then one hour at 375, and then one hour at 325.
9. Remove from oven and carefully separate can from bird then carve and serve.
10. You will have a huge amount of rendered duck fat in the pan which you can refrigerate or freeze and save for future use.

Reviews

[gpotts5626]

I had never prepared duck before, but my daughter loves it and I was tired of paying $25/plate for it when we went out to dinner. My only suggestion is to cut down the cooking time by 15-30 minutes. I had a 5.5 lb duckling and it came out a little dry. The flavor was excellent. I used a dark beer and put about a tbs of the rub in it.