Easy Roast Duck
- Total Time
- 1 hour
- Rating
- Notes
- Read community notes
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Ingredients
Yield:2 to 4 servings
- 14- to 5-pound duck
- Freshly ground black pepper
- ¼cup soy sauce, more or less
Ingredient Substitution Guide
Nutritional analysis per serving (4 servings)
1497 calories; 145 grams fat; 49 grams saturated fat; 0 grams trans fat; 69 grams monounsaturated fat; 19 grams polyunsaturated fat; 2 grams carbohydrates; 1 gram dietary fiber; 0 grams sugars; 44 grams protein; 1107 milligrams sodium
Note: The information shown is Edamam’s estimate based on available ingredients and preparation. It should not be considered a substitute for a professional nutritionist’s advice.
Powered byPreparation
- Step 1
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard or reserve for another use. Cut off excess fat from duck cavity.
- Step 2
Place duck, breast side down (wings up), on a rack in a roasting pan; add water to come just below the rack. Sprinkle duck with pepper and brush with a little soy sauce.
- Step 3
Roast 30 minutes, undisturbed. Prick the back all over with point of a sharp knife, then flip bird onto its back. Sprinkle with pepper and brush with soy sauce again. Add a little more water to the pan if the juices are spattering (carefully--you don't want to get water on the duck).
- Step 4
Roast 20 minutes, then prick the breast all over , and brush with soy sauce. Roast 10 minutes; brush with soy sauce. Roast 5 or 10 minutes more if necessary, or until duck is a glorious brown all over and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thigh measures at least 155 degrees. Let rest 5 minutes before carving and serving.
Tip
- There are four challenges to roasting a duck by the simple method given here. The first is spattering. All that fat can make a mess of your oven. But the solution is simple: keep a thin layer of water in the roasting pan. The fat drips into it and stays there. (You'll need a rack to elevate the duck, but you should be using one for a crisp bird anyway.) The second challenge is to achieve a uniformly brown color. I cheat a little bit here and brush the roasting duck with soy sauce, which works like a charm. The third challenge lies in the carving; a duck is a little more complicated than a chicken. The best way is to cut on either side of the rib cage to remove the two breast halves, then cut the legs off the carcass. The rest is for picking. Finally, there's the basic challenge of having enough to go around, for a roast duck can easily be finished by two people. If you want to serve four, roast two, or plan on a lot of side dishes.
Private Notes
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Cooking Notes
Eva
Instead of water in the roasting pan which which others observed will steam the duck skin, I placed a layer of thick slices of potatoes, carrots and onions in the pan. The vegetables roasted in the duck fat. Yum.
Katherine
Water in a roasting pan creates steam, so I took the advice of another cook here and put a layer of potatoes and onions in the bottom of the pan, then placed the duck on a grill, on top. There was no splattering, no smoke, and the duck browned beautifully. I wanted the potatoes and onions to get crispy, so when the duck was done, I took it out of the oven, turned on the broiler, and put the vegetables back in for 10 minutes. Very easy and delicious!
Hopbell
I make duck this way about once every six weeks and it's great. I use the left-overs for duck fried rice!
Rosalie Romano
I used my Emile Henry roasting pan, sliced chunks of potato, onions and carrots to layer so the duck sat high on top. Followed Bittman's directions to the letter. Soy sauce was a revelation and worked to produce a gorgeous color on the cooked duck. The vegetables were delectable, the duck tasted OK, but skin was crisp, so that made up for it. Note: No Splatter at all in oven.
Jim from Boston
What did you put under the duck to catch the fat which ABSOLUTELY WILL SMOKE if it hits a hot, dry pan? See my note about potatoes or others who use veggies....
Jim from Boston
My boyfriend & I made this duck per the recipe but roasted over a bed of sliced white potatoes and diced onions, not water. The duck was crispy and delicious and the potatoes were heavenly with the duck fat & soy sauce drippings. Some parts were juicy and soft in the fat and others crispy and slightly charred from the moderately high heat. With a pan of roasted root vegetables and butternut squash risotto, the lowly "sponge" potatoes were an unexpected highlight of an already delicious meal.
Robin
Cook and prep time is short, the duck's fine. But the water in the pan creates a lot of steaming, and not much of the skin ends up crispy. Alas.
Sarah B.
Used this recipe the first time I ever roasted a duck (for Christmas dinner). I took another user's suggestion and lined the bottom of the roasting pan with thickly sliced potatoes, carrots, onions and radishes. The vegetables roasted in the duck fat. The duck and the veggies were all moist and delicious! I also used a suggestion I read elsewhere to pour boiling water over the duck 24 hours before roasting and to let sit uncovered in the fridge overnight. The skin was lovely and crispy!
Justus
I'm not much of a cook, but I've done this a few times and this recipe is idiot (as in me) proof. Its gone splendidly every time.
Jay Devlin
Cooked this for New Year's Day dinner and it came out great! Still, I think my preferred method is to break down the duck so I can cook the breasts separately and serve them sliced and rare while browning and braising the legs using another of Mark Bittman's recipes.
Breton
As others have suggested I roasted the duck on top of thick slices of potato, carrot, sweet potato and onion. Then, to put it over the top, I made a quick gravy out of the remaining duck fat and poured it all over. What a luxurious feast!
Redhead505
I just made this.... I think it was my first time making duck (though I'm an old hand with Turkeys, geese, chickens and Cornish hens). I agree with another commenter that this duck isn't as crisp as expected but still turned out delicious. I subbed coconut aminos for soy sauce.
Jen
Next time I’ll use less water in the pan. It was very difficult to move the pan for basting, because the water doesn’t evaporate and the juice from the duck makes it almost overflow. Otherwise I’d like to experiment with different spices, citrus, and other flavors.
Marquez Busta
Breast down Wings up That's the way we...
Suzinsf
Courtesy of Alton Brown, my family started drying the duck uncovered in the fridge for 48 hours prior to roasting. This results in a brilliantly crispy skin. We do a roasted duck for christmas that we treat this way, and salt heavily prior to roasting. The rendered fat does smoke, so I'll try this variation off season (because, traditional Danish sides, you know, at the holiday) with the roasted veggies underneath to reduce the smoking/splattering. Great suggestion, folks!
Akiko
Measuring the temperature at thighs left the breast not being cooked enough for consumption. I put the duck back to the oven until the breast temperature reached the FDA recommended temperature.
rachel
Don’t need to add water! Also, helped to season and dry the duck out the night before
MDelia Britt
Edna Lewis, that grande dame of great American cooking wrote long ago of the need to dry the duck, I do this as well. Pat the seasoned bird dry with a clean kitchen towel, leave it loosely towel wrapped in the fridge overnight, remove the towel in the morning and let the bird sit in the fridge uncovered until an hour before cooking time - sit it out to come to room temp provided it's a cool kitchen. Proceed as written. Except no water! No steam!
Maya
First time roasting a bird of any sort, and it was good — a nice Thanksgiving meal for two in a small apartment. I took the comments' suggestion of putting potatoes/carrots/onions under the rack, which turned out delicious. The skin wasn't as crispy as expected, but that may be due to user error (e.g. not scoring the skin well or having only finished defrosting the duck only about an hour before cooking). Good beginner's recipe.
Damian
The cooking times were inadequate for crispy duck. I checked the temps of my oven and they were spot on.
Talia Attaile
Brilliant! I followed this method exactly, with fat slices of potato, carrot, and onion lining the bottom of the roasting pan. At 450f, a 6 lb duck roasted in about 2 hours, and the veggies permeated with duck fat were wonderful. I really expected them to be throw-away greasy, but they were the star of the table. Will invite guests next time I roast a duck.
Skim
To be honest, this was pretty gross. Fatty but not crisp, and not notably flavorsome either.l
K
Just wondering on the thermometer at 155 degrees. Hank Shaw of Duck Duck Goose says to aim for 165 degrees for med rare. Julia Child uses the slight rosy test & doesn't use a thermometer. The USDA says to reach 165 degrees. I know overcooked duck=awful, dry, unpalatable. I would like my 6.22 Lb duckling at $24.00 to be med rare. Anyone have any input or advice? Thank you for your help!
Marquez Busta
Breast down Wings up That's the way we...
Anne W
I followed the directions exactly and ended up overcooking it. Will do less than the initial 30 min next time.
SusieQ
My roommate asked me to roast duck for Christmas. I had never roasted duck, so I looked for the simplest recipe I could not screw up. I found this one, and it worked perfectly. No screw ups and a delicious duck. Thank you!
Jill M.
I am making 2 whole ducks (Rohan & Muscovy) for Thanksgiving this year. Was wondering if there is any way to cook them before guests arrive and reheat with still getting crispy skin? Planning on cooking low & slow for 3+ hours. I want to spend time with my family instead of cooking most of the time.
kahvigirl
Followed to the letter. Not only not ready at prescribed time, took much longer. Finally removed from oven, cut into pieces and finished cooking in skillet on stovetop. Would not recommend or do again.
Steve
I have cooked duck before many times and decided to give this recipe a try based on good history with Mark Bittman recipes. It looks like something that should work but this one needs some help. It took longer to cook than the recipe states and while the skin developed reasonable color, it did not render the fat as effectively as quartering the duck before cooking in two stages. That in turn made for a skin that was not as crispy when cooked as what I have done in the past.
WillKS
Roasting potatoes, carrots and onions underneath works great. Whatever is directly under the bird cooks more slowly, so under 1 cm slices or an additional 5 minutes while the bird rests will finish all. After doing this twice, I will be more gentle with the soy sauce. If it overflows into the roasting pan it cooks with the veg and concentrates, getting a bit salty. I have been using better, dipping soy sauce, but I think a moderate amount of any variety will salt the bird and color the skin.
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