Duck fat didn’t render

[Toys McGerk]

Tried smoking my first duck on the Windwood. Took breast to 150 degrees at 275. Then brushed with oj and maple syrup mix and took temp up to 450 until the duck hit 165. Pulled it and let it rest, loosely tented for 45 minutes. The meat was delicious but oy, the fat. The bird had a thick layer of unrendered fat under the rubbery skin. I know ducks are fatty so after thawing I poked the skin all over with a probe, brushed it lightly with teriyaki sauce and let it sit uncovered in the fridge over night. Next day filled cavity with orange and onion chunks, hit it with salt and pepper and put it in pre heated smoker, breast side up.
Any suggestions for rendering more of the fat next time and getting crispy skin?

 

[daveomak]

Put many slices in the skin.. do not cut into the meat... Then steam the bird so the fat seeps out....
SAVE THE FAT !!!! they want $1/pound ... $1 per ounce ...for that liquid gold....

 

[indaswamp]

IMO, you will not achieve crispy skin on a duck in a smokehouse unless you severely overcook the bird. What I suggest is to let the bird rest after smoking to medium or medium rare, then hit it with a torch to crisp the skin. Keep the torch moving so as not to burn it.

 

[indaswamp]

Good Idea to score the skin as Dave suggests.....

 

[chilerelleno]

The layer of fat and the fat content in the skin is one of the things that make them so desirable.
And as noted valuable too.
And damned juicy delicious.
And tender as hell if not overcooked.
And it's too easy to burn the skin on a grill/broiler, be careful.
And...And...And...
And a pain in the arse to get a crispy skin on without a good proven method.

Piercing or scoring helps, as does dry brining with salt and baking powder and a thorough air drying.
But there is still that subcutaneous fat to deal with.

Do note that you'll never get good duck skin in the smoker alone, I don't care how you prep it.
You'll have to go to the oven, grill, rotisserie or broiler at some point to render the skin.

Research Peking Duck for their method on crisping the skin.

 

[indaswamp]

watch @ the 4 minute mark....

 

[KrisUpInSmoke]

I've haven't smoked duck (yet...:rolleyes:), but it stands to reason that smoking at a lower temp, like 225℉ or even less, for a longer period of time will render more fat. That method might dry out chicken and turkey but, for duck, the fat should continuously baste the duck meat. Then maybe you can crisp the skin in the oven broiler after the smoking.

Alternatively, in competitions, they sometimes pull back the skin of chicken thighs and scrape the inside so it's "bite through," then they toothpick it back in place. Maybe for your duck, you could scrape or trim the fat as well.

 

[chilerelleno]

You do not want to scrape off or otherwise remove the absolutely insanely delicious layer of fat under the skin.
That is a huge part of the duck experience.
It's that skin that needs crisping.

For smoking, keep the temp low and get your 1.5-2 hours of smoke in.
This will keep your IT low longer as you don't want to over cook it.
Then crisp the skin.
Treat duck like good steak or lamb chops, cook rare to med, any higher and it's just wasted meat/money.
Some people, just like with steak, say anything more than med-rare is ruined.

It's all about having the right method.
The sous vide method above is excellent.
Most breast recipes pan sear to crisp the skin, sear and finish or reverse sear.

:eek: Don't do like I did last week and go from the smoker to a too hot grill and burn the skin. :mad:
Thankfully they were salvageable. :cool: