Here is my recipe for an easy and delicious Danish roast duck with crispy skin for St. Martin’s Eve or Christmas dinner. It is not actually difficult, but most people rarely roast a duck and so do not have much practice. Here you get my recipe, which gives you juicy meat and crispy skin.
Good to know
- A duck of 2 to 3 kg is enough for about 4 people.
- Roast the duck at 160°C (fan) for about 2½ hours and finally 30 minutes at 225°C.
- Take a frozen duck out of the freezer about 2 days before and let it thaw in the fridge.
Danish roast duck with crispy skin
Ingredients
Instructions
If you like, soak the prunes in the juice of 1 orange the day before you roast the duck.
Preheat the oven to 160°C (fan).
Remove the giblets from the duck, if there are any. Rinse and dry the duck and giblets. Check for any remaining feathers on the skin and remove them. Take out the lumps of fat inside the duck’s opening.
Cut off the wing tips (keep them) or tuck them under the duck. Rub the skin with salt and sprinkle salt inside too.
Melt some of the duck fat in a frying pan.
Cut the apples into wedges, skin on, and brown them in the fat.
Put the prunes and apple wedges inside the duck, and close the opening with a skewer or tie the legs together with kitchen string so it holds together.
Melt a little more fat in the pan, brown the giblets (except the liver) and wing tips, and put them in a roasting tin. Add the rest of the orange juice from the prunes as well.
Rinse and clean the vegetables, cut them into rough pieces, brown them in a little fat too, and add them to the roasting tin.
Deglaze the pan with balsamic vinegar (or red wine) and water, and pour it into the roasting tin. Add spices if you like.
Place the rack on the roasting tin and lay the duck breast side down on the rack. Put the roasting tin in the oven so the duck sits in the middle of the oven. Pour more water into the roasting tin so the herbs and giblets are covered.
Roast the duck for 1 hour 30 minutes, then turn it over so the breast faces up. It is easiest to take the roasting tin out of the oven, but be careful not to spill the hot juices.
Roast for about 1 more hour.
Pour the juices from the roasting tin and turn the oven up to 225°C.
Roast the duck for another 30 minutes so the skin turns crispy.
Take the duck out and place it on a chopping board. Let it rest for about 20 minutes before carving.
Do not cover it, or the skin will turn soft.
Cut off the legs and wings and place them on a serving dish. Wrap a little foil around the leg bones as a handle if you like. Cut the two breasts off the carcass, slice the meat neatly and place it on the dish. Serve straight away. Enjoy!
Nutritional content
-
Energy
33 kcal / 33 kj
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Fat
33,3 gram
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Protein
33,3 gram
-
Carbohydrates
33,3 gram
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How much duck per person?
A duck of 2 to 3 kg is usually enough for 4 people. It does depend on what else you serve. At our house we also have roast pork on Christmas Eve, so the duck goes further.
If there are more of you, for example 6 people, you can add a couple of pan-fried duck breasts. That is also handy if there is no room for two ducks in the oven. Then you can be sure there is enough.
Roast duck in the oven: cooking time and temperature
I roast the duck at 160°C (fan). First 1 hour and 30 minutes breast side down, then I turn it and roast it for about 1 more hour. Finally I turn the oven up to 225°C for 30 minutes so the skin turns crispy.
The cooking time depends on the size of the duck and your oven, so keep an eye on it along the way. Let the duck rest for about 20 minutes before carving. Do not cover it, or the skin will turn soft.
Frozen or fresh duck?
Whether you choose frozen or fresh mostly comes down to tradition and budget. If you choose a frozen duck, let it thaw slowly in the fridge. Take it out about 2 days before, for example in the middle of the day on 22 December.
Stock and brown gravy
While the duck roasts, fat, juices and flavour drip down into the roasting tin with the vegetables and herbs. That gives you a stock for the brown gravy. Always keep a little water in the roasting tin, or the fat will burn.
You can also make the stock in a separate pot, preferably with an extra browned duck leg. Strain the stock, skim off as much fat as possible, and make the gravy just like you would for roast pork. See my recipe for brown gravy here.
Leftover duck
Remember to pick the rest of the meat off the carcass once you have served the legs and breasts. It makes the most delicious leftovers in the days after Christmas. Enjoy!
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