CookEat Recipe
Spit-Roasted Duck with Fatback
A whole domestic duck with thin cured fatback wrapped over the breast, spit-roasted and brushed with olive oil.
Method
Steps
Step 1
Gather the ingredients: 1 professionally dressed domestic duck, about 2 kg, without head, neck, feet or internal organs; 80 g plain cured pork fatback, in broad very thin slices; 1 tablespoon olive oil; Salt.
Step 2
Keep the dressed duck refrigerated until cooking and do not rinse it. Season the empty cavity with a little salt. Cover the breast with the broad paper-thin fatback slices and hold them against it with food-safe kitchen string. Tuck the wings, tie the legs compactly and secure the duck on the rotisserie.
Step 3
Preheat for indirect roasting at about 180–190°C with a deep drip pan to catch the rendered fat. Roast for about 2–2½ hours, brushing occasionally with small separate portions of the oil. Avoid flaring fat; follow the rotisserie instructions and handle accumulated hot fat carefully.
Step 4
When the duck is nearly done, salt the outside lightly only if needed because the fatback is cured. Check at least 82°C in the thickest breast and thigh away from bone, allowing longer if needed. Rest for 10–15 minutes, remove all string and carve with the thin cooked breast wrapping.
Step 5
For the lean mallard version, use a legally supplied professionally dressed food-grade mallard of about 1–1.2 kg, about 40–50 g thin fatback and 25 g melted butter in place of the oil. Keep the same cavity salt and breast wrapping. Roast over indirect heat at 180–190°C for about 1¼–1¾ hours, basting with small separate portions of butter, then salt sparingly near the end and check 82°C in the whole bird. Rest, remove ties and carve. This smaller version serves about two.
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