Best Beer Can Duck Recipes

BEER CAN DUCK

Steps:

• Salt the duck and place it uncovered in the refrigerator overnight to dry out.
• Preheat oven to 425.
• 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.
• Combine ingredients for the rub and rub over the entire duck.
• 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.
• Plug the duck neck opening with a small lime or shallot or spud (whatever you have handy that's golfball size).
• 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.
• Place in oven and roast for one hour at 425, then one hour at 375, and then one hour at 325.
• Remove from oven and carefully separate can from bird then carve and serve.
• You will have a huge amount of rendered duck fat in the pan which you can refrigerate or freeze and save for future use.

CIDER CAN SOY-GLAZED DUCK

Steps:

• Lightly score the duck skin all over and rub with the five-spice and some salt, making sure you get into the cut marks (this can be done a day ahead and left to marinate in the fridge uncovered). Light a lidded barbecue. Let the flames die down and the coals turn ashen, then mound the coal up on one side. If you're using a small barbecue, you will have to remove the grills and put a sturdy roasting tin on the floor of the barbecue, next to the coals - this will give you space to close the lid once the duck is in. If you have a large barbecue, the duck will sit in a tray directly on the grills, or simply heat oven to 180C/160C fan/gas 4.
• Open the can of cider, reserve a few tbsps for the sauce, and pour about half into a glass (you can drink this as a pre-dinner tipple!) Feed the ginger and garlic into the can and pour in the oil and half the soy. Push the duck onto the can, legs down, so that it's sitting upright with the can in its cavity. Stand it upright on the tray in the barbecue or oven, close the lid and cook for 1 hr.
• While the duck is cooking, whisk the remaining soy, honey and chilli sauce together with the reserved cider. Brush the sauce all over the duck and cook for another hour, basting every 10-15 mins with all the sticky juices in the pan until the duck is dark and glossy. Remove from the barbecue or oven and rest for 30 mins. Meanwhile, mix the Sichuan pepper with some flaky sea salt. Carefully lift the duck off the tray and the can. Season with the spiced salt and add the coriander to the cavity. Carve and serve.

PEKING DUCK WITH HONEY AND FIVE-SPICE GLAZE

Steps:

• Combine honey, soy sauce, sugar and 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder in a small saucepan. Stir over low heat until sugar dissolves, about 3 minutes.
• In a large saucepan, bring 4 quarts water to a boil. Meanwhile, remove giblets and neck from duck cavity and discard (or reserve for another use). Cut off excess fat from cavity and neck area, then cut off tail. (This helps balance the duck vertically over the beer can.)
• Using your fingers, carefully separate the skin from the breast meat through the bottom of the breasts and work your fingers upward to separate the skin from the meat (be careful not to tear skin). Next, separate the skin from the backbone through the neck and working your way down until you reach the legs. (Scissors are helpful, but be careful to avoid piercing the skin.) Transfer duck to a rack set in the sink.
• Using a ladle or measuring cup, pour half of the boiling water evenly over top of the duck. Flip duck and pour the remaining water evenly all over second side. Tilt duck to drain all water from the cavity, then pat dry with paper towels.
• In a small bowl, combine the remaining 1/2 teaspoon five-spice powder with 1 teaspoon salt, the black pepper and 1 tablespoon of the glaze. Rub the mixture inside the cavity. Stand duck vertically by inserting beer can into cavity and place in a roasting pan or on a rimmed baking sheet.
• Using a pastry brush, brush the remaining glaze all over the duck and sprinkle evenly with remaining 2 teaspoons salt. Place duck in the refrigerator, uncovered, until the skin feels dry and leathery, 24 hours.
• Heat oven to 450 degrees with rack in bottom third of oven. Remove duck from refrigerator, and add 1 1/2 cups water to the pan. Wrap wing tips and tips of drumsticks with foil to prevent burning, then loosely tent duck with foil. Roast for 15 minutes. Decrease temperature to 350 degrees and roast, tented with foil, until skin is mahogany and an instant-read thermometer inserted into the thickest part of the thigh registers 165 degrees, 1 hour to 1 hour 15 minutes more, adding more water to the pan if needed.
• Leaving duck on the can, transfer duck vertically to a cutting board and let rest for 15 minutes. Carve the crispy skin from the back and legs of the duck, and slice into strips.
• Carefully remove duck from the beer can and return to cutting board. Carve off the breasts and legs; thinly slice the breasts and shred dark meat.
• Carefully strain pan juices into a small bowl and pour off all the fat. In another small bowl, whisk together the hoisin, sesame oil and up to 1/4 cup of the pan juices to form sauce.
• To serve, spread 1 tablespoon prepared sauce on each tortilla. Top each with some scallions, cucumbers, duck meat and crispy skin. Roll up and enjoy warm.