Duck and Ham, Grill and Smoker

[Abelman]

Decided to get some vittles cooked up yesterday as the weather was just perfect for a January day.

I marinated a whole duck, which I quarted, for 24 hours. This was the first duck I have done and I followed a recipe from a duck a buddy grilled for me down in FL. Anyway, it's not the last duck I am doing. The whole family loved it. Although the skin looks burnt/crisp, it was actually very good and no burnt taste to it at all given the fat content in a duck.

The better part of the day went into smoking a 7 lb ham. Applied the rub 24 hours prior and wrapped her up. I used apple wood and a pineapple based mop with a pineapple/honey glaze in the last hour.

All in all, a good day and a happy family.

Thanks for looking.

 

[Phubar]

Dang that looks good Abel!
I've said it before but if it doesn't taste/smell burned it ain't!:wink:

 

[Abelman]

Thanks Phubar. That was the way he did it and I thought, oh, this isn't good. When I ate it, I was very pleasently surprised.

Same goes here. With all the fat a duck has, it works great. I have to admit, a duck is excellent. It doesn't taste like chicken or turkey. A lot of the fat gets rendered out during the process.

Between the natural fat and the marinade, it might seem counter intuitive, but the meat is very moist as I hope you can tell from the sliced breast.

That was actually on the grill for 20 minutes or so at 500 degrees. I was a little nervous seeing the skin and probing the meat for internal temps but it works.
You end up moving them a lot due to the gresae fires but as long as you don't have too much on the grate, it's easily done.

If I did that to a chicken, I'd throw it out as it would be dry as leather. Not so with a duck.

 

[Jersey Joe]

I know the skin's dark but that duck meat looks perfect. (I'd pay for it)

 

[Phubar]

No problem Abel,it was a valuable something I learned recently from Heston Blumenthal.
Glad it turned out ok!

 

[smokehunter]

I eat a lot of wild duck and I'm always up for a new recipe. Do you mind telling me what you marinated that in? It looks great.

 

[BlkJeep]

I"d duck for a slice of that ham! Everything looks great! never had duck. Was it a store bought duck?

 

[Abelman]

Thanks for the compliments.

Yes, it was a store bought duck. I've had wild duck as well but it has been awhile. I guess it all depends on diet but I found both equally good.

As for the marinade, sorry but a good friend gave it to me and asked that I keep it to myself. For those that know me, I always share recipes when I can.

 

[cowgirl]

Pete, it looks wonderful! :-D