Threw a duck into the slow cooker last night and after a few hours...

[TreasonousBastard]

it came out just about perfect.

No crispy skin, so to some it would be icky, but who eats the skin? The meat was juicy and flavorful. Just like when I threw that bone-in turkey breast in the cooker and it came out great. No crispy skin, but plenty of turkey sandwiches and turkey a la king. No need to bast in the cooker.

But, about that meat...

Ducks haven't been worked over like turkeys and chickens to have huge breasts and thighs. If they were, they'd probably have trouble swimming, so we're stuck with commercial ducks damn near as skinny as wild ones.

My five pound duck barely gave me a pound of meat. It was very good meat, but it cost damn near 10 bucks a pound!

[Warpy]

1. Yeah, nobody's going to be stuffed after a duck dinner

Around here, they like to put it into quesadillas, it's very good that way and you can stretch it a mile.

The slow cooker would seem to give you the best of two worlds, tender and juicy duck meat and perfectly rendered duck fat.

Mmmmm, potatoes fried in duck fat.

[TreasonousBastard]

2. I did get a lot of duck fat. And duck juice.

[Major Nikon]

5. Hopefully you saved the duck fat

[TreasonousBastard]

8. I'll find someting to do with it. The juice is soup stock.

[Major Nikon]

10. It has all sorts of uses

Perhaps the best use is for confit, but it also works excellent for braising or sauteing. You can use it for just about anything where you'd normally use butter.

[SeattleVet]

3. My favorite way to do duck is on the rotisserie on the grill.

I put a foil 'tray' under it with some water, to keep the air moist and to catch the drippings, while keeping the heat low and indirect (all on one side, with the duck pushed as far to the other side as possible). For seasoning I like to use the Chinese Roast Duck seasoning that I find in most Asian markets.

As it turns, it bastes itself as all that fat cooks out.

These always come out 'falling off the bone' tender, juicy, and super tasty.

(Oh, yeah, you can bet that I eat the skin!)

I also love to do rabbit the same way - they always come out super tender and juicy.

[Retrograde]

4. I eat the duck skin

One of my favorite Thai restaurants does a great duck noodle soup, which includes slices of skin as well as the meat.

Duck doesn't have as much meat per bird as chickens, but what it has is more flavorful, IMHO. And the bones make a great broth.

[Vinca]

6. What temperature and for how long?

I've just started doing poultry in the slow cooker and I can't believe how nice and juicy it comes out.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. One of the simple ones with "High" and "Low". High seems like a fast simmer...

and works with other meat and poultry.

It's tough to overcook in the cooker, so forgot about it for three or four hours and checked the meat temp to be about 190. Well done, but very juicy.

Yeah, the dry heat of an oven does dry things out unless you work out the basting. The slow cooker keeps everything in.

The same thing happens with the pressure cooker-- the juices have no where to go. A neat thing about pressure cookers is that most electric ones have a browning setting, so you can crisp the skin before cooking. The duck was just a little too big for mine, though.

[Vinca]

9. Thanks. I think I'll try it.

[dem in texas]

11. Ever Pluck Ducky?

My husband used to be a bird hunter and one day he bought home some ducks. This was when we lived in Alaska. It was pluck, pluck, pluck, I told him never again. It wasn't worth the work. Now the spruce grouse were a different matter, they were like little fat quail.

[TreasonousBastard]

12. Never-- I was warned about it from a duck farmer out here-- he hated it...

greasy, nasty job.

Went out of the business. Now there are no more Long Island ducks on Long Island.