Duck breast
Pan-Seared Duck Breast
Score, render cold, and finish hot for shatteringly crisp skin over a rosy, evenly cooked centre.
- Total
- 28 min
- Serves
- 2
- Level
- Easy
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Duck Recipes, Cooking Guides & Buying Advice
Better Duck. A More Delicious World.
Duck breast with crackling crisp skin, whole roast duck for the table, what to do with all that rendered duck fat, the equipment that actually earns its space, and where to buy duck you'll be glad you paid for.
Six pillars: cook it, learn it, buy it, equip for it, season it, and time it right.
What brings you to the duck?
Four honest starting points. Pick the one that matches tonight.
Cooking duck tonight
Start with a recipe that teaches the technique: crisp-skin breast, a whole roast bird, or slow-cooked legs.
Buying the duck first
Compare the ways duck actually reaches a home kitchen, and what to check the moment the box arrives.
Sorting out the kit
A whole duck needs somewhere for the fat to go. This is how to judge a roasting pan by size and material.
New to duck entirely
Get Duck the Fundamentals: the printable 28-page playbook with cut-specific routes, temperature and probe guidance, Duck SOS troubleshooting and detachable kitchen sheets.
Start anywhere
Your Duck Journey Starts Here
Six routes into duck, whether you are searching for a technique, comparing where to buy, or working out how much to cook tonight.
Most cooked
All recipesPopular Duck Recipes
The recipes worth learning first. Cooking duck comes down to three of them: pan-seared duck breast for crisp skin, roasting a whole duck for the table, and knowing what internal temperature duck is done at. Each one teaches a technique that carries over to every other duck dish.
Whole duck
Duck à l’Orange
A whole duck roasted in two stages, served with a bitter-orange gastrique built from the pan drippings — sharp and glossy rather than sweet.
- Total
- 3 hr
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Intermediate
Duck legs
Duck Leg Confit
Salt-cured legs poached slowly in their own fat, then crisped to order — the most forgiving duck there is.
- Total
- 3 hr 25 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Intermediate
Whole duck
Roasted Whole Duck
A two-stage roast that renders the fat cap, keeps the breast juicy, and gets the legs fully tender.
- Total
- 2 hr 35 min
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Intermediate
Smoked duck
Smoked Duck with Plum Sauce
Gentle smoke, careful temperature control, and a sharp-sweet plum reduction to cut the richness.
- Total
- 2 hr
- Serves
- 4
- Level
- Advanced
Sides
Duck Fat Roasted Potatoes
Parboiled, roughed up, and roasted in preheated duck fat until the outsides shatter and the insides stay fluffy.
- Total
- 1 hr 10 min
- Serves
- Serves 4 as a side
- Level
- Easy
Useful tools
Answer the question, then cook
Small, focused calculators and references for the moments when you need a number, not an essay.
See all tools- Duck Game PlanAnswer four questions about the duck in front of you and get one card: the real risk, the critical move, temperature, resting, timing, portions and what to serve.Best for: Cooking duck tonight
- Duck Pairing FinderPick cut, flavour direction, occasion and richness to get a sauce and acid family, a starch, a green, and seasoning ideas — with links to the guides behind each choice.Best for: Building a full duck plate
- Duck Cooking-Time PlannerEnter whole-duck weight and oven temperature to get a planning range — then verify the finish with a thermometer.Best for: Planning dinner timing
- Interactive Duck Doneness GuidePick a cut, method, and the result you want. See probe placement, carryover, rest time, and the USDA safety recommendation side by side.Best for: Cooking with a thermometer
- Whole-Duck Serving CalculatorWork out how many whole ducks to buy for your table, based on guest count, appetite, and leftovers.Best for: Shopping for a dinner party
- Duck-Fat Substitution CalculatorConvert butter, oil, or lard quantities into a practical duck-fat amount across tablespoons, cups, and grams.Best for: Adapting a recipe
- Recipe ScalerScale an ingredient list from its original servings to the number you're actually cooking for, fractions handled cleanly.Best for: Cooking for a different crowd
- What Should I Do With This Duck?Answer five questions about the duck in front of you and get one to three method recommendations with links to the technique guides.Best for: Deciding what to make tonight
Duck the Fundamentals
Cooking duck tonight? Don't guess.
Tell us what you're cooking and we'll build your temperature, timing, crispy-skin and serving game plan — then send it to you with The Duck Drop, our short course on the fundamentals.
- Temperature and resting for your exact cut
- The one move that decides crispy skin
- Timing, portions, and what to serve with it
Buy well
Buying Duck & Equipping the Duck Kitchen
Three decisions worth getting right before you cook: how you will know the bird is done, what you will sear breast in, and whether to render duck fat or buy it.
An instant-read thermometer
Best for: Breast cooked rosy, and thighs taken further.
Duck breast has a narrow window between rosy and grey, and a thigh reading is what actually ends a roast. Speed and probe thickness are the things to judge.
A skillet that renders fat
Best for: Skin-on breast, started cold in a dry pan.
Thermal mass and an uncoated surface are what keep the fat rendering steadily instead of stalling when a cold breast hits the metal.
Rendered duck fat
Best for: Confit, and potatoes worth the detour.
One bird gives you a jar; confit wants a tub. The guide covers formats, label terms and how long an opened one keeps.