Go to the Recipe: Ultimate Peking Duck
Wow. One thing struck me: Would the compressed air technique work on chicken?
"It's gonna get real." hahaha
Holy crap
Oh, interesting thought! We haven't tried it but Chef Nick thinks using an iSi for a chicken may yield better results due to the risk of the skin ripping with this technique. Let us know how it goes if you try it!
Any thoughts on using a cold smoker for the smoking portion? (Also, have a PolyScience smoke gun, thiniking of using that in this case).
Yes, but do it the easy way. Use two middle Fingers and insert them between the Breast and the skin. Lift it up carefully and work ur way to the end, optional insert ice cold butter blocks which are small finger thick between skin and breast on both sides. U will be amazed. Not only that the skin will be crispier it also helps ur breast not to overcook and to stay moist. Try it and love it.
That would work just fine.
This technique works great with chicken. And, yes, you can separate the skin by hand, but it's really easy to tear the skin that way.
Hi Nick, would you mind show me how to use Isi siphon to separate the skin from the duck ? And for the Peking duck is it possible just to pek the duck breast instead of the whole duck ?
What if I just want to pek the breast of the duck ? Instead of whole duck ? Is it possible ?
This is fascinating. I wish I had the space...
You mentioned that traditionally Peking Duck is cooked while hanging in the oven. I'm just wondering if there's really no way for home cooks to do this - perhaps using something like a propane smoker? Assuming it's cold enough outdoors, seems like you could hang it up to dry in the smoker, and then turn on the heat and pop in wood chips to smoke, and then just take the wood chips away (but keep the heat on) to roast.
The Geese and Ducks that I have access to are pretty fatty but I'm going to give it a whirl anyways. I'm also having some. Poulet de Bresse brought to me in a about 2 weeks. Paul Bocuse's dish and the EMP chicken are planned, maybe one with this technique as well .
I hate you guys so much. I wanna do this really badly but I ain't cool enough. Though perhaps maybe I could do a tinier version with a single breast HAHA. I FEEL INADEQUATE
I'm totally going to attempt this at some point. We should collab. Start on a Sunday, finish on a Friday or something
LOVE THIS
Not seeing the video about closing up the cavity?
Could the duck skin be removed and glazed/dried/cooked separately?
With all due respect, this method have a lot similiar to traditional method using in China, however some techniques are to solve problems in traditional Chinese Peking duck cooking, may not be apply here.
1. "blow" the duck, this originates when roasting duck getting popular in Beijing when cooks learned from Nanjing. Beijing duck is using *very* fat duck (force feeded), fat contains flavor, and traditionally we don't want them to render too much and causing unpleasant scorching after taste in a open wood oven. Hence the "blow" to slow down the heat penetration, it won't have a lot of effect in lean duck.
2. ventilation on roasting, ultimate target of Beijing duck is to let breast skin crisp not only the back! No matter in tradition restaurant QuanJuDe or new style DaDong, letting duck roast vertically really important, to my experience fighting with western oven, I actually found Ikea's kitchen tissue stand fits a duck...
3. sealed end, again this is to solve traditional wood oven vertical roast renderinh internal over cooked problem. Traditionally duck does not open cavity, but remove organs from a small cut under the wing. This will never happened in western duck, so I actually advocate usinh the method you guys are roasting chicken: slow roast first, cook internan and dry skin, high heat just to crisp up skin, tested and true with me (even save the truble of fry up skin)
I'm not saying this recipe not working, simply too many step not solving problem that does not have in first place. And I'm not about authenticity, but there's a way save 80 percent of job but getting 90 percent of end result, I may some times choose that.
Yeah im down!!! itll be such a fun week. Can't fit this at my house LOL
Been waiting for this. I did try the "Heston in search of perfection" and used my ceramic grill/smoker with a great result.
I uess this would reduce one step since i would then do the smoking and cooking part in one part.
Can't wait to try this. Awesome work guys!
My result using Heston recipe:
Is the same temperature (55C) good for breast and legs? Any compensation for temp difference?
Here is my question, could this same technique be applied to all birds? Have been curious about this for a passover seder for years and what curious about the possibility of serving a kosher chicken this way.
Could you simply use a can of 'Dust -Off' compressed air to separate the skin? Better than a bicycle pump, and not many of us have high pressure air lines in our kitchen!
haha. was going to ask the same question about the Bicycle pump!! I doubt CS would sanction the gas station air pump as sanitary , however if they did, I'd just call AAA to come to my house.
NO!!!!!!! Do not do this!! If you read the warning labels on the cans, they warm about eye, skin, and soft tissue contact. The substance in the cans is NOT compressed air, but a combination of chemicals which can be toxic/poisonous. If you attempt using these products in this manner, there is a good Chance you could make someone very sick or even kill them
Hi Eric! This technique works great with chicken!
Thanks. that's a clear reply!
Just to say different brands have different things in them. Some photo ones are pure Nitrogen, others 90% Oxygen, but yes, most are regular air with added 'bitterants' to make it unpalatable to sniffers. As you say, maybe best to avoid all. ok, I don't fancy using bicycle pumps either... there's oils inside the pump cylinder., and no filter. Back to drawing board.
With the air pump, you can dismantle one, use a good solvent or degreaser, clean it off thoroughly, and then use a good grade lubricant such as a vegetable oil, heck, even pure petroleum jelly would work
Here´s mine
To keep in tradition with the whole duck recipe, I was thinking if you could make a Canard du Presse recipe!
I wonder why oven rotisseries have gone out of fashion. They used to be fairly common. They self-baste and uniformly brown/crisp. I've got one in my bbq, but temperature control is hit-and-miss. I suspect a rotis might give a better result than the vertical-roast even.
Yes. That's exactly how Heston Blumenthal made his "Perfect Peking Duck". http://www.insearchofheston.com/2015/02/how-to-make-hestons-perfect-peking-duck-recipe-from-in-search-of-perfection/ Nick's recipe improves on that by enabling him to actually keep the skin on the duck.
Hi Richard,
There's a recipe on ChefSteps for roast chicken that does exactly this. https://www.chefsteps.com/activities/ultimate-roast-chicken The comment above about using a metal kitchen roll holder sounds even smarter though.
Thanks for the feedback, Xingdi Li!
Hi Stu, you can watch Nick close up the cavity in the video at the top of the page!
Ah, great idea, Chris! We'll definitely keep this in mind for future content!
Hi Rafael, 55C is the middle ground for both the breast and the leg so you should be set!
Thanks so much, Espen!
Hi Samuel! If you just want to cook the crown, you definitely can. What you'll want to do is make sure you have excess skin below the breast so you can tuck it under. This is that you are not coming up short and accounting for shrinkage during the cooking process.
Hi Samuel! Thanks for the request! We don't have plans to demo this currently, but feel free to experiment and let us know how it goes. Also, if you just want to cook the crown, you definitely can. What you'll want to do is make sure you have excess skin below the breast so you can tuck it under. This is that you are not coming up short and accounting for shrinkage during the cooking process.
Is there a hack for the air compressor? For me that seems to be the big gating factor for me
ISi 1L siphon with CO2 cartridges
Thirty ago, when I was learning to cook, I made Peking Duck. I didn't have a recipe so experimented. After I marinated and blew it up with a bicycle pump, I remember tying it to our rotating Hoist Clothes line (an Australian invention) on a windy day in winter and watching it blow around the line for two days until it dried out. I wish that Chef Steps and the net had been around then. I will try this recipe but may still use the clothes line.
Great idea and for sure more hygienic.
I posted a recipe for homemade Hoisin sauce - click on the Hoisin hyperlink in the recipe to find it.
Thanks for the tip! Very much looking forward to it!
What could I substitute for the maltose syrup? Dark corn syrup?
If someone could direct me to a reputable place/butcher where I can get Peking style Pekin ducks in the Bay area, I would greatly appreciate it. I know I can probably easily find it at China town or some Asian grocery store, but I'm trying to avoid purchasing from a sketchy Asian market (simply because of sanitation). Im planning on feeding a crowd, and really just that I don't want to give the weak ones a belly ache. I've found Grand Food Inc. in Hayward but there is a minimum order of 8 ducks. Thanks in advance!
The duck he carves looks very rare, I guess that's the intention?
Hi Nathan! That should work!
Thanks for sharing!
Yes. the internal temperature target is 131°F/55°C. This is somewhere between rare and medium rare. As far as poultry goes, duck is among the safer choices, and this is a common temperature (plus or minus) to have it prepared to.
When I worked at Spago many years ago, we used to prepare a Peking Duck dish on the menu. A couple of suggestions I have is allowing the duck to hang vertically in the oven at the lowest setting possible for 4 hrs with a drip tray under it to catch the grease. We used to hang them on a special rack built behind the stoves and the heat from the stoves would allow it to sweat a lot. Allowing it to sweat like this removes a lot of fat under the skin. Also if possible roast the duck vertically as well. We used a special roasting oven and the burner wrapped around the inside of the oven and the fat would drip to the bottom. A barrel smoker with the coals placed around the circumference of the smoker might give you a suitable substitution. Also in my experience Peking duck is always cooked through. I have never seen it rare or med rare. Just my 2 cents.
Hello!
I can't have star anise, fennel, or Szechuan peppercorns. Any suggestions?
Because of food allergies?
Honey will do the job aswell?
woah this looks really really great.
is there another way to get off the skin from the meat / fat if i dont have an air compression at home?
Go to China Town. Don't be sketched. find a busy Asian grocery store/butcher shop and drop some bitcoin.
Read step 6, they offer a couple alternatives in the instructions
Turned out beautifully! Thank you chefsteps!
"As far as poultry goes, duck is among the safer choices, and this is a common temperature (plus or minus) to have it prepared to. "
As Nathan implies, no it's not common. I've eaten it many times in Manhattan and Flushing, NYC Chinatown and have never, ever seen it cooked medium rare let an alone rare. I find chefSteps being Chefy undercook everything but when it comes to Peking duck it grosses me out.
If you can do something in 3 steps or 30 steps Chefsteps will go with the 30 steps. It must be part of their Nathan M. Modernist Cuisine lineage. And the schtick there was to make things as complicated as possible.
You're probably not eating at the right places then. If you don't like what you see here, then don't make/eat it, simple as that.
Has anyone tried https://www.jaycar.com.au/dust-remover-spray-can/p/NA1018 or something similar?
Your Mom was wrong, bacon, chicken, pork and beef DO NOT have to be overcooked or else imminent death is surely at hand. Pleasing your partner properly involves more bacteria than properly (enjoyably) cooked food!
I bought mine at Ranch 99. They had 4 birds in stock and thawed.
