Roast wild duck

This roast wild duck is stuffed with whole orange, onion, thyme and bay leaves served with a sauce from the pan juices and flesh of the cooked orange.

I roast my wild ducks in an oven bag. The oven bag traps steam and juices in, keeping the meat nice and moist. Best of all, there's no mess to scrub up afterwards from the roasting pan

Try this roast wild duck recipe at home. It's easy and the result is tender, juicy duck meat that taste amazing!

Try this green tomato and chilli chutney . It's great served with roast duck and read about hunting for food here

Ingredients

See recipe card for quantities.

How to roast duck with orange sauce

• Put the whole orange, thyme sprigs and bay leaf inside the cavity.
• Rub the outside of the bird with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Put the birds in an oven bag with the onions, garlic, carrots and celery.
• Place the oven bag on a rack in an oven tray with water at the bottom of it and roast 180C for 45min – 1 hour.
• While the meat is resting make a gravy out of the juices in the bag.

How to make the roast duck sauce

• Make a roux with butter and flour in a saucepan.
• Strain the liquid from the bag into the saucepan.
• Skim any excess fat off the top of the sauce with a ladle.
• Whisk while cooking for a few minutes.
• Adjust seasoning.
• If you like the sauce to have more orange flavor then squeeze the juice and pulp of the cooked oranges from the duck cavity in to the sauce pot and mix.

Hint: Cooking time varies depending on size of the bird and type of oven you use. The recipes cooking time is an estimate only. Use a meat thermometer to check when the duck is ready. Wild duck is best eaten pink and cooking until the duck reaches an internal temp of 135F or 58C

Cooking whole wild duck

As wild ducks have less fat than farmed ducks they will roast more quickly and care needs to be taken to prevent them from drying out.

Stuff a whole orange in the ducks cavity and put it in an oven bag together with onion, garlic, carrot and celery. The orange and the oven bag keeps the roasted wild ducks meat juicy as it works like a combi oven/steamer. The juices from the meat inside the oven bag makes a tasty sauce.

The vegetables, herbs and the orange in the ducks cavity gives the sauce a nice flavor.

How to clean wild ducks

First we need to pluck the ducks. This is defiantly the least fun part of the process and the part that takes the longest. Once the birds are plucked, cooking them is easy and well worth the effort. Pluck them as soon as possible – preferably that day.

• Dunk the whole bird in and out of hot water for about 2-3 minutes, until the bird is completely soaked.
• Hold the duck by it's feet and pluck away from you.
• To pluck, simply pinch a bunch of feather between thumb and forefinger and pull with the grain.
• Continue the process until all feathers are gone

Wild duck is lean, free range and organic.

As a game bird, wild duck meat is leaner and tends to be darker red than farmed duck. Wild duck has a rich flavor and is a healthier option to farmed duck because of its lean nature. You can be sure that the wild duck is truly free ranged with a natural diet.

Related

Looking for another wild duck recipe? Try this:

Wild duck with hoisin sauce

Looking for other wild meat recipes? Try these:

Wild pork pepper steak

Venison mushroom stew

Roast wild duck

cremneblad

A hint of orange in the sauce is a classic flavour combination for roast wild duck. It compliments the rich meat well!

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Prep Time 20 minutes mins

Cook Time 2 hours hrs

Course Main Course

Cuisine european

Servings 4

Ingredients

  

Whole roasted wild duck

• 2 Ducks whole
• 2 Oranges whole
• 2 bayleaves
• fresh thyme sprigs
• 1 onion chopped
• 2 carrots chopped
• 2 celery sticks sliced
• 6 garlic peeled

Sauce for roasted duck

• 2 tablespoon butter
• 3 tablespoon flour
• juices from the duck roasting bag

Instructions

 

Whole roasted wild duck

• Put the whole orange, thyme sprigs and bay leaf inside the cavity.
• Rub the outside of the bird with olive oil, salt and pepper.
• Put the birds in an oven bag with the onions, garlic, carrots and celery. Pierce a few wholes in the bag.
• Place the oven bag on a rack in an oven tray with water at the bottom of it and roast 180C for 45min – 1 hour.
• While the meat is resting make a gravy out of the juices in the bag

Sauce for roasted duck

• Make a roux with butter and flour in a saucepan.
• Strain the liquid from the bag into the saucepan.
• Skim any excess fat off the top of the sauce with a ladle.
• Whisk while cooking for a few minutes.
• If too thick add more water. Adjust seasoning.
• If you like the sauce to have more orange flavor then squeeze the juice and pulp of the cooked oranges from the duck cavity in to the sauce pot and mix.
• Serve with roast potatoes and seasonal vegetables.

Notes

• Roasting the duck in an oven bag traps moisture, steam, and aromas inside the bag, preventing the meat from drying out and keeping the meat juicy and tender.
• Cooking time varies depending on size of the bird and type of oven you use. The recipes cooking time is an estimate only. Use a meat thermometer to check when the duck is ready. 
• Wild duck is best eaten pink. cook the bird until the duck reaches an internal temp of 135F or 58C

Keyword roast wild duck