Successful cooking of duck breast in the oven
It is important to start by incising the skin of the duck breast by forming crosses, this allows even cooking.
On the other hand, care must be taken not to reach the flesh otherwise all the juice of the meat could escape, drying it out.
Then place the duck, carefully incised, in an oven-proof dish, still skin side down, and generously salt its flesh.
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Then, all that remains is to put it in the oven at 180°C.
The cooking time varies depending on the desired result.
If you want rare meat, 10 minutes is enough, but it will take 20 minutes for medium-rare meat.
Before cutting and serving the duck breast, we recommend letting it rest for ten minutes on a plate covered with aluminum foil.
Successfully cooking a duck breast in the pan
In a hot pan, place the duck breast skin side down, after having carefully incised it to allow the heat to penetrate easily and evenly.
It is important to salt the flesh so that it retains its juice and therefore its suppleness.
On the other hand, it is of course unnecessary to add any fat to the pan, because the duck breast already contains enough fat.
We let it cook for about 6 minutes so that it gets rid of its fat precisely.
Once this time has elapsed and if the skin has taken on a beautiful golden color, remove the fat remaining at the bottom of the pan and put the duck breast back to cook, for 5 to 8 minutes, flesh side this time.
Just like after cooking in the oven, it is recommended to let the duck breast rest in aluminum foil before seasoning it with honey and orange for example.
Read alsoHow to prepare and cook your duck breast to perfection?
Duck breast on the barbecue: our tips for success
Although unorthodox, barbecue cooking is quite effective.
As with other cooking methods, this involves incising the skin.
Then place the duck breast on the grill (placed as high as possible to prevent the fat from igniting), skin side down.
Once the latter is golden brown, turn the duck breast flesh side down for 2 minutes, then again skin side down for 2 minutes as well.
Finish the cooking by letting the duck breast cook for between 8 and 12 minutes on the flesh side, depending on the desired degree of doneness.
To limit the risks, it is possible to melt the fat beforehand in a frying pan, this prevents the very greasy skin of the duck from being caught in the flames.
Note that cooking on the plancha is thus more secure.
All you have to do is brown the duck breast for a few minutes, then cut it into slices.
Its slices must then be placed on the griddle and turned over for about 2 minutes, until they turn pink.
In video, four tips for successful cooking of poultry
What is the duck breast "in two cookings"?
In addition to cooking in the oven, on the frying pan and on the barbecue, there is a fourth technique: the duck breast in two cookings.
It is in fact a question of cooking the duck breast simultaneously in the frying pan and in the oven.
We start by putting the duck breast skin side down in a frying pan and cooking it over low heat for 2-3 minutes.
This melts the fat and gives the duck breast a golden color.
Then put it in the oven at 220°C for 6 minutes if you want a duck breast still pink, 8 minutes for it to be ready.
This cooking method is recommended by Philippe Etchebest.
How can you be sure that a duck breast is well cooked?
It all depends on the degree of cooking you want.
For a well-cooked duck breast, the flesh should be uniform in color.
In the case of a duck breast cooked to perfection, it is pink in the center;
finally, the heart of a rare duck breast is red.
It is therefore enough to cut the duck breast to know if the cooking corresponds to what was expected.
