Name: Crisp Roast Duck
Cook time: 15 minutes
Total time: 2 hours 45 minutes
Yield: 4 servings
Ingredients: 1 (5- to 6-lb) Pekin duck (also known as Long Island duck); 2 cups boiling-hot water; 1 tablespoon kosher salt; 1 teaspoon black pepper

Photo of roast duck carved and served on a platter with a bitter greens and orange salad on the side.

Photo by Chelsea Kyle, Prop Styling by Nathaniel James, Food Styling by Simon Andrews

Active Time
15 minutes
Total Time
2 hours 45 minutes

While a whole roast duck might seem like a special-occasion dish—something you’d serve for Christmas dinner or order in certain Chinese restaurants—it’s actually very simple to make. If you can prepare a Thanksgiving turkey (or even a roast chicken), you can cook a whole duck. In some ways, cooking duck is easier than cooking chicken: Thanks to duck fat, the bird’s breast meat is less prone to drying out, making it easier to achieve crispy duck skin and juicy meat.

This simple main dish uses a technique common in traditional Peking duck recipes: dousing it with boiling water. Pouring hot water over a room-temperature duck tightens its skin, which starts it on its journey toward becoming that coveted crispy skin. (Afterward, you’ll need to pat the duck cavity and surface with paper towels to dry them thoroughly.) Then all you need to do is season the bird and roast it at high heat, flipping it occasionally, until the internal temperature of the duck meat reaches 135°F for medium-rare (or to your desired doneness).

Wondering what side dishes to make alongside this roast duck recipe? Start with a sweet-tart plum applesauce. We also love this dish with garlicky green beans, a bittersweet endive and orange salad, and savory scallion pancakes, soft Mandarin pancakes, or fluffy Parker House rolls.

Ingredients

4 servings

1 (5- to 6-lb) Pekin duck (also known as Long Island duck)

2 cups boiling-hot water

1 tablespoon kosher salt

1 teaspoon black pepper

Preparation

Step 1
Put oven rack in middle position and preheat oven to 425°F.
Step 2
If necessary, cut off wing tips with poultry shears or a sharp knife. Remove and discard giblet bag and excess fat from body cavity and neck, then rinse duck inside and out. Prick skin all over with a sharp fork. Fold neck skin under body, then put duck breast-side up on a rack in a 13- by 9- by 3-inch roasting pan and pour boiling-hot water over duck (to tighten skin). Cool duck, then pour out any water from cavity into pan. Pat duck dry inside and out, reserving water in pan, then rub duck inside and out with kosher salt and pepper.
Step 3
Roast duck breast-side up 45 minutes, then remove from oven. Turn duck over using 2 wooden spoons so that the duck legs are exposed, and roast 45 minutes more. Turn duck over again (breast-side up), tilting duck to drain any liquid from cavity into pan. Continue to roast duck until skin is brown and crisp, about 45 minutes more (total cooking time: about 2¼ hours). Tilt duck to drain any more liquid from cavity into pan. Transfer duck to a cutting board and let stand 15 minutes before carving. Reserve pan juices for another use.

Editor’s note: This recipe was originally printed in the September 2006 issue of ‘Gourmet’ and first appeared online in August 2012. Head this way for more of our best Christmas dinner ideas →

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Reviews (129)

Just reading the recipe for the first time, I knew something was serious;y wrong. The time and temp didn't makes sense. Instead, I followed the suggestion of Thinking Out Loud - Toronto, ON, Canada, and got a terrific duck that was perfectly cooked and beautifully browned allover. The recipe as published would have been a total disaster. I like my duck medium/ medium-rare, NOT cremated as it would have been with the epicurious recipe. Thank you, Thinking Out Loud.
- StuKin
- CT
- 12/2/2023
What I did differently from the recipe was to dry brine the duck the day before. After it is thawed, coat the duck in coarse salt, wrap it in tin foil, and refrigerate until the next day. Then I followed the recipe as stated. It came out great. The best duck I had ever made. Will do it again! I will also try it with goose and turkey, which I have also been dry-brining for a couple of years now.
- SpeedyMcTaylor
- Los Angeles
- 11/24/2023
After 90 minutes of roasting, the internal temperature was 190 deg F. The duck was completely over-cooked and dry I will need to search for another recipe.
- Josephine
- Santa Fe, NM
- 10/17/2023
Confused about directions ... Why should you reserve the water in pan? Do you roast the duck in the reserved water?
- Western Mass Cook
- Western Massachusetts
- 9/27/2023
Great recipe but I didn't need the 3rd turning. 45 minutes on each side worked perfectly at 200C fan.
- Ken
- Oxford
- 1/30/2023
This is the ONLY way I make duck now... the flipping technique- I didn’t use everything else but the 45 min 3x flips ensures it comes out Awesomely Beautiful every time. LOVED IT!!
- The REALIST
- 1/22/2023
I read "discard liquid in pan" and know to throw this recipe out, the same way you throw out the incredibly overcooked duck from this high of a temperature for so long. What absolute trash.
- Rabbi Goldberg
- 11/4/2022
Thanks so much for the recipe, I followed it to the later and my duck came out crispy and very tender and moist on the inside. Though I reduced the oven to 200 mark after heating it up to the initial 425 but did the 45 mins 3x total time of 2.15 hours and it’s delicious. Thanks so much for the guidance ❤️
- Funkie
- Longford, Ireland
- 1/1/2022
WHO THROWS OUT DUCK FAT... Anyone new to cooking duck, read the reviews to get your temp and cooking time. Don't throw out the duck fat, either. Skip the boiling water. Rub the duck all over with coarse kosher salt and let it dry out in the fridge for a few hours or a day, then pat it dry. Put potato chunks, not water, in the bottom of the roasting pan. You'll be glad you did. Duck shouldn't be cooked until well-done, so I wouldn't roast it past 45 minutes to an hour. The meat should still be nice and pinkish, so don't go for 180. Go for more like 150-160 for a nice medium-rare.
- HannahLufromTennessee
- Spring Hill, Tennessee
- 12/19/2021
Wow...this is awful. I followed the recommendations of other reviewers and so I put my thermometer in the thigh. In less than an hour the meat had reached 175 F but the skin was white. So disappointing.
- Anonymous
- Jupiter, Fl
- 11/27/2021
I roast a duck every 2 weeks and here are some tips. Spatchcock the duck (cut it along the spine) and spread it flat. Score the skin lightly (do not cut to through the meat) to allow the fat to release. Pre-heat oven to 425F. Place duck on rack in baking pan. Bake for 90 minutes if you like your bird well done. If you like your meat the way duck is supposed to be eaten, pink, check at the 60 minute mark and continue to bake to likeness. This format reduces the constant opening of the oven door and turning of the duck. It also helps when you are ready to cut the duck into pieces. (For prep of the duck, I usually wash it, dry with a paper towel and then place back in the fridge uncovered to dry out a little bit. This seems to help with the crisp factor instead of having to use the hot water and wait method.)
- Thinking Out Loud
- Toronto, ON, Canada
- 11/16/2021
This is my go to recipe for crispy duck
- Sam
- 10/16/2021
This recipe SUCKS DUCK BALLS. I followed it to a tee and my duck burned before it was halfway through the time the recipe calls for. DO NOT USE THIS RECIPE. Unless you're rolling in cash and love wasting ducks lives by burning them to inedibility.
- Kuliana77
- SLO, Ca
- 6/26/2021
My oven heated to 425° which was amazing since it doesn't like to be told what to do. I felt confident with the timing because my oven was cooperating. At the second 45 minutes the duck temped at 190°. I'm very disappointed. Duck is expensive. NOW I read through the reviews and see the comments about the time/temperature. Argh.
- Minneapolis, MN
- 5/17/2021
I have finally found the definitive recipe for crispy-skinned, delicious duck!! For years, I have tried to roast duck with that perfect, crispy skin and the results have previously been mediocre, at best. Not so this time! The skin was crisped to perfection and the meat was perfectly cooked. My husband raved over this and so did I. Thank you for the best duck recipe ever.
- palateaser
- Long Island, NY
- 12/14/2020