Smoked Duck Breasts
Charlotte Pike likes to travel, in search of the best food and drinks to recreate in her kitchen.
Duck lends itself very well to smoky flavours. Hot smoking duck breasts in a stove top smoker is a quick way to smoke and transforms the meat into something incredibly special. Smoked duck breasts are especially good served warm or hot.
- Servings 4
Ingredients
For the cure
- 4 duck breasts, skin on
- 30 grams (2½ tablespoons) Demerara sugar
- 30 grams (2 tablespoons) salt
For smoking
- 22.5 ml (1½ tablespoons) hickory, cedar or apple wood chips
Preparation
1. To prepare the meat for smoking, dry the duck breasts using kitchen paper. Make the cure by mixing together the salt and sugar, and rub this over the meat. Place in a covered container in the fridge for at least 30 minutes, but you can leave it for longer if you like. Just before you are ready to smoke the meat, rinse to remove the cure and dry thoroughly.
2. Set up a smoker. When it is ready, add the duck breasts, cover and smoke for 30 minutes.
3. When the duck breasts are smoked, barbeque them until the skin is crisp. Duck can be eaten pink.
Tip: For extra crispy skin, score the skin at 1 cm (⅓ inch) internals using a small, sharp knife before pan frying or baking.
Charlotte Pike
Charlotte Pike is the author of Smoked (2017) and Fermented (2015), which was shortlisted for an André Simon Award, and The Hungry Student Cookbook series (2013), which won an International Gourmand Award. A graduate of the Ballymaloe Certificate Course, Charlotte has contributed to many cookbooks and publications by writing recipes and food styling and occasionally reports on food for BBC Radio. As a deeply passionate advocate of good food, Charlotte spends much of her time travelling the world learning about and searching for the best food and drink, and recreating recipes in her kitchen.
Photo credit: Tara Fisher
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