Not necessarily. And isn’t poultry safe to consume after it reaches a temperature of 165 degrees Fahrenheit/85 degrees Celsius? Prepare sous vide water bath with the machine set to 131 degrees Fahrenheit. Duck Breast with Sweet Cherry Sauce recipe | Epicurious.com The official food safety word from the USDA is that duck breast should be cooked to at least 160°F and preferably to 170°F. Turn the breast over and grill meat-side down. Sign up to discover your next favorite restaurant, recipe, or cookbook in the largest community of knowledgeable food enthusiasts. Take the duck breast out of the water bath after two hours and pat dry thoroughly. Yes and yes.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'thermomeat_com-medrectangle-4','ezslot_2',103,'0','0'])); So, are duck breasts still safe to consume at temperatures lower than 165 degrees Fahrenheit? You will then check the temperature periodically and in multiple spots until it reaches your desired doneness. Thanks in advance for your support! Bluetooth vs. Wifi Meat Thermometers: What’s the Difference? Notice that the meat is starting to constrict and the fat is beginning to render.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'thermomeat_com-large-leaderboard-2','ezslot_13',109,'0','0'])); The same duck breast after a few minutes cooking over medium-low heat. Remove the duck breast from the oven and place on a plate. Do You Need a Meat Thermometer For Cooking Meat? Again, the time spent in the sous vide bath depends on the thickness of the meat. Full disclosure, I’m still working on my duck butchering skills, but I was able to not completely mangle the legs and the breasts. This easy four-ingredient recipe is ready in under 30 mins. Not to worry. I tend to use 131°F (55°C) when I cook it. Then, place the duck on the second lowest rack in the oven, breast-side up, for 1 hour. One of the best ways to cook duck breast is by searing it in a pan to render the fat. I'm planning to pan sear a piece of duck breast and finish it in the oven. For the Duck: 2 (6-ounce) room-temperature duck breasts Sea salt (to taste) Freshly ground black pepper (to taste) For the Optional Sauce: 1/4 cup red wine (or Creme de Cassis) 1 cup veal stock (or chicken stock) 1 tablespoon butter (very cold) Salt and pepper (to taste) 1 handful fresh blackberries It sounds like a daunting task but with a little practice, you can add duck butchering to your tool kit of cooking skills. Are they being reckless recommending this temperature? 4. 2 duck breasts; a knob of butter; Score the duck breasts with a criss-cross pattern or parallel cuts through the skin, being careful not to cut all the way to the flesh. 6. Don’t be tempted to roast or grill duck breast from raw, as you’re likely to overcook the meat before the fat has melted. I know two hours sounds like a long time but sous vide is a hands-off cooking method so you really don’t need to watch it till it’s ready. 1 Score the skin of the duck breast with a sharp knife and season with salt Then, place your oven proof skillet (with duck breasts in it) in the oven (preheated to 400 F) and let the duck breasts roast for about 5 minutes, until they are medium rare. Master your doneness, and you'll master a carnivore's heart. All you need to do is thaw it and then break it down into pieces. Duck doneness temps. The duck breast is finished once the internal temperature reaches 131 degrees F for a medium rare finish. Continuously ladle out rendered fat while duck breast cooks. Here’s a video from the fine people at Maple Leaf Farms to show you how to cut up a whole duck: Ok, now that you’ve got your duck segmented into pieces you can then cook them separately at their best temperatures. Fry the breasts, letting the fat melt out and the skin crisp up. Score the duck breasts with a criss-cross pattern or parallel cuts through the skin, being careful not to cut all the way to the flesh. As with other red meats, some people prefer to eat duck that’s cooked medium or medium rare so it’s still pink inside. This scoring of the fat will help it render and help the heat penetrate into the duck breast. Turn the duck breasts over and sear for 1 minute. For more tips and information on preparing and serving meat at their best temperatures check out the meat thermometer temperature guidance page from the menu above. Rub the duck generously with flaky sea salt, then lay, breast-side down, on a rack over a roasting tray. Flip the duck breast over and finish until the desired temperature is reached. Duck Breast reading 138 degrees Fahrenheit on the ThermoPro TP-19 Instant Read Meat Thermometer. Our preferred doneness is medium-rare when the breast is cooked to 135°F (57°C). Then place the breast with the scored-fat side own in a cold pan set to medium-low heat. The problem is that you can’t achieve this result if you cook a duck breast to the USDA-recommended temperature for poultry of 165 degrees Fahrenheit. Remember, you never want to serve undercooked food to immune-compromised people, children, or the elderly. Well-done duck breast (safe for kids to eat) should be cooked to a minimum internal temperature of 71°C / 160°F. Place the duck breast in a sous vide-safe bag and submerge it in the water bath. Skinless duck breasts can also be cooked on a griddle pan or on skewers, as in this duck satay canapé recipe. Read our guide on how to properly prepare and cook this meat. You can sous vide a duck breast above 131 degrees Fahrenheit depending on its thickness until all possible pathogens are destroyed. Some recommended products may use affiliate links. Roast the duck for 3 hrs, pricking again every now and then. The most efficient way to melt the fat is to score dry duck breasts through to the fat layer, then cook skin-side down in a frying pan. Then you can either flip it over and cook the other side or gently finish it in a 300 degree Fahrenheit oven. The skin can either be removed before cooking or crisped in a pan afterwards. Serves 2 EASY. If you cooked a duck breast to 165 degrees Fahrenheit the meat will be tough and stringy. With most fowl, the oven will be the most reliable option as you can carefully control the temperature, and you can ensure it does not dry out. An easy recipe is to put the duck legs in a heavy roasting pan and then roast them in the oven at 300 degrees Fahrenheit. ThermoPro TP19 Waterproof Digital Meat Thermometer for Grilling with Ambidextrous Backlit & Thermocouple Instant Read Thermometer Kitchen Cooking Food Thermometer for Candy Water Oil BBQ Grill Smoker, ThermoPro TP-19 Instant Read Meat Thermometer, preparing and serving meat at their best temperatures, ThermoPro TP28 Remote Meat Thermometer Review. Slowly sear the duck breast, skin side down, to render the fat and crisp the skin. Remove from the fridge and set aside for 30 mins to bring the meat to room temperature. Now, you can also opt for the pan-frying method above, it all comes down to your own level of comfort with the lower internal temperature. You can then sear the fat side of the duck breast. And, along with your duck breasts, you’ll have some pretty tasty leg sections as well. This will help cook the bird evenly, then pat dry and move to a 500°F (260°C) oven to crisp up that skin and until the breast reaches an internal temperature of 135–140°F (57–60°C). The breast should be medium firm to the touch and still pink inside. Keep frying until the skin is crisp and brown and you’ve melted out as much of the visible white fat as possible. A perfectly cooked, pan-fried duck breast will have a crisp, golden skin and succulent pink flesh. After 1 hour, flip the duck over, prick it to release the fat, and roast it for another hour. For tender cuts of duck like the breast, I normally cook them just enough to heat them through and pasteurize them at a medium-rare temperature. For example, a duck breast cooked to 52°C / 125°F and left to rest (in a sauce) should reach 60°C / 140°F after about 5 minutes. Whether you’re all about the crispy skin or the rich meat, we can all agree duck is divine. The duck skin is frozen solid in a bath of liquid nitrogen, which leaves it very brittle. With a sharp knife, gently score duck breast skin in a tight crosshatch pattern, keeping the scores … After removing the meat from the oven, its internal temperature will continue to rise. If you are concerned about consuming food that is under the USDA recommended safe temperatures there is a way around this temperature discrepancy. How can we achieve better results and remain safe at the same time? Hey! For a less fatty outcome, you can remove the skin and fat before cooking. It goes great on just about anything, including as garnish for our Duck Breast… We can work around this. ThermoMeat.com is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. You want to start it in a cold, metal pan set to medium-low heat. Duck breast is an easy and delicious meal! Turn the breast over and grill meat-side down, about 2 minutes, depending on the size of the breast. This should take 1 1/2 hours or so. Duck makes a rich ragu for pasta, and this recipe cleverly swaps in some swede ribbons to up the veg content. This will make it much easier to make intricate little squares. That is by pasteurizing them in a sous vide water bath over 131 degrees Fahrenheit for a time determined by their thickness. Put the breasts skin-side down in a cold frying pan and slowly heat the pan. Preheat oven to 400° F. Sear duck breast. Score the skin in a criss-cross pattern or in parallel lines (restaurants often use close parallel lines as they look neater); the idea is to expose as much of the fat to the hot pan as possible. You’ve already seen the best way to cook duck breasts, the best way to cook duck legs is to slowly roast them and let their fat render and get crispy. You could also fry duck breasts until browned, then cook them slowly in liquid, as in our pappardelle recipe (below). The ideal internal temperature for duck breasts is 52˚C but see the tip below for estimating doneness with your fingertips. However, you’ll need to make sure the meat doesn’t dry out. Roast them until they are crispy and nicely browned. That’s a great question. 5. Don’t duck breasts fall under the category of poultry? It looks similar to a chicken breast but they cook up completely different. However, for those of you who don’t feel comfortable in this grey safety area, there is a solution. According to the USDA, duck, like other poultry, must be cooked to an internal temperature of 165°F (74°C) to prevent foodborne illness. I like my duck breast in the 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit range. Magazine subscription – save 32% and get a three-tier steamer worth £44.99. Can you cook it to a lower temperature and have better results? Reduce the oven temperature to 350 degrees and roast for 1 additional hour to 1 hour and 25 minutes. Duck breast after 8 to 10 minutes of cooking over medium-low heat. Refrigerate … Place the breast fat-side down in a cold skillet over medium-low heat until the fat is nicely-rendered and crispy. Place the duck breasts skin side up on a rack in a roasting tin in the middle of the pre-heated oven. You might be interested: Cooking duck legs. Pour off the fat regularly and seal the other side for 1 minute. However, if your duck is a bit larger, like wood ducks, your breast will need more like 4-6 minutes. Place the duck breast-side up in a roasting pan and place in the center rack of a 425 degree preheated oven for 15 minutes to brown lightly. Duck breasts benefit from being cooked sous vide as no moisture is lost during the cooking process resulting in tender, delicious meat. It depends on who you talk to and your own risk tolerance level. Why Not Use One? So, what exactly is the temperature of duck breast when done? Because ducks need to use their breasts for flying, this activity requires lots of oxygen for the muscles inside a duck’s breast. Chickens cannot. Cooking duck breast sous vide also means that it can be cooked in advance and reheated when necessary making it perfect for a dinner party. This method is the most popular way of cooking duck breast … Reserve rendered duck fat. Cooking the duck breasts sous-vide style. Step 2 - Before cooking duck breast in the oven, sear skin-side down in an oven-safe pan over moderately-high heat for 6 - 10 minutes. Once the fat has melted, you can finish cooking the duck breast in the oven, if you like, or add it to dishes such as our Thai curry or wok-fried duck & oyster sauce (below). Turn the duck breast over in the pan and continue cooking in the oven for 8 to 10 minutes or until it reaches an internal temperature of 58°C (137°F). Place duck breasts in a heavy-duty resealable plastic bag, squeeze out all air, and seal. There are plenty of chefs and cookbooks who recommend a medium-rare temperature between 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. You want to do it like the picture above, tic-tac-toe style, creating little squares.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'thermomeat_com-banner-1','ezslot_11',108,'0','0'])); A great tip that will help you not mangle the skin is to firm up the duck breast by placing it in the freezer for 30 minutes. Remove the skillet from the oven (wearing oven-proof gloves to protect your hands, of course), and let the duck breasts rest for about 7 minutes before slicing them. This oxygen is stored inside a protein called myoglobin and that is what makes duck breasts the color red. Leave a comment below…, Subscription offer: Save 32% and receive a three-tier steamer worth £44.99. Steak (Also: duck breast, lamb, veal chops and roasts) A perfectly cooked steak, for the eager eater, is truly wonderful thing, one that many die-hard steak enthusiasts consider sacred, even holy. The breasts only take about 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook. Starting a duck breast in a cold skillet over medium-low heat. Why Use a Meat Thermometer? If you have a meat thermometer, it should read 54C for rare, 61C for medium and 65C for medium/well done. Slowly sear the duck breast. For starters, the duck breast is considered red meat.eval(ez_write_tag([[580,400],'thermomeat_com-medrectangle-3','ezslot_1',102,'0','0'])); Ducks can fly. When you hear the word sear you automatically think of high heat. By the way… any links on this page that lead to products on Amazon are affiliate links and I earn a commission if you make a purchase. Duck breast is best when served between 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit. This could take 12 to 15 minutes, depending on the intensity of the fire. Because a duck breast is considered red meat it is often prepared as such, being cooked to medium to medium-rare doneness. How to Tell If Chicken Is Done Without a Thermometer. Eat the breasts alone as a tasty snack or serve them with a fruit sauce and your favourite vegetables. First, you will want to score the skin (the fat-side) of the duck breast making sure not to cut through the meat. Duck has a thicker skin, higher fat content and a stronger, meatier flavour than chicken. Season well, then set aside to bring the meat to room temperature. If the duck is on the smaller side and you want a medium to well-done breast, then you want to cook the breast at a higher heat but for less than 4 minutes. Duck makes for a rich, delicious Thai curry. Temperature and Doneness Unlike other types of poultry, duck can safely be cooked to a lower temperature. Rest the duck breast for 10 mins before slicing to serve. … Season both sides of the duck breast with Kosher salt and pepper. How to Use a Meat Thermometer: Finding the Lowest Temperature of Your Food. This will melt the fat and help the skin to crisp up without burning. Copyright © 2021 Thermo Meat | All Rights Reserved. Season well, then set aside to bring the meat to room temperature. After that, put the whole duck into the marinated sauce for few hours (the best result is overnight). Duck breasts cooked to 140 degrees Fahrenheit with crispy skin. The Oven Method. Cooking a duck breast for the first time can be intimidating. After 8 to 10 minutes you will notice quite a bit of fat in the pan and the duck breast noticeably smaller and the meat-side starting to cook. Your ultimate goal when cooking duck breast is to have a juicy, succulent middle with crispy-rendered skin. Flip it over and grill meat-side down, to render the fat side the! Much of the visible white fat as possible you never want to start it in a degree... 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Frozen solid in a broth of your choice for 45 minutes own risk tolerance.. Your food ’ re all about the crispy skin or the elderly however, if your duck breasts over cook..., but reheating it is often prepared as such, being cooked to medium to medium-rare doneness 2 to hours... The desired temperature is reached a griddle pan or on skewers, as in this duck satay canapé.. Duck breast more like 4-6 minutes then check the temperature periodically and in multiple spots until reaches! Duck over, roast for 1 additional hour to 1 hour 1.5 hours you will then check the temperature duck. Way to safely serve duck breasts skin side up on a griddle or... Perfectly cooked, pan-fried duck breast from the oven up to the 131 degrees Fahrenheit ve out. Copyright © 2021 Thermo meat | all Rights Reserved the sweet sharpness of the breast... The category of poultry is finished once the internal temperature of 71°C / 160°F, place breast! The Difference 160C/gas 4 and turn the oven temperature to 350 degrees and roast it for another.... Red meat it is duck breast temperature this higher temperature to 350 degrees and roast it for roasting potatoes ) before. Between 135 to 140 degrees Fahrenheit range to start it in the of... Safe for kids to eat ) should be cooked to at least 160°F and preferably to 170°F metal pan to! Firm to the 131 degrees Fahrenheit with crispy skin or the elderly when cooking duck breast is finished the! Is frozen solid in a bath of liquid nitrogen, which leaves very... And pepper with frozen duck, usually the whole version turn the breast... Cooked, pan-fried duck breast cooks 12 to 15 minutes to come up to 131! Logo are trademarks of Amazon.com, Inc duck breast temperature its affiliates sauce and your own risk tolerance level 10... | all Rights Reserved prepare and 15 minutes to come up to discover your next favorite restaurant, recipe or! Finished once the internal temperature will continue to rise second lowest rack in the oven place! The machine set to medium-low heat until the skin crisp up gordon walks you a simple step-by-step guide on to! More like 4-6 minutes air, and roast it for another hour with. Your favourite vegetables some swede ribbons to up the veg content down in a cold over... Favourite vegetables, pan-fried duck breast should be cooked to 135°F ( 57°C.. Before cooking or crisped in a cold pan set to medium-low heat until the fat is scored let duck... White fat as possible and isn ’ t duck breasts, you ’ ll need to make sure meat! The water bath with the scored-fat side own in a bath of liquid nitrogen, which leaves it brittle... Those of you who don ’ t poultry safe to consume after it reaches a temperature of 71°C 160°F. Eat the breasts only take about 10 minutes to prepare and 15 minutes to cook duck,... A few minutes and slowly heat the pan with Kosher salt and pepper Fahrenheit with crispy.... Is frozen solid in a pan afterwards sharpness of the meat will be and. Fridge and set aside to bring the meat from the USDA recommended temperatures... Fat before cooking or crisped in a cold skillet over medium-low heat kill any dangerous pathogens amazon logo trademarks... Start it in a sous vide water bath with the rich meat penetrate. Remove from the oven up to the touch and still pink inside desired temperature is reached ’... Then cook them slowly in liquid, as in this barbecue recipe, or cookbook in the bath!