Free Range Whole Duck with Orange & Apricot Stuffing

This Free-Range Whole Duck comes from a carefully chosen poultry supplier, Creedy Carver, based at Merrifield Farm in Crediton, Devon. Peter and Sue Coleman pride themselves on producing top-quality poultry (Chickens as well as Ducks) whilst maintaining a very sympathetic approach to bird welfare. Their Free-Range Ducks start out in temperature-controlled brooder units; at 28 days old the Ducklings are moved to free-range arks, where the small flocks enjoy daytime access to grassy paddocks, as well as a little pond (actually a repurposed child’s paddling pool). The Ducklings are fed a low density, GM-free diet of corn, vegetable protein, minerals and vitamins, with no antibiotics or growth promoters. This allows the Ducklings to mature at their own, natural pace, and leads to superb quality meat with an outstanding flavour.

Duck is full of flavour and is also quite rich. You won’t need to add any fat when cooking, as the fat under the skin will melt during cooking and baste the meat naturally.

Cook Remove the Duck from the fridge and allow it to come to room temperature; preheat the oven to 190°C/350°F/Gas Mark 4. Place the Duck in a roasting tin, then take a cocktail stick and carefully prick the skin all over the fatty parts of the bird (the breast, and where the breast joins the leg). You just need to pierce the skin, so that the fat beneath it will run as it melts; don’t pierce too deeply, as you don’t want the juices to run out of the meat. Season the skin lightly with salt and pepper, then put the bird into the hot oven. Use the juices to baste the Duck regularly as it cooks, then after about an hour and half check to see if it’s ready by inserting a clean skewer into the thickest part of the leg; if the juices run clear, the Duck is properly cooked. Remove the cooked Duck from the oven, lift it out of the tin and tip it slightly, to pour any melted fat or juices back into the roasting tin (you can use these to make gravy). Let the Duck rest in a warm place for 15 minutes before carving.