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Cook Duck a Day Ahead of Time?

post #1 of 7
11/2/07 at 12:13am
Thread Starter 
My wife has cooked excellent duck for holidays for years, but always on the same day as the dinner - nice and crisp and juicy.

This year for Thanksgiving, we've been conscripted into a joint family-effort dinner, to provide only the duck, BUT: we are to cook the duck and deliver it to the dinner location the day before the dinner; then they want to warm and serve it the next day.

Those are our marching orders! Now we're wondering if there is any way to "revive" the duck the next day - mainly the juiciness and crispness issues.

Is it possible? Or should we really try to get them to change the plan?
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post #2 of 7
11/2/07 at 4:39am
I suppose you could, but I have no real world experience in doing this.
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post #3 of 7
11/2/07 at 5:58am
There's a difference between serving Duck roasted whole for this purpose and serving it under portion control circumstances in a restaurant. Most often because the duck has been broken down into seperate pieces like Leg/thigh and breast. Then the skin is rendered for use in producing things like confit and the bones are roasted for stock. I did duck at three places I ran over the years. From my experience with it you'll find that what you are asking of the end product is not going to be what you are accustomed to. It will be nothing more than re-heated left overs in it's whole state. You also run the risk of the end product being terribly dry.

There may be some out there that have been adventurous enough to try a day before pre-roasted whole duck. Personally I have never done it. Then again experimentation on your part may yield different results and a perfectly reasonable meal. But it should be approached as an experiment with the chance that something undesireable may happen. I wish I could have been more help.
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post #4 of 7
11/2/07 at 6:33am
Ok, ewwww. You really need to advise a change of plans on that! :blech:
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post #5 of 7
11/2/07 at 1:27pm
Thread Starter 
OK - thanks much. We'll see how it goes. We'll try to renegotiate the dinner plan. If everybody wants to proceed as planned, we'll do it and report back the results!
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post #6 of 7
11/2/07 at 1:30pm
Why don't you do this?

1) Prick some holes in the skin and poach it all the way

2) Roast it in the oven at your final destination
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post #7 of 7
11/4/07 at 12:52am
Thread Starter 

Problem solved

Allright! The plan has changed. We'll cook the ducks here same day and hustle them over to the dinner site. (We'll use previously frozen duck-stock for gravy.) Thanks for the help.
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