How to cook a very soft and juicy duck in the oven

You don't cook duck because it turns out greasy and tough? Today I offer an original and very simple way to cook a duck so that it is soft and juicy in the oven. For these purposes, we will use sour apples (and acid, as you know, is the most important meat softener). Let's make mashed potatoes from them, spread them in a thin layer under the skin of the duck (I'll show you in detail how to do this - it's actually quite simple). Puree will not only give the duck such softness that the meat literally melts in your mouth, but also remove excess fat.

Ingredients:

duck 1.5-2 kg
apples 3-4 pcs.
salt 2-3 tsp
ground pepper mix

How to cook duck in the oven

Pre-bake a few apples, wipe through a sieve. Pour the resulting puree into a bowl. Apples choose from late varieties and sour. We also need a few fresh apples for stuffing.

Often, many housewives prefer to buy chicken and not fool themselves with cooking. But the chicken is already in our time already of a different structure, it turns out to be dry (homemade). I prefer to cook duck. It may seem to you that it is tough and greasy, but this can be corrected. For the recipe, we need a medium duck (about 2 kg). It is desirable that the bird is not mature (old).

The plucked duck carcass must be doused with boiling water to begin with. It is better to do this in a clean sink. This step will help close the pores on the skin, and when baking the duck will turn out softer and with a beautiful crust.

Gently push the skin on the duck with your fingers, making pockets.

Fill all the sinuses made between the skin and meat of the duck with applesauce, rubbing it into the meat. It turns out that you are marinating a duck. The applesauce will soak the duck well, and it's guaranteed to be juicy and soft. Malic acid destroys fats in our case, it will make the duck less fatty.

Now, season the duck with salt and pepper mixture inside and out and leave for 2-3 hours or overnight in the refrigerator. After that, transfer the duck to a baking sheet. The wings and legs of the duck can be tied to the carcass so that they do not burn when baking. Fill the duck inside with apples cut into large slices. If desired, the duck's abdomen can be sewn up with cooking thread, in case you are worried that the apples will fall out.

In a preheated oven to 200 degrees, send the duck to bake for 1.5-2 hours. Then, every 20 minutes, open the oven a little and pour the duck on top of the rendered fat from the baking sheet. Check the readiness of the duck by piercing in the thickest place with a knife. From the finished duck, clear juice always flows out, and not ichor.