BBQ Smoked Duck Chinese Style

Servings Prep Time Cook Time

4-6 16 hours 3 hours

Mix the salt and five spice together
Wash and pat dry the duck. Season the duck with the dry mixture all over. Be generous. Place the duck on a tray and place it uncovered in the fridge. Refrigerate for at least 14 hours.
Remove from the fridge and leave to come to room temperature.
Wash the dry brine off the duck thoroughly. Disregard the liquid from the dry brine process.

Place a cooking rack on the top rack position in the oven.
Create a small charcoal fire in one of the back corners of the oven. Light and bring the oven temperature to 90°C. Choke down the oven so that the vents are open to a thumb’s width. The oven temperature will continue to rise to circa 110°C.
Once the temperature rises to 110°C add cherrywood chips or a piece of wood.

Hang the duck from a butcher’s hook in the oven. And cook for at least two hours. The temperature of the oven should hold well during this time. Insert a temperature probe into the flesh at the thickness point. The aim is to slowly reach 70°C internal temperature. Add another cooking rack lower down in the oven to capture all the fat as it slowly renders.

Now you’ve achieved a smoky flavour, it’s time to render more of the fat and colour of the duck. Simply open up the air vents fully. Depending on your charcoal quality and the amount you added, you should be able to bring the fire temperature up with what is in the oven by adding more airflow. If in doubt, add extra charcoal if the temperature doesn’t rise. You want to hit around 200 °C.
Coat the outside of the bird with a layer of hoisin sauce. Add more sauce every 5-8 minutes until you’ve cooked the duck for 30 minutes at 200°C. Take out of the oven and leave to rest for at least 10 minutes. Serve with rice and stir-fried greens with a little dip of hoisin sauce on the side.