Roasting a duck in 4 hours - Quack on a Rack

"Man who waits for roast duck to fly into mouth must wait very, very long time." Jules Renard

I've been thinking about experimenting with a home-made duck confit but I don't know where to buy duck thighs. The aunties and uncles at a few wet markets I went to said it's not worthwhile for them to sell only duck thighs. So this morning, I decided to buy the whole duck and to try to roast the entire bird. I've roasted chickens so many times now but am curious how it would be like with a duck.

In this roasting process, I will aim to collect as much duck fat as possible. They keep for months and are good for using on mashed potatoes instead of butter. I could also keep them for my duck confit if I can get my hands on some duck thighs.

After a few searches on the web, I aggregated the knowledge and did it my own way as follows:

After cleaning duck by rubbing salt all over, with a sharp knife, I make a slit on the skin and fat,
but NOT ON THE MEAT.

Criss-cross the slits

It's easier than it looks. Just be sure to use a sharp knife and run it along smoothly. I also prick holes to allow for more fats to flow out. The more fat you can collect, the better.

I give it another round of salt as a marinade. I've also trussed the leg the same way I trussed the chicken. I set it up on a wire gauze with a tray below lined with foil to catch the melting duck fat. Popped it in the oven at 150C.

After an hour, I turn it over and retain temp at 150C.

After 2 hours, I find a dead alien shoving his fist at me. Am wondering how the meat can be tender since it's starting to dry out and I still have 2 hours to go. I decided to drop temp to 140C.

After three hours, I yank it out to find it's looking like serious business - and it smells marvellous! As I turn it over again and pop it back in for the 4th hour, I prepare the glaze. 

No recipe, just my own concoction - honey, fresh orange juice, Japanese rice wine, light soy sauce, and salt and pepper to taste. I left the orange pulp in there. Place these on a saucepan and simmer (low heat, small bubbles) until the mixture is syrupy. Set aside and wait for the lame duck.

At the 4th hour, I remove the bird and brush my syrup all over and put it back in the oven. So far, so good, and then... I made one costly mistake... 

In the last 5 minutes, I put it on high grill to achieve a crispy effect on the skin. Unfortunately, I also put the bird on the highest level and it burns right before my eyes after only 2 minutes!

I yank the poor bird out quickly and rescue it from further carcenogia. What a pity 'cos I can see the skin is nicely crisped! 4 hours of effort gone to waste from 2 minutes of negligence! Looks like I have to try this again!

Feedback from family: My mom loves it - she said a few times it's really good! My son said it tastes like BBQ pork. I need to do it one more time and make time to plate and present it. 

The duck fat I collected. Now, I'm in a serious relationship with duck fat. It's complicated.

I decided to use the duck fat to make carrot confit for my caregroup tonight - sprinkle with salt and pepper, roast till soft, blend and make into a dip. Add za'atar and ground peanut.

Many people said they couldn't believe I didn't add sugar.

So, it looks like I will definitely have to give this another go but overall, I was happy with this adventure.