Impress your family and friends with this Plum Glazed Smoked Duck Breasts Recipe. You couldn’t get a better tasting duck breast at the best restaurants in the world. The Asian inspired plum sauce gives the roasted duck a great crusty surface and adds a sweet flavor. Baste the duck during the last hour of smoking, or the last 30 minutes of grilling. Remember that the best thing to do is to slow cook it.
Most people like duck medium rare, but if you prefer it well done, take them out when the internal temperature reaches 170 degrees. I let the internal temperature get to 170 degrees and it was the juiciest duck I’ve ever eaten.
Ingredients
For the brine
one quart of apple juice or cider
1/4 cup kosher salt, or 3 Tbs canning salt
1 bay leaf, crushed
1 clove of garlic, crushed
1/2 teaspoon peppercorns, cracked
For the glaze
• 1/2 cup plum jelly
• 4 cloves garlic
• 1 tablespoon fresh ginger
• 1 tablespoon soy sauce
• 1 tablespoon fresh ground black pepper
Directions
Remove the bone and skin from the duck breast halves. Rinse well.
Mix the brine ingredients, making sure the salt is completely dissolved. This will be enough brine for up to 1 and 1/2 pounds of duck breast halves. Soak the duck in the brine at least two hours, and overnight if possible (12 hrs maximum).
After brining, give the duck a quick rinse and then pat dry with paper towels. If you would like, coat each breast half with melted bacon grease. I choose not to do this but it would be extra tasty if you did.
Place the duck breasts into your Bradley at 225 F for approximately two hours, depending on the size of the breast sections. I used a mixture of Alder and Pecan bisquettes.
