How to Break Down a Duck

Credit: Todd Coleman

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Bird Breakdown

by Hunter Lewis

With a whole duck, "nothing goes to waste except the beak," says Ariane Daugin, owner of the New Jersey–based meat and poultry supplier D'Artagnan. We agree. To make duck à l'orange, we recommend butchering a whole Pekin so you can sauté the breasts and braise the legs, basting them with the rendered fat, and use the wings and carcass to make the sauce. Here's how.

1.Place the duck breast side down on a cutting board. Using a small knife, make a cut underneath one of the wings and grasp it with your free hand to pull it away from the body. Cut under and around the joint to remove the wing. Repeat the process with the remaining wing; set both wings aside to brown with the carcass in a skillet or to roast in the oven to use as a base for a rich, flavorful duck stock in which to braise the duck legs.