What did you do? How did it come out? I’ve cooked duck breasts before, and I’ve roasted a zillion whole chickens. I want to combine those two bits of culinary knowledge… 
You just roast them. It’s easy and yummy. I like basting them with butter and orange juice.
My dad used to use the pan drippings for spreading on bread. But he was Latvian, and they do that sort of thing.
It was delicious. Stuffed with sage and onion dressing, salted the skin, cooked on a rotisserie. Use a basting brush to spread around the fat that pours out. Cook until the thigh wiggles easily, let rest for 15-20 minutes and have at it.
Be sure to eat some of the skin while it’s hot and crispy.
The first duck I cooked was wild duck, not domestic. I loved it. It was basic roasting, with the cavity filled with celery, onion and apple, to draw out some of the gaminess. I had to baste it more often as well.
So I tried a domestic duck, and did the roasting in the same fashion. It was ok, but much fatter and greasier than the leaner wild bird. The taste of the meat was more bland as well. I cooked it well, but didn’t care for it as much, so after tasting one serving I gave the duck to my grandfather, who liked it domestic as well as wild.
Here is a fairly basic Beijing(Peking) Duck recipe. It takes anywhere from 8-10 hours including prep. time, but I’ve had it in Beijing and it is the tastiest meat I’ve ever had.
Only during wabbit season. I recommend roasting per the above roasting recipe.
There are a lot of ways to roast a duck, but after trying a lot of them I stick to the basic. Pole holes all over the duck with the point of a knife. Maybe 3/4" apart. Place fruit and/or onions in the cavity. Use skewers to pin down the wings and legs. Place on a rack on one side and put in a 350F oven for about 1/2 hour, then the other side for another 1/2 hour, then right side up until the breast meat reaches about 150F, then turn the oven up 400F to crisp the skin and finish until the meat reaches 165. An orange glaze is good, but I prefer currant jelly and basil. Simmer the glaze to reduce it while the duck is finishing, then pour it over the bird. Ducks are very fatty, you may have to drain the pan before turning the heat up to prevent a smoky mess.
I roasted my first duck a couple of months ago, and am looking forward to it again soon, I was thinking about buying one from my farmer next week. I looked up several recipes and YouTube has tons of helpful videos. I took all that and kind of went with something in the middle that seemed to make sense.
I did the same temp/time and trussing as a chicken of the same weight. The differences included poking all over like TriPolar mentioned, and I also scored the fattiest parts, gently splitting skin and fat but not into the muscle, and cooked breast-down on a rack, tuned breast-up only at the end during the final browning. I also drained the fat from the pan a couple times - there’s a lot of it, and it can be saved and used for cooking other things. Really good with roasted red potatoes.
I saved the neck and other innards it came with, froze them, and when I cooked a lamb leg a month later, I ended up making a stew later in the week with some bits of leftover lamb and the leg bone, and on a whim added the whole parts of leftover duck for extra flavor, and man was that a great idea. The stew came out heavenly and I just fished out the parts since I’m not a fan of eating them, and the bits of meat from the neck were a great addition to the lamb.
Oh, I plan on keeping the fat. That’s half the fun! Should I simmer the carcass for stock like I do with chicken bones?
You can. But you’ll end up with this.
Trying to cook a whole duck for the first time? Your goose is cooked.
I went supersimple, just salt and black pepper. Breast side down at 325 F for about an hour and some change, then breast side up at 475 for half an hour more … resting now. Smells fabulous.
OmnomnomnomNOM!
I am so jealous!!!
Hope you’re tucking in and enjoying right now. Sounds delicious!
It was lovely, and I think it’s fun - and educational - to cook and eat new critters. Next time, less time on low heat, and maybe I’ll mess around with a glaze. Oooh and I have lots of chilled fat with which to play.
I found a glaze somewhere that sounded good - lemme see if I can find it… ah, here. This blog was a helpful read before I roasted my first one, lots of pictures. She does a large duck at 300F for four hours to render the most fat possible. I think I did a much shorter time at 350, IIRC. I really should write these things down, now I’ll have to debate with myself before settling on a time and temp that might not be the same one that worked so well. durr.
1/4 cup honey
1/4 molasses
3 Tbls. orange juice
1 Tbls. soy sauce
1 1/2 Tbls. Sriracha chili sauce (adjust to taste)
Combine and simmer in saucepan until it coats the back of a spoon well.
As the OP found out duck is very easy to prepare and delicious when simply prepared.
In the summer coming up , find a friend with a smoker and smoke that whole duck. You lose the crispy sking but get some wonderful flavor.