Coshon's Sweet Heat Drunken Duck

Hafa Adai everyone. My good buddy Coshon DeLusher, from Louisiana, developed this fantastic recipe for beer can duck. You have got to see this.
Coshon is Cajun and tells me that Cajuns are regarded as culinary innovators world-wide. Of course here on Guam we know Cajuns as those alligator catching folk on the History Channel, "Swamp People". But we also know them to be down to earth country folk who love to get together and eat and party just like we do here on Guam. You can see there is not too much difference between us. As the old saying goes, "Same but different!!!".
Here is Coshon's wonderful duck recipe:
Coshon's Sweet Heat Drunken Duck

 

At first glance you may think that doing a beer can duck would be the same as preparing a beer can chicken, but there are many differences that you should be aware of before jumping in head first. Duck is a darker more fatty meat than a chicken which calls for a longer, slower roasting time. So the main thing you need to keep in mind when doing a drunken duck is keeping the heat lower than you would a chicken. Now I have done this 3 other times and have to admit that it is still a work in progress. All of the other times I failed to make the meat spicy enough to warrant the "Heat" tag in the title "sweet heat". I started out with a 5.5 pound mature duck. I prepared my injection for for the bird by boiling 4 sticks of butter, 5 tablespoons of cruched red pepper, 2 tablespoons of cayenne, 1 tablespoon of paprika, and 1 tablespoon of crab boil. After letting the mixture cool I proceeded to divide the liquid in two equal amounts adding half of it into a large ziplock bag. I removed the innards of the duck and put it in the bag to marinate overnight. The next day took the bird out of the fridge and removed it from the bag in order to inject it. When you remove the other half of the marinade that you kept for the injection you will have to toss it in the microwave to liquify it again from it being hardened from the refrigerator.I injected the bird twice in each breast, once in each leg, and once in each thigh. Then coated it with a basic dry rub of paprika, brown sugar, Cayenne, and Tony's. Next I drank half of the beer and added 3 tablespoons of  Tabasco sauce. Can you sense that I was determined to make this bird spicy? 
   Now on to the coals. I arranged my coals in a pile to one side of the pit in order to allow for the duck to be cooked over indirect heat. I inserted the can in the cavity and fixed it upon the grill. I let the duck cook at 300F while I prepared the "sweet" portion of the sweet heat duck. My ingredients for this is fairly simple and it is:  Smucker's Three Fruit Marmalade, brown sugar, honey, paprika, and Sweet Baby Rays BBQ Sauce. These can be mixed according to your taste. I would advise you to add the bbq sauce last and at small amounts until the right taste is acquired. You don't want the bbq sauce to overpower the sweetness of this glaze. You should end up with a really thick glaze to coat your duck with in the end. During the last hour (4th hour) I coated the duck numerous times in order to build up a thick glaze on the skin. I checked the temperature and pulled it when it read 180F. The end result was succulent, golden brown bird with a delicious sweet crust that complimented the spice perfectly. See more photos on our front page - drunkenturkey.com

        Coshon DeLusher

Well, I know you all found this to be quite different than what we do here on Guam, but you gotta try it. And don't forget to have that local island favorite dipping sauce, finadene' on the side. After a couple of bites of this duck and a few "cold ones", you should be ready to "Cha-Cha".

Thanks to Coshon for this delicious recipe. And don't forget to visit his web site for more fantastic beer can bird recipes. Here is his web site: http://drunkenturkey.com

Until next time....