Creedy Carver Free Range Duck Legs 450g

Founded in 1985, Creedy Carver has specialised in producing the finest Free Range Duck and Chicken for over 30 years with a reputation for great flavour and a high meat yield. The concept is the same now as it has always been, to produce great tasting poultry with a huge emphasis on bird welfare and sustainable farming.

Weight: 450g aprox

Packaging: Vacuum-sealed, chilled

Origin: Cornwall, UK (Primrose Herd)

Storage: Keep refrigerated below 4°C.

Delivery : Please note: Creedy Carver duck is butchered to order in batches and despatched from Primrose Herd weekly on Fridays, for Saturday next-day delivery. Orders placed after Wednesday will not be dispatched until the next Friday, so depending on when you order, please allow for a slightly longer wait time for delivery.

Delivery to Mainland UK only (excluding NI). Shipped via express delivery in high-quality packaging and insulation.

👨🍳 Chef’s Tip: Master Cooking Free-Range Duck Legs

Free-range duck legs are packed with deep, gamey flavour and rich subcutaneous fat, but because the leg muscles work hard, roasting them quickly turns them tough and stringy. The secrets to success are dry-curing with salt and herbs overnight to draw out moisture, slow-braising or confiting low and slow until the meat pulls away from the bone, and blasting the skin at high heat at the very end for crisp skin.

1. Dry-Cure Overnight for Flavour and Tenderness

Duck leg meat benefits enormously from an advance salt cure, which seasons the meat right to the bone and firm up the flesh.

• Mix 1 tbsp coarse sea salt with 2 crushed garlic cloves, 3 sprigs of fresh thyme, 1 crumbled bay leaf, and ¼ tsp cracked black pepper.

• Rub the salt mixture all over the free-range duck legs. Cover and refrigerate for 12 to 24 hours.

• Before cooking, rinse off the salt thoroughly under cold running water and pat the legs bone-dry with kitchen paper.

2. Score the Skin Without Piercing the Meat

Free-range duck legs have a thick layer of fat underneath the skin that needs to render out during cooking.

• Prick the skin all over with a sharp skewer or use a sharp knife to score a fine criss-cross pattern into the fat.

• Take care to cut only through the skin and fat, avoiding the red meat underneath. Scoring gives the melting fat an escape route, preventing the legs from boiling in trapped grease.

3. Low and Slow Braise or Slow-Roast (150°C / Fan 130°C)

Slow cooking is essential to break down the dense connective tissue in free-range legs into silky gelatin.

• Classic Confit / Slow-Roast Method: Place the cured legs skin-side up in a small, deep baking dish where they fit snugly. Cover tightly with foil and roast at 150°C (Fan 130°C / Gas Mark 2) for 2 to 2.5 hours. The duck will render its own fat and gently poach in it.

• Braising Alternative: Alternatively, sear the legs in a dry pan to render fat, then braise nestled in red wine, chicken stock, star anise, and orange zest for 2 hours in a low oven.

4. High-Heat Blast for Shatteringly Crisp Skin

When cooked low and slow, the skin will be soft and pale. You must finish with a flash of high heat to transform it into crackling skin.

• Carefully lift the tender duck legs out of their rendered fat or braising liquid using a slotted spatula.

• Place skin-side up on a wire rack over a baking tray and blast at 220°C (Fan 200°C / Gas Mark 7) for 15 to 20 minutes until the skin turns deep mahogany-brown and blistered.

5. Save the Rendered Liquid Gold

Never pour away the fat rendered from free-range duck legs.

• Strain the golden duck fat through a sieve into a clean jar and store it in the fridge for up to 3 months.

• Use it as the ultimate cooking fat for making roast potatoes, frying parsnips, or searing steaks.