Air Fryer Duck Breast
Air Fryer Duck Breast
Air-fryer duck breast is a shortcut to the classic Danish roast duck. Instead of roasting a whole duck for hours, you get crisp skin and juicy meat in under half an hour. The dish belongs to Christmas food and mortensaften (St Martin’s Eve), but a couple of duck breasts in the air fryer are easy enough for a perfectly ordinary evening.
The skin is scored in a crosshatch or stripes, without cutting down into the meat, and the breast is salted and placed in the basket skin side up. It is cooked in two stages: first at a lower temperature, then turned up, so the skin turns crisp. Crisp skin requires the skin to be dry and well scored before it goes into the air fryer.
Go by the internal temperature rather than the time alone, since breasts vary a lot in size. Duck breast can safely be served pink — it is only poultry like chicken that must be cooked through. Take the breast out at around 150°F (66°C) for pink, or let it reach 160-165°F (72-75°C) if you want it well done.
Serve with red cabbage, caramelized potatoes and boiled potatoes. If you put water and aromatics in the bottom of the air fryer while the breast cooks, you get roasting juices that can be simmered into a duck gravy.
Ingredients
Serves 3-4
The duck breast
- 2 duck breasts with skin, about 300 g each, fully thawed
- 1-2 tsp coarse salt
- freshly ground pepper
- 1-2 tsp neutral oil (rapeseed or sunflower)
- 1 tsp dried thyme (or rosemary), optional
The duck gravy
- ½ l boiling water
- 1 onion (about 100 g), in rough pieces
- 2-3 cloves garlic
- 2 bay leaves
- a few sprigs of fresh thyme
- 8-10 peppercorns
Directions
The duck breast
Take the duck breasts out of the refrigerator about 20-30 minutes before cooking. Pat the skin completely dry with paper towel. Score the skin in a fine crosshatch or stripe pattern with a sharp knife — cut only through skin and fat, not down into the meat.
Rub the breasts with a little oil and sprinkle generously with salt and pepper, and dried thyme or rosemary if you like. Rub the salt into the skin, and let them rest for 10 minutes for crisper skin.
Place the duck breasts in the basket skin side up. Cook at 355°F (180°C) for 8-10 minutes.
Turn up to 390°F (200°C) and cook on for 5-7 minutes, until the skin is crisp. Large breasts over about 300 g may need a couple of minutes more.
Check the internal temperature with a meat thermometer in the thickest part. Take the breasts out at about 150°F (66°C) for pink — the meat carries over to around 155°F (68°C) during the rest — or let them reach 160-165°F (72-75°C) for well done.
Let the duck breasts rest for 5-7 minutes loosely covered with foil. Cut them into thin slices across the grain.
The duck gravy
Before you cook, pour ½ liter of boiling water into the bottom of the air fryer and add the onion, garlic, bay leaves, thyme and peppercorns. This gives you roasting juices while the breast cooks.
Strain the aromatics from the roasting juices, bring the juices to a boil, and thicken them into a gravy. Season with salt and pepper, and serve with the duck breast.
Notes
The internal temperature is the reliable guide — air fryers and breast sizes vary a lot, so the times above are approximate.
A one-stage alternative for a smaller breast of about 300 g: preheat the air fryer, and cook at 390°F (200°C) for about 10 minutes skin side up. Go by the internal temperature.
The skin only turns really crisp if it is dry and well scored before cooking.
See Also
Braised Red Cabbage
