Hi, I just attempted to pan sear duck breast for the second time and for some reason it continues to come out rather tough. On the first occasion I placed the duck breast in the heated pan skin side down for approximately 5 minutes, turned over for around 3 minutes and finished in my toaster oven at 350 for maybe another 5 minutes. I attained a wonderful crisped skin but the duck was tough and appeared to be overcooked. Realizing that most recipes call for cooking to rare or medium rare, I followed a youtube recipe from gordon ramsey. He placed the breast in an unheated pan skin side down (his thinking being that a hot pan would seal in fat and inhibit fat rendering) for around 4 minutes, turn over for around 2 minutes and into a 200 degree oven skin side down) for 6-8 minutes. Personally, i think the breast should be placed in the oven skin side up so as to maintain the crispness. I felt the skin had lost some crispness as a result of juices possibly coming down from the meat of the breast into the skin?

At any rate, the duck breast was indeed cooked to rare on the second occasion, but not any less tough. On both occasions I was able to attain a wonderful crisp skin, but the chewiness was just nasty. I always find it very frustrating when I don't understand the mechanics of where I go wrong while ruining a dish. If I understand where I went wrong and learn from it I have no problem. It's always when I think I did everything right and it still comes out like crap that frustrates me. Any insight regarding cooking a tender duck breast would be greatly appreciated, thanks...Paul.

I suggest rendering the fat, skin side down, then flipping it over and roasting it in the oven at 350F. Cooking it rare will make it chewy, well done and it can be tough. That is why it is best to cook it rose or pink and let the breast rest for about 10 minutes, ( reheat it if necessary) and slice it in "aiguiette" French for long thin slices. Try that, but do know that it will never be as tender as beef tenderloin. If it is still really tough, it may be due to the meat itself. You may want to try getting the meat from another butcher or try a different brand/farmer. Hope this helps!

Thank you for the response. The quality of the duck breast is definitely not the issue, I have to own this own. As far as resting goes, I only rested it for 2 minutes and I wonder if that has any bearing on the tenderness? What times would you recommend for the pan portion and for the oven portion?

How long the duck will take in the pan and then in the oven will depend on how thick the breast and how thick the fat cap is. This is where your visual cues come in. Once the fat looks like it has crisped up then transfer it to the oven. Once it is cooked to your liking, it's done. How long will that take? That depends again on how thick the breast is and how you like it done.

Resting the meat will indeed allow the fibers to relax and it will also prevent the juices from running out all over the plate. See the Drill-down called "Why Rest Meat" for more information.

And for more information on cooking duck breast you may want to watch/review this Rouxbe recipe. Cheers!