Instructions

1. Separate the skin from the meat the night before cooking the duck. Simply slide your fingers between the skin and the muscles around the cavity end of the duck, then slide them forward as far as you can without tearing through. Use the handle of a long wooden spoon to reach where your fingers can't.

2. Wipe the cavity with a paper towel and reserve the giblets and neck for stock or rendering. Trim off the extra skin hanging from the duck and reserve it for rendering.

3. Set the duck in the refrigerator and let it stand overnight, or at least 12 hours; dry skin equals crisp skin. Take the duck out of the refrigerator about 1 hour before you want to start cooking. Pat the duck dry once more.

4. Score the skin at 1-inch intervals in a diamond, or crosshatch, pattern, using a sharp knife. Season the duck liberally with kosher salt all over and inside the cavity. Tie the legs together, then fold the wings and tuck them under the breast.

5. Heat the oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit. Set the duck breast-side up on an elevated roasting rack or in a pan with a wire roasting rack in it. Place the duck in the oven.

6. Roast the duck for 1 hour, then turn it over in the pan and roast it for another hour. Turn the duck yet again and roast for another hour. Turn the duck over and roast it a final hour, bringing the total active cooking time to 4 hours. Drain the fat from the pan if needed every couple of hours.

7. Turn the duck over so it's breast-side up and set the oven to 400 F. Sear the duck at 400 F until the skin crisps and turns a deep golden brown, about 20 minutes. Take the duck out.

8. Check the thighs with an instant-read thermometer for a temperature of 165 F. Rest the duck for 15 minutes on a carving board before serving.