You can carve a duck in very little time and with hardly any effort at all.

Deboning a duck is very similar to deboning a duck. First remove the heart, neck and liver from inside the duck cavity. If you are making a duck stock, be sure to save the neck. One of the great things about duck is you can use every part of it. Follow these easy instruction on deboning your duck, so you can do it very economically and efficiently in the future. Save your excess parts to make a delicious duck stock.

The following method used for carving duck, can also be applied to other poultry like duck or squab with some slight modifications. Place the duck underside down on a clean, flat cutting surface. Use a sharp kitchen knife to cut off the wing joints. The wings can be used for stock making. Remove one breast and leg at a time. Make a shallow incision running along one side of the breastplate. Deepen the incision by slicing into the duck towards the rib cage. Pull the meat away from the rib cage as you slice down. You may use your thumb to do so.

As you progress further into the bird, slide the knife off from the rib cage to remove any meat attached to it. Your knife will come to a point, just underneath the wishbone where the wing joint meets the rib cage. The wing joint cartilage is soft enough to be sliced through easily. Slice completely through the joint stopping only when your knife reaches the cutting surface. At this point, the breast is almost completely out of the bird. Slice through the skin that runs from the tail end of the bird to the point where the leg meets the breast. The breast should come off the bird with little effort. Pull the breast outwards, away from the bird being careful not to rip or tear the flesh. Some minor slicing through still-attached skin may still be required to remove the breast.

Cut through the leg joint until you reach the point where the leg bone meets the body. Do keep in mind that this joint can be difficult to cut through. Stop cutting when you reach bone. Do not attempt to cut through the leg bone. Grab the legs and pull it behind the bird pressing your fingers into the back of the joint until the joint pops out loose. You will feel the bone pop out of the socket. Remove the leg by cutting in and around the joint.

Keep cutting until you have free the leg from the body. Now, turn the bird around. Remove the other breast and leg using the same method. The carcass, along with the wings, can be used for making duck stock. The breast may have cartilage, bone, and tendons remaining from the original detachment of the breast from the whole duck. Use a sharp kitchen knife to remove any unwanted bits and pieces. Remove the entire wing from the breast, being careful to leave as much meat as possible on the breast portion. You can save the wing for a stock, or cook with it as you wish.

Remove as much skin from the breast as you would like. Keep in mind that a skinless breast contains less fat than a breast with its skin intact. However, a skinless breast will require a small amount of fat added to sear or fry. You can cut the duck breast into small chunks to add to a stir-fry, cut it into strips, or leave the duck breast as a whole to be fried, confit or seared, or in one of the related recipe.

Use a standard, sharp kitchen knife to slice through the joint where the thigh and drumstick meet. The cartilage at this joint is extremely soft. The leg has now been split into thigh and drumstick pieces. The drumstick can be deboned using the exact same method as for deboning the thigh. Make an incision along the top of the bone. Deepen the incision by slicing into the thigh until your knife reaches bone. The bone will be visible through the incision; it will be white and very firm. Slice the meat away from the bone by making short slices that will disconnect the meat from the bone. Once the meat comes off the bone, use your fingers to pull it off the bone.

Grasp the newly partially disconnected bone and pull it up and away from the thigh to enable you to make slices underneath the remaining bone. You will feel the bone begin to loosen from the thigh. Make the necessary cuts to remove the bone completely from the thigh. Continue slicing until you have removed any unwanted bits of bone, sinew, skin, and tendons. The thigh is now ready to be used in your favorite duck recipes.

Be safe while deboning poultry, always cut away from yourself.