Bring clean steel or cast iron pan to cook the breasts. Non-stick pans would work too but they won’t give you as good results as the steel ones.
While starting with a preheated pan would marginally speed up the cooking time, you should start with a cool pan to render as much fat as possible, especially with wild ducks that have a naturally-limited amount of fat.
Dry breasts will result in crispier skin. So, after the breasts thaw, pat them dry with a paper towel.
After starting the heat on low, add 1 teaspoon of olive oil in the pan for store-bought breasts or 2 teaspoons for wild ducks.
Lay the breasts over the pan so that the skin side starts searing, then move around the pan to smear the fat all over the surface. After that, bring the heat to medium-high.
You can also press on the duck using tongs to give them more contact. You’ll notice that the breasts will start to contract and the skin will curl up.
You can press them for 30 to 60 seconds but you release the pressure if the oil added starts smoking.
After giving the duck breasts the initial sear, you’ll need to let the breast cook for a while on a medium sizzle.
Keep in mind that for a pan-seared duck breast, you should do most of the cooking on this side rather than the other one.
For a wild duck breast, you’ll need anywhere between 2 to 4 minutes while cooking the skin side on medium to high heat.
However, the fattier the duck, the longer it’ll take to reach your desired cooking level. Ideally, a larger store-bought duck with lots of fat might require a couple of minutes more.
Since this recipe also works with goose breasts, you might want to let it sear for a little while longer to render goose fat, which is anywhere 10 to 15 minutes.