Advice needed for crispy duck

I have duck for Christmas, been having it for the past few years. I've never been bothered whether it's crispy or not, as long as it was cooked, I was good. However, this year I have a friend joining us for Christmas and I want an impressive bird.

Anyone got advice on how to make it nice and crispy? I've been googling. One place recommended that I score it and prick it and then flip it over every hour for 4 hours.

Which then begs another question, is it best to flip a bird over over once in awhile?

Any advice will be appreciated. x

I've never cooked duck but my general rule is to cook the bird at about 160c until the required internal temp is reached then whack up the heat to 220 for about 20-30 minutes to crisp the skin.

Not sure if that would work with duck, though.

Rinse in hot water, as hot as you can stand it, this tightens up the skin. Pat it dry with kitchen towel.
Prick it all over. Make a marinade of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and five spice and rub this in about 24 hours before cooking. If you can hang the bird up and brush marinade on every few hours....if not then leave in fridge.

I've cooked it like this a few times and it's been lovely and crisp.

aye the biggest thing is to not prick it at all as suggested

aye the biggest thing is to not prick it at all as suggested

Why is that? I thought pricking was to get all the fatty bits out as they're chock full of it..

I always prick it before dousing it with hot (almost boiling) water. Then I only flip it once - about half-way through. Mmm... my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Always nice and crispy!

I always prick it before dousing it with hot (almost boiling) water. Then I only flip it once - about half-way through. Mmm... my mouth is watering just thinking about it. Always nice and crispy!

So, would you start it out breast side down and then flip it half way through so that it the breast part browns?

Yep - breast side down till the halfway flip.

PS Not that you asked, but the best potatoes I ever ate in my life were roasted in the duck juice while the bird was cooking. I cut them up, boiled them for a few minutes, then tossed them into the already-scalding oil under the duck for the last 40 minutes or so. So, so good.

Thanks for the advice everyone. The duck turned out perfectly.