Why does chicken have to be well done but duck is rare?

Answer 1

I'm going to wager a guess that it's because duck meat is considered a red meat, not white, like most poultry. If you have eaten duck before, you will know what I mean. Duck meat is dense and dark red/brown when cooked; much like the consistency of a cut of beef. Perhaps because ducks also live in a different environment than commercially raised chickens and the like, there is also a low chance of salmonella infection. Their diets are a bit different than grain fed or even free range poultry (Ducks do eat some greens on land but do a lot of their grazing in the water)!

Just as a side note, duck usually has a thick outer layer of fat (due to ducks being water fowl) that you should leave on when cooking! This keeps the meat moist and juicy, and you can always peel or cut it away from the steak itself when it comes time to eat it.

Hopefully this helps a bit!

Answer 2

water fowl have a different kind of flesh then land birds such as turkey and chicken, so ducks, geese and such can be cooked rare, their meat dosent have the same bacteria as other birds