To begin, preheat the oven to 350 F, and have your roasting sheet and drip pan ready.

Unlike brining a turkey, you do not need to brine a duck.  Remove the giblets (or in most cases, it will the neck of the duck, placed in paper or plastic) from inside the carcass and set aside. Then rinse the duck inside and outside with water, and pat dry with paper towels.

Place the duck breast side up on the roasting sheet with the drip pan underneath. Carefully take the wings and tuck them underneath. If you don’t know how to do this, check out this Youtube video.,  which shows you how to do this on a chicken, and how to tie up the bird if you prefer (it’s not necessary). Tucking the wings under will make sure the wings don’t get too dried out.

Finally, cover the entire duck from tail to shoulders width-wise with thick-sliced bacon. Do not skip this step. If you skip this step, you may regret this, as the bacon is as crucial as the duck. It’s Bacon Wrapped Duck.

To finish preparing the duck for roasting, sprinkle salt, pepper, and a dried herb (sage, thyme, rosemary are excellent choices), or use lemon pepper.

Roast the duck for 1 -1/2 to 2 hours on 350F. Using a meat thermometer inserted into the deepest part of the meat, the duck is finished cooking when the meat has reached 180 F. Cook a bag of cranberries and use maple syrup for sweetness, according to the cranberry packaging instructions.

No Stuffing Stuffing 

Mix together carrot, celery, fennel, salt and pepper,  and spoon inside duck.

Prepare cranberry sauce with a package of cranberries, two cups of water,  two mandarin orange segments mixed in, and using the InstantPot set on manual cooking for 12 minutes, you will have fresh cranberry sauce. No need for extra sugar, but if you insist, a tablespoon of maple syrup should take a little edge off the tartness.  If you don’t have an InstantPot, follow standard instructions for cooking the cranberries on the stovetop while the duck is roasting.

In the last five minutes of roasting, take a spoon or basting brush and paint on the bacon and exposed duck skin the maple syrup and cranberry sauce.

Remove from heat, remove the vegetables with a spoon and place on a separate dish, and cover the duck with a tent of foil.

If you cut the vegetables finely, they should be mostly cooked all the way through. If not, you will need to pan cook them the rest of the way through, making sure you have heated these thoroughly to prevent any uncooked meat juices from spoiling the vegetables.