Crosshatch the duck breast skin, about half an inch apart. Make sure you do not cut into the meat.

Gently prick the meat side a few times with a fork to help the brining process.

Brine the duck breasts in 80° brine for 2 - 3 hours. The bigger the breasts the longer the brine period. (Sugar and spices are optional, I didn’t use any.)

Take out, rinse well in water then pat dry with paper towel.

Leave overnight on wire rack to dry out, minimum 12 hours. (I put mine in fridge on “warmest” setting.)

Cold Smoking:

Set BS up for cold smoking with the vent 90% open, and place duck breast fillets in smoker:

Cold smoke for 4 hours (+/- depending on taste) using your choice of puck. I used oak.

Hot Smoking:

Take duck out of smoker and set up BS for hot smoking. For hot smoking, leave the vent 90% open, and bring the cabinet temperature up to 210°F.

When setting up the smoker to hot smoke, make sure the “V” pan is positioned correctly. Place the meat carefully to ensure the significant amount of fat that runs off is channeled correctly into the water bowl. Duck fat is highly flammable!!!

While cabinet is preheating, lightly rub a bit of sea salt and black pepper on the skin side of the duck breasts. (Optional, you can use other spices)

Hot smoke the duck breasts skin side up for 1 hr 30 minutes (+/- depending on taste) with your choice of pucks. (I used oak)

After applying the smoke, continue to cook. I cooked them to an internal temperature 160°F although USDA recommends 165°F. I was happy to cut it back a bit as I knew the source of my breasts and the way they had handled them.

Finishing Touches:

Heat up a metal skillet on the hob (stove top or range) to a medium high heat.

Flash pan fry the duck breasts skin side down for 2 - 3 minutes. Approximately 20 ml fat came off per fillet, so discard excess fat between batches.

Use kitchen towel (paper towel) to pat dry the breasts to absorb excess fat. Use firm but gentle pressure. When cooled a bit, wrap in cling film (plastic wrap) and put in fridge for 24 hours.

The main reason to wrap and refrigerate for 24 hours is personal preference. As IMHO I think most smoked food benefits from ageing for a while to let the full flavor develop. Wrapping tightly not only helps this but stops everything else in the fridge tasting of smoke. (naught wrong with that I hear you say!)

The best example is perhaps cheese, which needs up to a week to mature. But I think bacon is another good example. In other instances the benefit is minimal, but I tend to do it as a matter of habit.

I also noticed in the book I referred to, the author suggests not eating any smoked product until it has matured for at least 24 hours.

Slice the duck breast into thin slices and vacuum seal.