Step 1: Remove legs and thighs from ducks and geese with skin on (this is important)

Step 2: Prick the skin all over the legs with a needle or point of a knife.  You’re trying to give the fat a place to render out from under the skin.  I took a sharp knife and cut the skin in a cross-hatch pattern, which gave us bite-size pieces of skin after it was cooked.

Step 3: Rub the legs with olive oil and salt both sides.  Set them aside to warm up to room temperature for at least 1/2 hour.  Roasting room temperature meat turns out much better than cold meat.

Step 4: Cover the bottom of a casserole dish with fat or olive oil.  Place the legs in the casserole dish very close together, but not quite touching.

Optional – you can put some root vegetables in with the legs while they roast.  Potatoes, carrots, parsnips, etc. are great for roasting, and they’ll soak up those delicious juices from the cooking waterfowl.  Just chop the veggies up into bite-size chunks, oil and salt them, and scatter them around in the casserole dish.

Step 5: Turn the oven on to 285°F and put the casserole dish in the oven.  Don’t preheat the oven.

Step 6: Roast the legs for about 90 minutes.  determining doneness can largely be done visually, by watching for the skin to start getting crispy.  If you want to check temps, the innermost meat inside the leg needs to get to about 160°F.

Step 7: When the skin has started to get crispy, turn the heat up to 375°F.  Let it go for about 15 minutes, and then remove.  The skin should be good and crispy with easy bite-through.  You can serve these roasted legs as is (much like a bone-in chicken wing), or shred the meat and put it on a salad or other dish.

Good luck, and enjoy!