Closed-Oven Roast Duck Technique (Bianyifang)

The closed-oven roast-duck technique descends through Bianyifang, whose history reaches back to 1416 — the older branch of Beijing roast duck, rooted in a Ming-dynasty closed-oven method.

In the menlu method the oven is first heated with sorghum stalks, the open flame is then extinguished and the door shut, and the duck cooks by the radiant heat of the brick walls. It never meets a live flame, so the skin crisps and the meat stays moist with little smokiness — the timing governed entirely by experience.

Paired with the hung-oven school as one of Beijing roast duck's two great branches, the closed-oven technique is inscribed as national intangible cultural heritage, representing the older craft tradition of the dish.

The closed-oven craft is preserved chiefly at houses such as Bianyifang, where diners can taste this flame-free, old-method duck and sense its subtle difference from the hung-oven style.