Oh, how I love duck confit. The crisp skin, the unctuous flavorful meat. There are few things better. Seriously. It’s up there with bacon. Not only is the taste of it profound, the very idea of it is too. Here, the ultimate in utilitarian food techniques—preserving ducks in the fall to enjoy throughout the winter—transforms the duck into something spectacular. Beans you grow and preserve yourself, whether by pickling or canning, are never as good as straight off the vine and quickly boiled. But duck only gets better with time. The above duck had been in the basement fridge, submerged in fat, since November.
Duck and olives is a perfect combination with infinite variations. Here I’m using cerignola olives, the lightly cured, meaty olives grown in the Italian region of Puglia—along with a salad of arugula and red onion macerated in sherry vinegar.
Why don’t people make more duck confit at home? It should be a staple, something you always have on hand. Need a quick canapé for surprise guests, duck confit on a crouton spread with a little Dijon. Use it to fill a ravioli or a crepe. It turns some plain white beans into a fantastic dish. It would make an awesome hash.
One reason people don’t make it more oftne is perhaps because most recipes call for quarts of duck fat to poach it in. But I’m here to say, olive oil is just as good. Salt and season it for a day, rinse it off, and poach it in a low oven in olive oil for 8 hours or until the fat is clear and the legs have sunk to the bottom of the pot. Chill it completely and it’s ready to go.
I’m crazy for confit, and in Charcuterie we’ve got recipes for duck with ginger and star anise, peppery goose confit, pork confit, pork belly confit (heart-rendingly delicious) and rillettes made from confit. Here’s a basic confit from the book, slightly amended:
Olive Oil Poached Duck Confit:
6 duck legs, about 5 pounds/2.25 kilograms
Salt as needed (or if you’re unsure use .3 ounces of salt per pound/8 grams per 500 grams of duck)
4 whole cloves
6 peppercorns
3 cloves/25 grams garlic
3 bay leaves
olive oil as needed
1. Sprinkle duck pieces all over with salt, a generous amount, the way you would a roast chicken or thick steak before you cook it.
2. Roughly chop cloves and peppercorns with a knife and distribute evenly over the duck pieces
3. Slice garlic and press slices onto each piece of duck
4. Break bay leaves in half and press one half leaf onto each piece of duck.
5. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate overnight or up to 48 hours.
6. Rinse ducks under cold water, wiping off all garlic and seasonings. Pat dry.
7. Place legs in a pot and cover with olive oil. Bring to a simmer over medium high heat, then place uncovered in a low oven (180 degrees F./80 degrees C. is optimal for 6 to 10 hours or until the legs are completely tender, the fat has become clear, and the legs rest on the bottom of the pan.
8. Remove from oven and cool to room temperature then refrigerate until thoroughly chilled. Be sure the duck is completely submerged. Store covered in the refrigerator for up to a month.
9. The day you plan to serve the confit, remove it from the fridge several hours before reheating to allow fat to soften. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F./220 degrees C. Remove the legs from the fat. Place them in a pan or on a baking sheet and roast until the meat is warmed through and the skin is crispy, 15 to 20 minutes. If you want a really fast and quick way to ensure crispy skin, simply deep fry them for a minute or two!
UPDATE 3/15: Thanks for the lively conversation and comments! Natalie, poach duck in fat--you will be amazed! You're not eating all that fat! Victoria, I don't know why Jessica's Biscuit has Ratio already?! I'm not ready! General responses: of course duck fat is better to use, though frankly i think the cure has more influence on the flavor than the fat. So regular olive oil, not expensive evo, is fine. I get duck legs at our farmers market, but i have also bought a regular long island duck at the grocery store, and rendered all the fat I could, saving only the breasts and skin, and it was just enough to confit the legs. Sous vide is a great method, especially in that it allows you to confit with less fat. Cookbooks say you can keep it for a month because they're afraid, I guess. Duck fat sets up better than olive oil so it's better for preserving but olive oil is fine if refrigerated. If you want to preserve for a long time, put the legs in a container and pour only the fat over them (reserving the gelatious salty stock for a sauce or vinaigrette). It will keep in fridge indefinitely if it's stored well. Reuse the fat until it gets too salty, a few times or so. And you can confit many meats this way. The more confit in this world, the better the world will be, that's all there is to it.
Laura
Hey I've got a ton of pork fat I need to use...would I be defiling the duck legs if I poached them in it?
ruhlman
go for it! everything tastes better with a little pork fat thrown in!
Joseph D'Antoni
Pork fat would work fine. In my opinion, confit is one of the best uses of Sous Vide. You can use a ton less fat and get the same effect--for example of a couple of tablespoons of duck fat in a bag with 2-3 legs works great.
The temperature range precision isn't that important for confit, so a crock pot, or a pot of water in a low oven works as well as a circulator.
Conway Yen
Joe, I suppose you're right -- cooking duck confit sous vide would use less fat. But why would you want that?
ntsc
Duck fat here: http://www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com/foiegrasmarket.html
and I've had good luck with fresh real lard. Good to know about the olive oil though.
karenology
Er...I've got a lot of bacon grease stored up to use. Would that work, or would that be horrifying? 🙂
John Dennison
"a ton less fat"??!
Now why would you want to do that?!
I've been waiting for a duck confit lesson. It has arrived. Thanks Michael - my weekend is planned accordingly.
Best,
Johnnyd
Conway Yen
You can find tubs of duck fat in the supermarket, as well. I have about 8 ounces of D'Artagnan duck fat in my fridge right now. I found it next to the salt pork and fatback.
Frank M
Your post just reminded me that I have some in the fridge I made a few weeks ago!
Now on to the pork belly confit in bacon grease!
Natalie Sztern
Now, see, I just can't get past the 'submerged in fat' part of Confit which is why I have never eaten it nor made it...shouldn't there be a health warning attached to this post?
I could lit'rally feel the presence of that artery clogging fat inside me as I read this post monsieur michael...
Joseph D'Antoni
Less fat is just for costs reasons--nothing else, you are still immersing your duck legs in fat, just a thin layer.
Allison
I adore duck confit! It's inexpensive, too. And you can use the fat later for fries. I like your olive oil idea, though.
I especially love Suzanne Goin's recipe from Sunday Suppers At Luques which is cooked in a baking dish in the oven. She uses orange, thyme, red onion, bay leaves, dried chiles, star anise, and black pepper. I've been substituting Meyer lemon for the orange.
Your salad looks delicious; I'm going to copy it.
Your book Ratio is available for sale at Jessica's Biscuit, and for only $15.60 for the hardcover. 🙂
Vivian
This post makes me smile! The confit recipes in Charcuterie are my absolute favorite.
Rooney
Perfect post for a Friday...now I know what to make this sweekend.
In your post you mention that you've had the duck in your fridge since Mid-November, yet the recipe says "up to a month". Can you comment on the difference?
On this subject...how do you determine the durations for which food can be kept safely in the fridge? What is the formula for calculating x in "will keep in the fridge for up to x"
MRF
It's official I am making duck confit this weekend! Maybe scrambled eggs in duck fat for breakfast too...
Amazing picture!
Maria
DC
Making your own is much better than eating it at a restaurant, not only for price, but also for taste. I feel like restaurants don't age their confit very long, if at all.
I've made several of the confits from Charcuterie (in my fridge now are three duck legs and a whole pork tenderloin), and they're all pretty amazing, though the pork belly confit was a little too much (though very delicious).
Wouldn't some of those pickled chilis from your previous post be a good garnish, too? Acidity and heat would be a nice addition.
DC
Also, if you do a big batch, say double that recipe, and you buy whole ducks and cut em up yourself, you can render out the fat yourself, make duck stock, a couple of duck prosciuttos, and several meals' worth of duck breast.
And if you save a couple legs, the Nose To Tail book by Fergus Henderson has an awesome duck leg with carrots braise.
MikeV
Michael - where do you find duck legs in Northeast Ohio? I live near Akron, and the only place that has said I can get them at all (Difeo's Poultry) sounds like they'll have to thaw out some frozen ducks to get the legs. Is there a source of fresh duck legs in our area? (Preferably southern Northeast Ohio, if that makes any sense geographically?)
Conway Yen
Natalie, fat doesn't clog arteries. Low density lipoproteins clog arteries. Duck, duck confit, duck fat, and olive oil are relatively low in LDL, especially compared to other foods (brain, liver. yummmm.). Duck fat is also mostly unsaturated. It's far "healthier" for you than many other animal fats.
Additionally, recent research from well respected sources seem to indicate that all these supposed health warnings about animal fat and health and clogging of arteries may very well be bunk. Have you read much of Pollan's work at all? Or the recent peer reviewed papers from Harvard?
Maybe it's just me, but I'd rather eat well and take my chances (i.e. die young) than live a long, culinarily miserable life. Duck confit? Stick it in my veins! No pun intended. Maybe.
dadekian
Hmm, the quarts of duck fat is what kept me from making it at home. I thought anything else was sacrilege. But if you say try it in olive oil I shall. Thanks!
karenology
How long should you store it in fat before you eat it, for ideal deliciousness?
thehungryengineer (april)
This is too funny. Just this week, I posted about making duck confit at home and was lamenting that while I used the method from Charcuterie, I had committed a variety of sins in the preparation (one of which was to use olive oil instead of duck fat to poach it). I'm here to say, that despite all my sins, it was **incredible**. My husband, who does not ordinarily enjoy duck meat, loved the confitted duck legs.
Chez US
I love Duck Confit .... This sounds easy and delicious. Thanks for sharing it with us.
Maria
Oh my, I love duck confit.
Have never made it, but inspired. Great post.
I love pancetta just as dearly, and would really like to see a post on how you've used the pancetta you made from the pig a few months back.
Maria
Daniel Robinson
Just wondering, how cheap on the olive oil would you be willing to go? I assume you don't need extra virgin?
Presumably you could do this ad infinitum? As in, follow this recipe, as soon as you pull out the confited duck, add a few more raw duck pieces or pork belly or anything and start again. Is there a certain point where you should run the oil/fat through a cheesecloth?
sean
The recipe says it will keep for a month in the fridge, but your post said yours had been in the fridge since November. How long will it really keep? I know it improves with age, but is there a point of diminishing returns?
Victoria
Okay, MR. You might just have changed my life today. I can get duck legs very easily in NYC. Fairway always has them. I cook them and save the fat for cooking potatoes! But it's never enough fat for confit, so I will definitely be trying this version with olive oil - and soon.
Why does Jessica's Biscuits have Ratio in stock already? Amazon, where I have preordered it from, does not.
Julie
I'm lucky enough to live in a bustling metropolitan area, where it's easy to buy pounds upon pounds of duck fat to render for making confit. I made a batch of about five pounds' worth of legs, immediately after reading about Michael Symon's corn crepes with duck confit in Soul of a Chef. Anyone in the Atlanta area- the Dekalb County Farmer's Market sells pure duck fat for something like $2/lb.
Allison
@Natalie: Fat does not clog arteries. The lipid hypothesis has been disproven. You should read Good Calories Bad Calories by Gary Taubes -- it is the most important book on nutrition ever written.
Thomas H. Ptacek
Seconding the sous vide suggestion above.
I have the "ghetto" rice cooker and PID controller setup --- ~$200, totally worth it --- and it's like having a confit machine: fire and forget, requiring less effort than it would take to do a Tuesday night roast chicken. I've done duck confit from Charcuterie the "conventional" way, and sous vide, and I think it's no contest.
Why sous vide? Some big reasons:
* Duck fat isn't cheap, and despite what I've read, I never get enough rendered fat off a bird to do two legs. But duck fat is solid at room temperature and a couple tablespoons sealed in a bag with two duck legs winds up fully immersing the duck during cooking. You're not eating less fat (you're still going to end up with more than enough at the end to roast some potatoes in), but you're spending much less.
* Confit is a low-and-slow method, and with a sous vide setup you can cook it to exact temperature without worrying about the timing; I've done it overnight and before I leave for the office, and it's perfectly reliable.
* The end-result is bagged confited duck legs that are easy to stash in the back of the fridge. There's no pot of simmering duck fat to deal with; in fact, there's no mess of any sort --- you'd do more damage to your kitchen cooking a batch of chicken thighs.
The only time duck confit has gone wrong for me so far is that leaving the legs in a cure for 48 hours results in too-salty confit. I do a day/day and a half. It's been bulletproof
lux
++ for the difficulty of DIY confit being where to find duck legs. I can buy confit at the specialty shop down the street but our local butcher doesn't sell duck parts, just the whole duck.
Thomas H. Ptacek
"But I’m here to say, olive oil is just as good". I wonder if this statement pairs up with "just use water" in place of canned chicken stock: yes, water produces fine food, but real chicken stock produces even better food. Olive oil is great. But duck fat is amazing.
You wouldn't want someone not to confit a duck leg for want of a quart of duck fat. But you also wouldn't want someone to forego the pleasure of rendering the spare fat off a bird (and getting to eat the resulting duck cracklins) because they presume olive oil is a perfect substitute!
DJK
I'm pretty sure that's the first time I've ever seen the word "unctuous" used with a positive connotation.
Good work.
latenac
I wonder if you could buy whole ducks, roast the non-leg parts to get some fat for the confit and make duck stock with that and confit with the legs. hmmmm weekend project
P Adams
I love duck confit so the option to use olive oil is great news and makes it doable for me at home. I appreciate the brilliant pairing with cerignola olives. The fresh sprightly taste of the olives with the rich duck confit sounds amazing.
Thomas H. Ptacek
latenac: not only can you do that, it is the single best conceivable way to do it.
You can break down a duck just as easily as a chicken, separating the legs (thighs attached), wings, and breast. Get a bowl, trim off the excess skin and fat from all the pieces, and scavange the fat and skin from the carcass, and reserve it.
Throw the carcass in the freezer; when you have a couple, simmer in water to make stock.
Have duck breast for dinner.
Stick the fat and skin in a pot with water to cover, simmer until the skin browns (the liquid will suddenly become clear, and stop bubbling). Strain, cool, store for confiting.
A great how-to:
http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/2008/10/breaking-down-bird-101-by-mike-pardus.html
Inspiration:
http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/2008/09/hunger-arttotal-utilization-of-duck.html
Conway Yen
Daniel Robinson - I would use regular old "pure" olive oil. heat destroys the aromatic qualities of good olive oil, and with the long cooking times required, it seems like a waste of the extra virgin stuff. as far as how many times you can confit with the oil, i defer to Mr. Ruhlman's advice from his Charcuterie book (highly suggested if you don't own it already).
latenac and Ptacek - in general, I'm averse to settling for any single "best" way to do anything, but personally, for duck confit, i think the best way to get enough duck fat for confit is to simply eat more duck. save up the fat for confit and you'll have plenty before you know it. asian groceries sell whole ducks for fairly little money -- $2.49/lb by me (and i live in a high-cost-of-living area). the best part: asian groceries by me sell natural casings, fresh pork, pork blood, rabbits, and all sorts of good things to cook and eat.
Angry Brit
I have made duck confit before- it is, quite simply, one of the best possible things to eat on the planet. It would not have occurred to me to cook in anything other than duck fat, but the idea that you can cook it in olive oil is something of a revelation. I am curious to see how it would affect both taste and texture. I will be trying this out for sure.
Walt Smith
Michael,
Great post, great timing. I'm actually making a cannellini bean soup with duck confit tommorow.
Lux...try hudson valley fois gras to source duck legs and other delicious duck related items. They sell confit duck as well, but buy the fresh legs and make it yourself. Much more satisfying!
Veron
I've got tubs of duck fat waiting in the refrigerator for the next round of duck confit. Here my ode to this beloved dish:
http://kitchenmusings.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/11/an-ode-to-duck-confit.html
derek
I don't think I've ever seen unctuous used with negative connotations. Sometimes things might be excessively rich I suppose, but how could this word not be a compliment?
mary lynn
Thanks for the post about my very most favorite thing to eat! I've never made it at home because of the amount of duck fat necessary. Brandford Thompson, when in Phoenix, told me I would need 4-5 ducks to render enough fat for comfit. That was just a bit too $$ for me. But, olive oil I'm going to try. I've never seen duck fat any where in Phoenix. Mail order only and it is pricey too. Also, MR, thanks for putting Ratio on Kindle. I ordered it today and also got another copy of Elements for my Kindle. Now, they will travel with us. mary lynn
Derek
Adding my voice in support of sous vide duck confit. Thomas Keller's newest book, Under Pressure contains a recipe that works great. The rendered fat from a single duck is enough to do the legs this way (with fat to spare) ... thus, there's no need to purchase duck fat separately.
Kate
I really love this idea. I've never made duck confit for exactly the reason you cite -- quarts of duck fat (I can always find other uses for the scant amount of duck fat I get). Olive oil for the flavor? Would another type of oil work? Peanut maybe? (I'm wondering about coconut oil -- it has a distinct flavor but it cook be good with duck). How much of the flavor of the oil does the duck take on?
Conway Yen
mary lynn:
I can get 4 - 5 ducks for about 60 dollars. Considering the fact that they keep so well in the fridge, and the fact that you'll be eating that duck confit for quite a while (especially if you stretch it out by making something like a cassoulet), it's actually quite inexpensive to make it yourself at home.
derek:
again, i don't necessarily see the virtue of this method of making duck confit. i think rendered duck fat is one of the best things on this planet, next to pork fat, butter, and good olive oil. wouldn't it stand to reason that one would want as much of this fat as possible?
plus, have YOU ever tried saving as much of this fat from a sous vide bag before? in my book, a traditional method of cooking trumps sous vide duck confit any day -- simply because it's easier to save that fat with my silicon spatula when the cooking vessel is firm and solid and the effort is actually worth it when there's a significant amount of this tasty stuff to be saved. as responsible cooks and eaters, aren't we all about total utilization and economy of movement anyway?
Kate in the NW
Yum! I wish I had time to cook this weekend!
Maybe next week...
And another great photo. I love how the image matches the food so well - delicious, debauched, delightful - like a rumpled bed with the Sunday paper strewn across it - there's a sort of graceful, offhand luxury to both the food/recipe and the image. You and Donna should do a book of photos and explain why each photo was staged in the way it was - not just in a mechanical sense, but also in a philosophical and aesthetic one. I think a big draw of this blog is the thoughtful juxtaposition of image and content (both literary and culinary). Like music and lyrics.
Thomas H. Ptacek
Conway, I don't see why you think it's difficult to reclaim the duck fat from a sous vide bag. I find it far easier to manage a small, sealed bag of solid (softened) duck fat and a confit leg than I did managing a steaming cauldron of hot molten fat.
I've also had no trouble removing and reserving the confit jelly from the SV bag.
The point of SV isn't reducing the amount of fat you use in the recipe. If you have a bucket of duck fat, use a bucket! The point is that you can get away with as little duck fat as you're likely to have, which allows you to make a duck fat duck confit where you might otherwise be stuck with olive oil.
Michelle
You've really got me fired up to try this. In the words of Bugs Bunny - it's duck season.
luis
Natalie Sztern , Agree with you 100%. What is Michael thinking? You can't go wrong poaching in fat except...you could go wrong on so many levels eating this duck cooked in FAT! I like it for the restaurant but it doesn't seem appropiate for the home. (You know the one that is fat to begin with). Natalie, next time you are in sofl... the health bar smothie is on Mua!.
pdkaizer
OK I just Tweeted about this: http://twitter.com/pdkaizer/favourites Wonderful... I look forward to making this!!!
Michael as always a joy to read your stuff and a fabulous photo.
mary
are those green olives from castelvetrano sicily or are they another variety?
off topic, any good resources for custom cabinets or kitchen remodeling? i only ask because i know you live in cleveland heights, and updating a home that is 50+ years old is different from a home in the 80's. and from what i've been able to see your kitchen looks very functional.
never saw better looking duck confit and those greens. it's working for you.
allen
I have never liked duck. I tried it in a nice French restaurant; ala orange with grand marnier sauce and Chinese restaurant; Peking style. Every time I have it, the meat is bland and the only thing that clearly stands out is the fat layer and blandness of the meat. I would like to make the duck prosciutto from the Charcuterie book though.
Natalie Sztern
Conway, Allison, i find it so hard to wrap my head around eating 'anything' submerged in fat for days...so duck confit goes to no 5 on the bucket list....
Elizabeth
Your comment "right up there with bacon" sent me flying back to Julia Child who absolutely adored bacon. She would have it anytime and anywhere.
I have your book and will try the duck confit in olive oil. Thanks.
Mike Pardus
I've always been a big fan of Paula Wolfert's recipe from "The Cooking of South West France". I think it's the definitive recipe for duck confit. It's really important to keep the temp between 190 and 200F to keep the meat from getting stringy - be seriously anal about this or you won't understand what all the fuss is about!
If you're buying whole ducks I have a series of Duck butchering demos on youtube so you can maximize your utility. Check 'em out at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Rcf-nlK_8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnRVhxoBb_M
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um_oFNZGf_M
Also, shameless plug to delGrosso's site - check out the Artisanal distilled spirits being made in the Hudson Valley - maybe not Armagnac, but they would be a good American prelude to a classic SW French dish. Find it at:
http://ahungerartist.bobdelgrosso.com/
darlene
Just wanted to say, I very much enjoyed your confit recipe in Charcuterie. I've done it using all duck fat, all lard, and a mix of both and it's wonderful each time. Next time I will try it in olive oil, just to see how it tastes. Does the oil solidify like the animal fat does?
Ross
Man, what a delicious-looking post -- and what lively discussion!
Conway -- thanks for the comment about LDLs. Fats and oils have a pretty bad rep, and its not wholly deserved. I also feel like many folk miss a basic principle: if you feel like eating a nice big pile of confit, why not hit the gym for a bit? All things in balance.
Michael: two questions, the first of which has already been mentioned.
1) The confit you're eating was laid down in November, but your recipe advises no more than a month. How long have you safely kept confit before?
2. How many other meats can this be applied to? I've had excellent pork confit, though I don't know which cuts were used. Suggestions of a few other meats to play with?
Thanks for the excellent post!
Mike Pardus
I've always been a big fan of Paula Wolfert's confit recipe in "The Cooking of South West France", where she stresses the importance of very low temperature - 190 in an oven or a crock pot for many hours. Follow her instructions and you can't go wrong.
For butchering a duck and getting the most out of it - especially lots of great fat - check out my series of Videos on Youtube
Total Utilization of Duck #1:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_Rcf-nlK_8
Part 2:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pnRVhxoBb_M
Part 3:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=um_oFNZGf_M
And if you want something more home grown than Armagnac to wash down the fat, see my post at delGrosso's site about Local Hudson Valley Whiskeys, had a great "tasting" the other night - paired a bunch of different Bourbon's and Rye's with a Vietnamese style BBQ pig belly - yum!
Phil W.
Michael - What other meats do you recommend? Is it basically the same process? (I.e. chicken? lamb? beef?)
rockandroller
@mikev, you can get duck parts at Kaufmann's poultry at the west side market. Getting the fat is tougher. I've only made duck confit once because it was impossible to find the fat - I finally found a local chef who was able to give me a big container of it, but he has moved on to other regions.
Fred
I make confit often, both at home and at work, and usually find I can render enough fat from a single duck to confit the 2 legs. When I don't have enough duck fat I will use lard, mostly because its cheap, but also because its solid at room temperature, which makes me feel better about not storing it in the refrigerator. If I had to choose another lipid, I think I might go with canola oil over olive oil, again based on price, but also because the strong flavour of the olive oil might overwhelm the flavour of the duck fat.
Vivian
I was able to find duck legs at my local Asian market this weekend for really cheap ($1.29 lb). We bought everything they had in the case! It totaled almost 17lbs altogether and we prepared 1/2 of that and froze the rest. It made for such a wonderful dinner last night with enough left for me to make shumai today. It was so delicious! The confit was so good in the dumplings that I don't think my family will let me prepare it any other way now. Thanks for this post because I probably wouldn't have thought of it otherwise!
michele
What about using turkey fat for confit?
Nokia 5800
Looks delicious. I will cook this someday for my daughter's graduation.
Jeremy Hilton
Although a long process, it really is quite simple to make.
I must disagree with you @luis! The effort vs reward ratio of duck confit makes it a MUST try recipe at home.
Matt Rissling
A couple of days ago I published a post on my blog about making confit with chicken instead of duck. This is something that is worth trying as well, but do yourself a favour and buy the best quality meat you can find. Check out the story with photos.
http://thanksforasking.ca/
Claudia
This is great. I'd agree with Conway - eat more duck! I love it. I roasted one recently, enjoyed it, made soup, even better (according to my husband we should cook duck just for the stock alone - wait til he tries confit), saved the fat, and now have enough for a confit of the duck presently waiting in my frig. Thanks to Michael I can always top it off with olive oil or lard if there's not enough to cover the parts.
Conway Yen
Thank you Claudia. I like it when people agree with me 😉
Also, if anyone here hasn't tried the Jim Drohman's Pork Belly confit recipe yet, you really really should. I've made 15 lbs of it in the past two weeks and can feel myself dying a slow and delicious death. There are few better ways to die, I think.
Ana
Not everyone is frightened to death of fat, Luis, and people who eat tasty animal fats in MODERATION as part of a balanced diet aren't sentencing themselves to quick or slow death by heart failure. If fat scares you...don't eat duck confit. It's that simple.
I would love to try this, except I may have to use the olive oil method as I can't afford quarts of duck fat...Is it possible to confit other parts of the bird too?
Don
My local store has duck legs with attached thighs. Do I remove the thighs or am I supposed to cook the whole thing as a confit?
Veron
My reason for starting to blog. That's how duck confit changed my life.
aminosauren
I think The temperature range precision isn't that important for confit, so a crock pot, or a pot of water in a low oven works as well as a circulator.