Duck confit

Ingredients

Cure

• 6duck legs
• 60 gcoarse salt
• 6 clovesgarlic, crushed
• 6 sprigsthyme
• 3bay leaves, crumbled
• 1 tspblack peppercorns, crushed

To cook

• 1.5 kgduck fat

To serve

• pommes sarladaises
• lentils
• a sharp green salad

Directions

1. Mix the salt with the garlic, thyme, crumbled bay and crushed peppercorns.
2. Rub it over the duck legs, put them in a dish, cover, and refrigerate for 24 hours, turning them once.
3. Twenty-four hours and no longer. Beyond that the legs turn genuinely, unpleasantly salty, because this is a short seasoning cure rather than a long preserving one like ham.
4. Rinse the legs thoroughly under cold water and dry them completely.
5. Rinse them properly. Any salt left on the surface concentrates as the fat renders and the result is inedible.
6. Melt the duck fat in a deep oven dish and submerge the legs completely in it.
7. Cook at 135°C (275°F) for 2 hours 30 minutes to 3 hours, until a skewer meets no resistance at the joint.
8. The fat should barely tremble and never bubble. This is poaching in fat rather than frying, and a hard bubble makes the meat stringy.
9. Let the legs cool completely in the fat, which keeps them moist and lets the flesh reabsorb some of what it lost.
10. On storage: traditionally the legs were packed into a crock, covered entirely with strained fat and kept in a cool cellar for months. Do not do that now. Keep them submerged in fat in the refrigerator and use them within two to three weeks, or freeze them.
11. Ambient storage of a low-acid meat sealed under fat is exactly the condition botulism favours, and refrigerating costs the dish nothing at all.
12. To serve, scrape most of the fat off and lay the legs skin down in a dry hot pan.
13. Cook for 8 to 10 minutes without moving them, until the skin is deep brown and crisp, then turn briefly to heat the meat through.
14. Serve with sarladaise potatoes, lentils or a sharp green salad to cut the fat.

Technique

• The strained fat can be used several times over and gets better each time. Keep it refrigerated between uses.
• It is a Gascon method, and the same treatment is given to goose and to pork.
• Crisp the skin in a dry pan. There is more than enough fat already on the leg.

Substitutions

• Half duck fat and half lard, which is cheaper and works.
• Goose legs, cooked for about half an hour longer.

Variations

• Shredded into a cassoulet.
• Pulled and crisped for a salade landaise.
• With the legs finished under a hot grill rather than in a pan.

History

A Gascon preservation method: duck legs salted, cooked slowly in their own fat and stored sealed under it for months.

Frequently asked questions

What is Duck confit?

Duck confit is a main from France: duck legs preserved and crisped in their own fat. A Gascon preservation method: duck legs salted, cooked slowly in their own fat and stored sealed under it for months.

How long does Duck confit take to make?

Duck confit takes 20 min plus 24 hr curing of preparation and 3 hr of cooking. The recipe makes 6 legs. It is rated medium to make.

What can I substitute in Duck confit?

Yes, within limits. Half duck fat and half lard, which is cheaper and works. Goose legs, cooked for about half an hour longer.

What is the most important thing to get right in Duck confit?

Twenty-four hours and no longer. Beyond that the legs turn genuinely, unpleasantly salty, because this is a short seasoning cure rather than a long preserving one like ham.