Duck confit yield

[atomicsmoke]

We love confit and rillette around here. Top choice is duck, but we enjoy pork as well.

Fridge space is always an issue so this time I decided to keep only the meat.

This is what I got from 3 ducks (legs and wings - saved the breasts for something else). This bowl is about 3L size.

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• atomicsmoke
• Oct 15, 2016

 

[chef jimmyj]

Looks great. I love Duck Confit hot, cold, or in other dishes. I'll eat it in a house, I'll eat it with a mouse. I'll eat it here or there. I'll eat it ANYWHERE!...JJ

 

[daveomak]

Atomic, morning...  So, you have me convinced to try a confit...   I'm reading recipes and came across this stuff..  Do you use nitrite ??  Do you have any particular recipe you like and would share...  Do you confit veggies ??   Carrots, garlic and asparagus sound good sound for starters... any help would be appreciated..  OH ! and also a fat of choice...  I know schmaltz would be awesome but it's in short supply around here.. I use it up as fast as I save it....  I fried up a couple turkey burgers the other day and schmaltz push them over the top...  well, over the top for turkey burgers is not too far but...  made a Big difference....

http://www.thekitchn.com/weekend-cooking-make-confit-80271

Health Advisory!

There is a small risk of botulism when making confit. This risk is minimal if you use the confit within a week. For longer preservation, the risk is lowered if you salt the meat again after cooking and before refrigeration, and also if you keep the confit stored at at least 40°. Make sure your utensils and storage container are all sterile.

https://stellaculinary.com/cooking-videos/house-cured-charcuterie/hcc-001-how-make-duck-confit
[h3]The Confit Process[/h3]
Start by laying your duck leg and thigh portions on a sheet pan covered with a layer of kosher salt at least 1/8 of an inch thick. I like to mix my kosher salt with 0.2% sodium nitrite by weight, which gives the finished confit a beautiful rosy color, cured "hammy" flavor and can be left to "ripen" after cooking for up to 6 months. To make this calculation, multiply the total weight of your kosher salt by .002 (ex. 1,000g salt X 0.002 = 2g nitrite or 0.2% by weight).

 

[atomicsmoke]

Dave,

I don't use nitrite. I don't think there is enough aw to sustain germination of botulism spores.

Commercially available duck confit jars I've seen don't list nitrite as ingredient.

I haven't done vegetables, only meats: duck , pork, rabbit and salmon - won't do salmon again.

I prefer duck fat. I've collected a nice amount from rendering the fat from all the ducks I've confit-ed. I skin the carcass to get everything.

I've seen recipes though using olive oil, canola oil and/or butter.


If I didn't have duck fat I would use pork fat. Inexpensive, tasty , doesn't go rancid easily.

My recipe: I cure the skin-on legs and wings (less the tip) overnight with salt, coarsly ground pepper and juniper berries, broken up bay leaves. I wash them and pat dry before cooking.

I cooked them on low (as little bubbling as possible) until the fat is clear (indicates little water left). For confit you plan to enjoy as whole leg pull them out before this point, so they hold togehter on the bone.

You can cook garlic along for garlic confit (different cooking time).

I strain the fat and let the meat drain in a strainer too. This is important: if the meat drains when hot there will be little water left on it. If you just jar them right away they will have some jello on them - not good for long term storage.

The fat too has to be separated from the jello. Overnight in the fridge will take care of that.

After that melt the fat again , jar the meat and liquid fat and give it a few weeks for ripening. Keep it in the fridge if it makes you sleep better.

When ready to enjoy fish out a leg (take from the fridge the night before so the fat softens) and fry it skin side down for a few minutes.

It often fails to make it to the frying pan in my case.

 

[atomicsmoke]

Tasty byproduct when rendering duck fat

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• atomicsmoke
• Oct 16, 2016

 

[daveomak]

Atomic, thanks much...   I'll try that...   sounds good to me....  

About the jello....  Is that the gelatin from the meat ??   Any good uses for it ??

 

[atomicsmoke]

Is gelatin indeed. Tastes great - I eat it just like that: terrine w/o meat.

 

[atomicsmoke]

One more thing: there is a lot of scum forming while cooking the legs. Have a skimmer handy and keep the top clean.

 

[daveomak]

All is good to know... Thanks again....    Dave

 

[atomicsmoke]

Ready to rest for a month

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• atomicsmoke
• Oct 16, 2016

 

[chef jimmyj]

Atomic, the spices you use sound interesting. Meat Confit predates refrigeration, canning and even Cure by many years. The salt and cooking at 225°F is effective at killing Clostridum Botulinum spores, although I can see the addition of Cure #1 and even Cold Smoking a few hours, before processing, would make a tasty product. 

Dave, I have tried the Packed in salt method and found it made a way too salty end result. The recipe I use is very similar to this... http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/duck-confit-102313 sans Shallots. The meat is falling off the bone and moist from the collagen and fat with very little of what I would call Juice, think FOB Ribs. Some juices, as Atomic describes, can be found in the pan and gelatinize when cold.

This would be in your wheelhouse...Olive Oil Confit of Garlic is out of this world delicious. The garlic gets tender and sweet and the flavored Oil is great for cooking. We Confit peeled cloves, from 10 heads, 325°F covered with EVOO until golden and soft. We then mash them hot with some Raw EVOO, real Parm Reggiano Cheese and a pinch of salt and Red Pepper Flakes. Spread the paste on crusty bread as an appetizer or as part of a meal with Wine, Cheese and Olives, maybe with some Coppa or Prosciutto. The amount of Duck Fat needed can be pricey with shipping to get started but the more you use it, the better it gets and becomes self replenishing. These guys have some good prices... https://www.farmfreshduck.com/17-duck-fat

You guys got me wanting to make some. Just got to find a local source for Duck...JJ

 

[atomicsmoke]

Chef,

I agree confit-ing is old school preservation technique. Like other methods is making a comeback as high end cooking (charcuterie is another one).

My parents had a fridge half the size of mine. And never complained about fridge space. Their freezer was a little bigger than a dorm room fridge.

Yet they had no problem storing/preserving a whole pig each December.

One technique was confit. Cut up smoked sausage, ribs, chunks of meat slowly cooked in pork fat then stored at room temperature in this metal pot.

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• atomicsmoke
• Oct 17, 2016

 

[daveomak]

 
Atomic, the spices you use sound interesting. Meat Confit predates refrigeration, canning and even Cure by many years. The salt and cooking at 225°F is effective at killing Clostridum Botulinum spores, although I can see the addition of Cure #1 and even Cold Smoking a few hours, before processing, would make a tasty product. 

Dave, I have tried the Packed in salt method and found it made a way too salty end result. The recipe I use is very similar to this... http://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/duck-confit-102313 sans Shallots. The meat is falling off the bone and moist from the collagen and fat with very little of what I would call Juice, think FOB Ribs. Some juices, as Atomic describes, can be found in the pan and gelatinize when cold.

This would be in your wheelhouse...Olive Oil Confit of Garlic is out of this world delicious. The garlic gets tender and sweet and the flavored Oil is great for cooking. We Confit peeled cloves, from 10 heads, 325°F covered with EVOO until golden and soft. We then mash them hot with some Raw EVOO, real Parm Reggiano Cheese and a pinch of salt and Red Pepper Flakes. Spread the paste on crusty bread as an appetizer or as part of a meal with Wine, Cheese and Olives, maybe with some Coppa or Prosciutto. The amount of Duck Fat needed can be pricey with shipping to get started but the more you use it, the better it gets and becomes self replenishing. These guys have some good prices... https://www.farmfreshduck.com/17-duck-fat

You guys got me wanting to make some. Just got to find a local source for Duck...JJ

Thanks for that info JJ....  their duck fat prices are VERY good even with shipping....   I have stopped at the freezer case, at W-M many times looking at their duck....  Bride had made some AWESOME roasted duck many times..  She has cooked it for my hunting buddies that give their ducks away because they don't like it....   Well, after they gobbled down her duck, they were dumbfounded at how good it could be...  The wheels are churning in my brain now....  

Dave

 

[atomicsmoke]

Store bought ducks yield about a cup of fat in my experience. They are mostly young birds. Some large toms I got from a farm (close to 10lbs) gave a lot more.

 

[daveomak]

I've put an add in the farmers gazette for  "2 BIG FAT DUCKS" for the holidays...   I'm waiting for a reply....

 

[atomicsmoke]

Time for a rillette taste.
Fished out some of the meat.

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• atomicsmoke
• Nov 5, 2016

You can see I didn't drain/blot the fat. It's an important part of the rillette .

Stir them for a few minutes until they break apart.

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• atomicsmoke
• Nov 5, 2016

Secret ingredient...

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• atomicsmoke
• Nov 5, 2016

I cried a little bit when adding it...didn't have inexpensive brandy on hand.

After mixing in the cognac

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• atomicsmoke
• Nov 5, 2016

In the ramekin...going to the fridge for a few hours

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• atomicsmoke
• Nov 5, 2016

And some for a friend ....I cover it in fat if not for immediate consumption...

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• atomicsmoke
• Nov 5, 2016

hope he won't scrape off that goodness.