Confit. Such and interesting topic.

[Karon Adams]

So, being the Ruhlman devotee, I have been working through several things. I decided to try some pork confit. so, I cut some pork loin into decent chunks and covered the meat all with bacon dripping and cooked it in the oven, low and slow immersed in the bacon drippings. that was 3+ weeks ago. the chunks have since been sitting in a jar, covered with more bacon drippings and aging. in a week or two, I'll probably sear the meat off and finally give it a try. I'll let you guys know!

[Jerod Broussard]

Sounds like fun. For you.

[aarontbell]

I have done this with pork shoulder in lard and chicken legs and wings in smaltz. Next will be a chuck in tallow.

[Brian/S]

I do this with wings... before I discovered sous vide, and it always worked for me.

[aarontbell]

I bought 8 lbs of suet and rendered it into tallow. The meat smelled great and is ripening now. it did not make any jelly which makes me sad because I love making rilletes out of the confit. Next time I will try shanks or something that has
more bones and tissues.

[Karon Adams]

of course, I posted that the DAY before everything went TU. I was looking at the jar the other day, We were thinking of having it for dinner this week. I think there may have been a few air bubbles in the oil. I think I have some bad things growing. oh well. live and learn. I'll toss this and start again.

[Matt L]

Try out carnitas next, excellent application and can be done on the smoker if fat is covering well enough.

[aarontbell]

Use your nose. I have stored for about six months and it was still good. I am thinking of canning some and letting it get really old/ripe. I love Ruhlman. He is easy to read and understand. Always make my own broth now cause of his hating on store bought.

[Karon Adams]

oh, Ruhlman is my idol. I have learned more from his books than I could ever have expected. have you read "Egg"? WOW.

I'll pull it out and sniff. I'm looking at the jar and thinking I am seeing some discolorations through the glass. like little pockets in the lard where it looks like something may be growing. but i'll take it out and see how it smells. TBH, I had not meant to leave it so long to age but, since it was already done and jarred, it had that extra month to sit and ripen.

Meanwhile, I DO plan to start a couple more jars this weekend. and we'll see if I can age it better, next time.

[aarontbell]

I am eating rillettes I made from confit chicken today. They pair well with pickles so it is a delicious way to break into all the random jars of things I pickled. Do you render your own fat? I have done lard and tallow. Luckily the poultry store has rendered smaltz for sale.

[Karon Adams]

I do render a great deal of fat though not in the way you may be thinking. I have and I can. I used to render tallow for soapmaking and other things in the kitchen. I have rendered lard, as well but FAR prefer the drippings from sausage and bacon. even with the marvelous recipe Meathead has given us, there is still plenty of bacon oil to be gathered and used. I DO make Schmaltz though I am a beginner. if I am up to it tomorrow, I may go into the kitchen and make some. I have a BUCH of chick fat & skin from the Mexican grocery. they usually toss it out. HEAVENS what a waste!!! So, I told HWMO to ask if they's save us the skin and fat from the backs of the skinless chickens. they did and I have a nice bagful of chicken I need to work up. of course, you can guess when we got them. yup, that's right!

BUT, HWMO tried some of my confit last week. declared it dry and bland but he didn't die (though I nearly killed him) I may pull some out today and sear it off for lunch.