My First Duck Confit Adventure

[SheilaAnn]

I smell a cassoulet for the next team cook…….

[yakima]

Duck legs or quarters scarce here. But I saw a chicken/olive oil confit recipe somewhere.

[JCBBQ]

One of the reasons I’m working on this confit is to eventually make cassoulet. Maybe in the fall.

[barelfly]

So can you reuse the confit after the process? That’s where the Frits should come in for this wonderful meal!! 🍟

[SheilaAnn]

barelfly do you mean reuse the poaching fat? I defer to my fellow Pitmaster on that one. We did sous vide, cooled properly and put in the case for sale. Never opened the pack.

I am going to guess no. Which is probably why you would want to make confit in bulk. Less fat wasted. Meathead what say you?

[barelfly]

SheilaAnn - yes, like you would reuse oil for frying, wasn’t sure if you could reuse the fat for frying or even confit again?

[JCBBQ]

barelfly So I’ll only be using 5 of the 8 legs tomorrow. Therefore I’m keeping the other 3 in the confit. But the short answer is yes. If I wanted to use this fat for frites I could right away. And according to Thomas Keller, whose recipe I’m following, you can keep the legs in this fat for about two weeks as is or two months if you remove the legs and stick it back in the fridge. According to Keller the fat will harden and all the non duck fat will sink to the bottom. You then carefully remove the fat leaving the gunk, re-heat and pour back over the remaining legs. I’ll do that once I’m done w the legs. And either freeze it or fridge it.

[barelfly]

Got it! So for frites and storing for a bit, but not really to store for later use like you would filter frying oil for frying again.

Man this is so cool to follow!! I’ve never really looked into confit cooking, so enjoying watching this process!

[JCBBQ]

barelfly I’m gonna use it again. I’m gonna keep this oil/fat (heavily filtered and air free) and use it just for confit…that is if I really love it.

[JCBBQ]

DAY 3 Finish and serve

Was too busy to document much but I took the legs out of the confit. Fried it skin down until I got a nice color the stuck them in the oven at 375 for 8 minutes to heat through.

[JCBBQ]

Served on top of some Dijon and crème fraiche Brussels sprouts and with Moroccan cous cous

[WI Bubba]

It sure looks good. Did you like it enough to be worth the effort?

[barelfly]

And was the process worth it? Looks excellent!

[JCBBQ]

Was it worth it? Honestly there’s not much hands on cooking. Leftovers will provide an amazing dinner in under 30 mins. But ultimately the reason I’ll be adding this to my repertoire is because this morning my wife greeted me with, “Hunnybunny, that was the best thing you’ve ever made me”. Boom ❤️❤️❤️ totally worth it.

[WI Bubba]

That's all the encouragement you need to make a regular part of the rotation.

[barelfly]

Hahah!!! Hunnybunny…. that right there is all you need to know!

That and the duck fat French fries that are gonna follow!

[STEbbq]

What is the recipe?

[SheilaAnn]

STEbbq Thomas Keller was referenced above… off the top of my head, I’m guessing it’s was from Bouchon.

[SheilaAnn]

Actually the recipe is in both Ad Hoc and Bouchon.

[JCBBQ]

SheilaAnn Bingo! Bouchon. STEbbq Its more a method than a recipe. You can Google Keller’s green salt. Everything else is listed above.

[hoovarmin]

Great thread!

[JCBBQ]

Thanks, pal.

[JCBBQ]

Epilogue: 2nd cook and what to do with all the duck fat.

barelfly said, Duck Fat Frites would be incredible. Yes, I can attest they really were.

[barelfly]

Oh my!!!!!!! Frites…..the way to my heart! Hahaha

My weakness…I can never pass up an order of fries..and these would be gone in seconds!

[JCBBQ]

I made 8 thigh leg pieces. I served 5 the first night. Maybe it was the novelty or maybe I crisped the skin better on the first night but I liked it better the first time around. When I do this again if I don’t use all 8 pieces I’ll probably shred the duck and make tacos…definitely something different. Still good but I’ll want to do something new.

[barelfly]

Duck confit tacos….oh my!

[SheilaAnn]

Duck confit tacos with pickled red onions!

[JCBBQ]

So I’ve decided I won’t be saving the duck fat this time. I’ll post pics and a final wrap on my thoughts as to why tomorrow bc I don’t want to deal with the fat tonight. There are ways to save it but I’ll get into that tomorrow.

[SheilaAnn]

JCBBQ wondering if this will work with an animal fat…..

A Mind-Blowing Technique for Cleaning Deep-Fry Oil Using Gelatin | the Food Lab

Directions:
After deep-frying, allow your cooking fat to cool to room temperature or slightly warmer.
Measure into a small pot half a cup of water for every quart of used oil. Sprinkle it with one teaspoon of powdered gelatin per half cup of water, and let the gelatin hydrate for a few minutes.
Bring the water to a simmer (you can do this on the stovetop or in the microwave), stirring, until the gelatin dissolves. Stirring vigorously and constantly, pour the gelatin/water mixture into the dirty oil. It should look very cloudy and relatively homogeneous at this stage. Cover the pot and place it in the refrigerator (or transfer the mixture to a separate container before refrigerating), then allow it to rest overnight.
The next day, pour the oil from the top of the pot or container into a separate clean, dry pot. Discard the disk of gelatin that remains. The clarified oil is ready to use.

Source: https://www.seriouseats.com/clean-co...atin-technique

[RobertC]

I wonder whether that works for oils that are liquid at room temperature but not duck fat.

[RobertC]

Carnitas is pig confit.