A case for confit and BBQ

[Potkettleblack]

I've used their process and it's not quite the same thing... but it's very good as it's own thing, to be sure.

[Strat50]

You see, I discovered this by accident. I had made chicken leg confit and needed to Sear the outside, and warm up the innards, so to speak. So, I thought, why not sear in the kamado? I tried it and immediately loved it. The oily surface picked up the smoke, and the excess fat dripped away. The meat was already well seasoned. It was so freakin' good! After that, I started experimenting..

[rickgregory]

You don't need a lot for a couple of legs... a tablespoon or so. Usually duck has enough fat on it but if you get some with less skin/fat, add a little. Same if you do chicken since most chicken doesn't have enough fat.

[Dr. Pepper]

Thanks for the tip rickgregory I've got some duck fat in the freezer (from roasting Bohemian style whole ducks), and I can put some of that in the bags as well, since I can later recycle the fat.

[rickgregory]

Yep, this works (I've tried it) BUT... make sure there's reasonable fat on the legs. If they're trimmed down etc you might not have enough fat to really confit it, though of course it will cook.

[Huskee]

I'm with you on the tallow thing. Not to discredit them or their new process, but video creators need new things to get/keep interest in their videos. I've analyzed this with my thinking cap and I don't see practical benefit to outweigh the hassle. I'm open to be proven wrong as well but it won't affect my non-desire to do it.

[Troutman]

I'm amazed none of my Mexican cooking fellows didn't mention Carnitas as another example of cooking in fat (in that case lard to be most correct). It's indeed a classic way to prepare proteins of all sorts. As mentioned it really is akin to SV in that the meat is bathed in a liquid that stays at a relatively constant temperature.

YouTube guys Jeramy Yoder and Harry Soo are on a tallow injection and exterior application kick. Although not a confit application, it sounds like your results may have been similar. I'm really not that adventurous and don't see how that would improve a Prime or for sure a Wagyu grade brisket. But I'm open to be proven wrong!!

Hope 2021 (what's left of it) finds you in better stead there chef. We look forward to more posts and ideas. Later.

[SierraBBQGuy]

I’ve been dreaming about doing another bbq competition, if this Pandemic ever allows. I usually enter the Silicon Valley Comp. In doing some poking around, I came across this, same technique as described here. I’m thinking to adapt this at next event.

https://www.texasmonthly.com/food/re...hicken-thighs/

[Dr. Pepper]

And, according to Kenji and Daniel Gritzer (Serious Eats), in a sous-vide bag the duck will produce it's own rendered duck fat as it bathes, which not only provides rendered fat for that cook, but is recoverable as well for other uses (potatoes, veggies.) I have ordered 40 lbs (yikes! But it's 8 5 lb frozen packages) of duck 'drumettes' from Marx Foods, and will try SV per their recipe.

https://www.marxfoods.com/pekin-duck-drumettes

[rickgregory]

PS: Confiting a duck, say, in veggie oil won't give you quite the luxury of doing it in its own fat. Still works, but some of the duckiness is absorbed into the oil. IF you're doing this you ideally want to use the same fat as the animal your confiting. So for a brisket, I'd save the trimmings in a freezer back and render them for later use once you have a bunch. But it's a relatively minor upgrade for the OP (lots of other flavor and veggie oil still gives you the richness)

[Strat50]

You can use any "short" fat, not just duck, of course. Lard, bacon grease, vegetable shortening,etc. When you season the fat, like sprigs of herbs, peppercorns, etc., it really infuses the flavors into the meat. This takes volume, as a thinner layer of fat is dealing with surface temps and the meat too. A larger volume of fat provides greater thermal mass, which really helps here.

[Potkettleblack]

The main advantage to the SV process here is that duck fat can be pricey... Using 2 TBS instead of enough to poach the whole legs in can be much more economical.

But I do agree, it's idiot proof with a decent oven. I have a giant pizza steel in the oven to help regulate the temp. The extra thermal mass reduces the swing.

[Strat50]

It would be good that way, but regular confit is very forgiving, and easy to adjust as the cook progresses. You only need an oven that is precise enough to hold that 200-225 temp. It's pretty idiot proof.

[Strat50]

I went back to work at my old job, 2-3 hours a day to start, using a walker...lol Then crutches, then a cane, now I'm cleared for full contact cooking. Thanks so much for the sentiment, as it does mean a lot. Peace and blessings to you and yours..

[Strat50]

Thanks very much. So far, so good.