Traditional Duck Confit Recipe (2024)

FAQs

What makes a duck confit? ›

What Is Duck Confit? Gently cured duck legs bathed in their own fat and slowly cooked to falling-off-the-bone perfection. Then the skin is crisped in a pan or oven, giving you the sinful combination of silky meat and crackling skin. It'll roll your eyes back it's so good.

The most traditional way Duck Confit is served in France is on a bed of lentils. The earthy lentils are a perfect match for the rich and gamey duck. This is a French Lentil Ragout – yes that's right, I said a ragout!

Select a traditional duck confit recipe and simply use an equal amount of quality extra virgin olive oil in lieu of fat. According to Fat Secret, duck fat and a typical extra virgin olive oil have about the same amount of calories and overall fat, but has less than half the saturated fat found in duck fat.

It sounds like a reliable and mistake-proofed cooking method — that low and slow approach. But it is possible to overcook duck confit.

Confit refers to the process of slow cooking and storing food in fat. Confit is a French word that means "preserved." In the confit method, meats are cooked in fat for a long time at low temperatures. This renders tough cuts like duck legs more tender, and when stored in duck fat in a cool place, they last all winter.

There are several health advantages to duck confit. Monounsaturated fats, which are excellent for your heart, are abundant in duck fat. A good supply of protein, iron, and amino acids that your body needs to operate correctly is also included in duck confit.

Once the duck has been confit'd, remove it from its fat bath, and dry it. Dab it with paper towels to make sure the skin side is dry. Then place the meat, skin side down in a hot pan, and do not move it. The skin will get crispy and will eventually come away from the pan with no resistance.

Why It Works. Curing duck legs with salt, alliums, and aromatics seasons the meat deeply and gives it a subtle background vegetal sweetness. A gentle and slow cook in a low oven yields tender and silky duck confit.

It is true of any confit recipe, but it's imperative when cooking duck, which is naturally lean and gamey. Cook the meat slowly and gently, at a low temperature of 250 to 300 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the key to producing tender results if you're cooking with whole leg quarters (instead of just the legs).

How long will confit duck last in the fridge? ›

Add the bay leaves and peppercorns and cook for about 2½ hrs, or until the meat is almost falling away from the bone. You can store the duck very simply by placing it in a pudding bowl, covering it with the fat and keeping it in the fridge: as long as it stays covered with fat it will last for weeks.

You can reuse the fat for subsequent rounds of confit or other duck fat–related recipes. Just strain the fat into a clean container and pop it back in the fridge. Once the fat has chilled and solidified, you can separate it from the jellied duck confit juices that will have settled at the bottom of the container.

When improperly seasoned, confit can easily become either too salty or lacking in flavor. To avoid this, it's important to first understand how confits are seasoned. Confits are seasoned with a salt cure, which (besides salt) can also contain herbs like pepper, thyme, leeks, or bay leaves (via MasterClass).

The main difference between confit vs. sous vide lies in how the food is heated on the cooktop. With confit, food is immersed and cooked at low temperatures in fat, oil or syrup. With the sous vide method, ingredients are sealed in a vacuum-sealed bag and cooked in hot water.

Duck confit, for example, has a rich, savory flavor with a hint of sweetness from the fat and spices. The slow cooking process helps to tenderize the duck and give it a melt-in-your-mouth texture. Pork confit has a similarly rich, savory flavor, and is often served with a side of potatoes or vegetables.

Its preparation process looks like another famous French cooking technique called 'confit'. It cooks a whole piece of meat in animal fat under low heat with minimal seasoning. The difference is that confit items are usually cooked and served whole, whereas Rillettes are the result of shredding the confit.

The meat is fully-cooked once the confit is finished, but that doesn't mean it's ready to eat. The slow-poached duck will be tender and flavorful, but the skin will still be soft. Searing your duck legs before serving will transform the skin from thick and rubbery to shatteringly crispy and delicious.