Fowl Preservation: How To Make Duck Confit

Michael Ruhlman:

Football has started, the sky is slate, the air is cold and winter will be here soon. One of the very few excellent things about winter in Cleveland--besides surfing on Lake Erie (see No Rez Cleveland) and Sunday morning fires on the hearth--is the opportunity to eat duck confit all winter long. Best part about duck confit is, make it once, and you've got it on hand till April--it's always there for you. Whether for an impromptu lunch or a fancy dinner (I'm planning a cassoulet for an old friend next Friday), or a last-minute appetizer for last-minute guests.

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Comments

[colinmeister]

01:06 PM on 10/13/2010

I have made goose confit, and Julia Child has a very good recipe for it. I used a mixture of goose fat and lard as the fat, and the confit turned out very well. Perfect in a cassoulet.

[StopGlobalWarmingBeVegan]

07:27 PM on 09/29/2010

They actually sell vegan duck at the asian supermarket, it'll be good for this recipe.

[cookerman45]

12:00 PM on 09/29/2010

did Brian Polcyn ever pass the "master chefs " test i think he failed twice??

[shanghaislim]

08:16 AM on 10/01/2010

He received a 68% score his first time but the second he barely passed with a 72% score..

....is what my sources tell me?

[kopanko]

09:53 AM on 09/29/2010

I'd prefer to see the duck make Ruhlman confit.

[halfpricefaustian]

09:46 PM on 09/28/2010

I just made some confit of duck. I used the skin and rendered it down to make fat, which I then poured over the legs and neck. I cooked on the stove top at lowest possible heat until I heard some bubbling, then turned it off and did the same thing the next day. I saved everything else for other cooking methods, like baking the breasts. For two more plates. Also baking the wings, liver, heart, gizzards, and carcass and using the meat for another few meals.
I have to pay $20 for one duck at my market. And it is a baking duck, not the fatted duck for real confit. If anyone knows where I can get cheaper duck, pleases reply. Also, do you confit parts besides the leg/thighs?

[SusanElizabeth1949]

10:53 PM on 09/28/2010

I use my duck breasts as either 'supremes' (ie boneless breasts with skin on) or left on the body and roasted, the wings usually get saved and boiled with left over bones for duck soup (here I can get wings and necks by the pound from a Chinese Bakery that also makes red roast pork and roast ducks)

[seal62]

11:13 AM on 09/28/2010

Boo ....no way am i wasteing a duck like that . I know this method very well. It should be cooked in duck fat,,with a bit of red wine and garlic..200f for 3.5 hrs . Pull the legs and dry...toss in a med high skillet and brown . With 20 legs and 3 kids they dont last long . Never skin your duck .

[SusanElizabeth1949]

06:33 PM on 09/28/2010

I love a good confet of duck, I buy several ducks (fresh killed) every year and 'part them out, saving one or two breasts plus rib cages for roasting -- the rest are made into confet which I love with fried till brown in it's own fat served with cabbage braised with hard apple cider.

[halfpricefaustian]

09:56 PM on 09/28/2010

Wow, that sounds delicious! Now I gotta try duck with cabbage!