'm in the process of making confit duck, so I thought I'd share my technique for doing so; it's a slightly modified version of the one I make in the restaurant. I hope this encourages people to try making it, as it's a wonderful thing to have in the storecupboard. I'd be interested in hearing how other people's techniques vary from my own.
You'll need:
10 duck legs (I use French Babrary)
a lemon, sliced into 6 or so slices
an orange, ditto
a couple of dozen sprigs of thyme
half a dozen bay leaves
a head of garlic
about 8oz / 220g medium coarse salt
about 2kg / 4lb duck or goose fat (I use goose)
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1) In a plastic or otherwise non-reactive contatiner that'll fit in the fridge, place everything apart from the goose fat, and mix with the hands to combine. Leave in the fridge for 12-16 hours.
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2) Take the legs out of the fridge. The salt will have dissolved and there'll be some fluid in the bottom of the container.
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3) In warm water, rinse the duck legs, and leave them to drain. Rinse and drain the herbs, garlic, orange and lemon.
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4) Place half the herbs, garlic and fruit slices in the bottom of a heavy pot (I use a cast-iron Le Creuset pot)
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5) Make the first layer of duck legs, overlapping like this.
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6) Place the fifth leg in to make a complete circle.
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7) Fill in the middle with the remaining herbs/garlic/fruit.
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8) Make the second layer of five legs in the same way as the first.
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9) Just cover with warm duck/goose fat.
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10) Cover with a cartouche of aluminium foil. It's imporatant that the foil doesn't overlap the edge of the pot otherwise the fat may spill over upon cooking.
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11) Place in the oven at 90C (200F) for 12-14 hours. The lid should be slightly ajar, as shown, and it's good practice to place a tray underneath the pot to avoid any spillage catching fire on the oven floor. I learned this the hard way.
If there's any interest, I'll put up pics of the potting process when I do that tomorrow.
Hope this proves of interest... :smile:
Chris Ward
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I can't do any better than Culinary Bear's wonderful thread at eGullet: www.forums.egullet.org/index.php?showtopic=58097andview=findpostandp=795619