Slow Cooker Duck Confit Recipe
By
Kate Ramos
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Duck confit is a staple in many French dishes, from rillettes to cassoulet, but it can be tricky in the oven, where it requires constant attention to ensure that the fat stays at a steady temperature. But making it in a slow cooker is as easy as combining the melted fat and cured duck legs and walking away, only to return a few hours later to meltingly tender, flavorful meat.
Game plan: After cooking, the duck fat can be strained, cooled, and used again.
This recipe was featured as part of our Common Appliances, Uncommon Uses story.
INGREDIENTS
- 1/4 cup kosher salt
- 8 fresh thyme sprigs, leaves stripped
- 3 bay leaves, lightly crushed
- 1 tablespoon white peppercorns, lightly crushed
- 2 teaspoons juniper berries, lightly crushed
- 6 whole duck legs (about 3 pounds)
- 5 1/2 cups duck fat (about 2 1/2 pounds)
INSTRUCTIONS
- Combine the salt, thyme leaves, bay leaves, peppercorns, and juniper berries in a small bowl and stir to mix thoroughly.
- Rinse the duck legs and pat dry with paper towels. Place in a large baking dish and spread the salt rub on all sides, distributing the entire rub evenly over the legs. Cover and place in the refrigerator to cure overnight, at least 12 hours.
- When ready to cook the legs, place the duck fat in a slow cooker and melt on high. Rinse the legs under cold water and pat dry. Once the fat has melted, carefully add the legs and cook at a simmer. (Monitor the heat and lower it if the fat is creating more than one or two bubbles every minute.)
- Cook until the meat is very tender and pulls away to expose the bones, about 4 hours. Remove the legs from the fat and serve immediately or place on a wire rack to cool. Once the legs and fat have cooled, the legs can be returned to the fat and stored in the refrigerator for several weeks. To use the confit, remove it from the refrigerator and let it sit at room temperature until the fat has become liquid, about 1 hour.
This simplified method is still a lot of work, and no matter if you get a screaming deal on duck legs and fat, I can't imagine this confit costing you much under $8.00 a leg portion by the time your done. Ouch.
These products are so expensive in the states - my boyfriend is from Paris, and whenever we are there visiting, we plan for room in our suitcases to bring back tins of duck confit that are sold in every grocery store for about 7-10 bucks each that have 4 pieces each in them! And we end up with about 11/2 cups of leftover duck fat from each tin to play with. we are having fun trying the different brands to come up with our favorite.
If I could import those tins, I would make a fortune selling them here:)!
Smoke for 30 minutes over cherry wood, then sous vide for 15 hours at 167 degrees. All the spices in the bag plus only one tablespoon of fat per leg. This is superior confit without the mess (and expense) of all that duck fat.
My slow cooker runs unusually hot but I hacked it to a fixed temp. What should I set it too for confit?
You could render it yourself very easily by the same method in the slow cooker with unused duck skin/fat trimmed from a whole duck
ski_gpsy -
Duck fat can be found a specialty butchers or grocers, or can be found online at http://www.dartagnan.com/51181/565789....
Christine Gallary, CHOW Test Kitchen
Where do you buy duck fat?
Use a sachet bag for your herbs. It'll help keep them out of your dish.
I love this technique which will confit anything reliably and well. If i come across some good garlic at the markets i often confit several bulbs and keep it in my freezer to be used as needed.
My guess is that by "lightly crushed" they mean, for example, if you went over it with a rolling pin a few times. Maybe to release flavors? Not sure if that works with dried herbs or just fresh ones...
I love this idea. Small problem...I've always heard that bay leaves tear up your intestinal track and stomach lining when consumed directly. Which is why most recipes call for whole bay leaves which are; then, removed. If this is still true, I would suggest using four whole bay leaves and putting them in the slow cooker with all of the ingredients to be removed later. Of course...I'm a smoker. So I'm thinking the bay leaves wont be a big deal.
I read that the warm function on my slow cooker is actually 160F so I'm planning on doing it on a weekend and just switching from warm to low (which is a little too hot at 205F) and back every hour or so.
Okay, yet ANOTHER question -- I tried this but even on low my slow cooker seemed too hot. It bubbled quite a bit, and the duck legs look a little stringy. Any suggestions?
I don't see why not, but you're going to have it submerged in dack fat anyway. The skin left on will render out while cooking and when you use your confit later you can crisp up the skin and it taste great.
By the way I just tried the slow cooker method yesterday and it worked great, no heating up the oven for one pan and you can leave the house if you must while it cooks. Great tip!
Does anyone know if you can cure the duck legs after removing the skin, or should the skin be left on?
There are a couple of stores on line that I know of Hudson Valley Foie Gras http://www.hudsonvalleyfoiegras.com/foiegrasmarket.html and Grimaud Farms http://www.secure-kew.com/grimaud/mai... ; or you could just render your own. I trim excess fat when I buy a duck and then render the fat on low heat in a sauce pan.
Where does one buy duck fat anyway?
If you happen to have a vacuum sealer you can do this with much less duck fat. Prepare the duck legs as normal but after rinsing, seal them in a bag with about a tablespoon of fat per leg (I do packages of 2 legs each). Instead of duck fat, fill the slow cooker with water. Drop in the sealed bags and cook until the meat pulls away from the bones. Plunge the bags immediately into ice water to cool. At this point you can keep them in the fridge or freeze them. I don't know how long they will keep, but I think it would be almost forever as long as they are kept cold.
Yes, you can re use the duck fat. Just strain it through a strainer lined with cheese cloth or a chinois if you are lucky enough to have one. The you will have lovely duck fat for making duck fat fries (awesome) or any other wonderful dishes.
Can you save and re-use the duck fat?
Yeah but homemade duck confit is soooo much better than store bought. You can let the duck sit for up to 2 full days in its cure and deepen the flavor. Much more flavor and texture than store bought.....and it takes like 20 total minutes of active time. Great sunday project.
Wow, that does sound easy. All the same: almost everywhere I can think of that I could buy duck legs and duck fat I could also buy prepared duck confit, ready to brown. Is there a benefit to making it at home? I'm not even sure I'd have much cost savings...