How to Confit: Meat, Vegetables, Fruit and More
garlic confit cooking in duck fat
Here’s a rundown of just about everything you can do with confit. Spoiler alert: the sky is the limit.
What is confit anyway? What’s the process look like?
The word "confit" comes from the French "confire," which means to preserve. This cooking technique, which has been used for centuries in France, was originally developed as a way to keep food from spoiling or becoming contaminated with bacteria. While taste was not the primary focus when confit was first created, the end result of cooking food in fat for several hours is a dish that is both delicious and well-preserved.
In order to confit food, it is often necessary to cure it in salt and then slowly cook it in a fat such as duck fat, chicken fat, or olive oil. Sugar syrup is sometimes used to confit fruit or citrus peels. The food is cooked at low temperatures and then stored submerged in the liquid, which helps to prevent the growth of bacteria and preserves the food for an extended period of time - sometimes even months. This process creates an environment that is hostile to bacteria, which helps to preserve the food.
How is confit different from other cooking methods?
Confit is a cooking method that involves cooking food submerged in fat, similar to deep-frying. However, there are some key differences between the two techniques. Confit requires much lower cooking temperatures than deep-frying, which typically takes place at temperatures between 325 and 450°F. Confit, on the other hand, is typically cooked at temperatures below 300°F. This low-and-slow cooking process helps to extract moisture from the ingredient and replace it with fat, while also minimizing the presence of bacteria and creating a tender, flavorful dish with high levels of umami.
The confit process for meats, poultry and fish
To confit duck legs, here’s quick rundown. There are plenty of adjustments you can make to this approach but this one is a good start.
Combine 35 grams of kosher salt with 0.5 grams of curing salt (which contains sodium nitrite to prevent bacterial growth). Flavor the salt mixture with ¼ teaspoon of ground black pepper, a crushed bay leaf, and half of a minced garlic clove.
Coat six whole duck legs with the seasoning mixture, place them in a container with a weighted lid to press the duck down, and refrigerate for about 72 hours.
When you're ready to confit, brush off the excess salt seasoning, rinse the duck legs quickly, and dry them well with paper towels.
Place the duck legs in an oven-safe, deep-walled pan or pot and cover them completely with rendered duck fat. Cook the duck legs in the oven at 300°F for approximately 2 to 5 hours, or until the meat is tender and falls off the bone. The cook time will vary quite a bit depending on the duck leg size and breed. For instance, Moulard Duck Legs are larger and take longer to fully cook and tenderize. This 300°F temp is typically higher for confit. So let’s call it “quick confit.”
When you're ready to serve, remove the legs from the cooking liquid and any excess fat and broil them for a few minutes until the skin is crisp and golden. The confit duck legs, stored submerged in the cooking fat, can last up to six months in the refrigerator.
The confit method can also be used to prepare other meats such as turkey and pork. Similarly, fish like cod or salmon can be cooked via confit using a similar technique, but it is important to reduce the salt curing time to less than 30 minutes to prevent the delicate fish from becoming too dry.
If you’re interested in making 100% authentic confit, try our duck leg confit recipe.
How to confit veggies
To confit vegetables:
Begin by cleaning and preparing the vegetables, making sure to dry them thoroughly before cooking.
Add the vegetables to a pot or pan with spices and herbs like whole peppercorns, thyme, and rosemary.
Fill the pot with enough duck fat or olive oil until vegetables, herbs, and spices are totally submerged. Cook over low to medium-low heat until the vegetables are fully cooked and tender. Depending on the type of vegetable, this may take between 30 minutes to an hour.
If you're not serving the vegetables immediately, store them in an airtight jar submerged in the cooking oil in the refrigerator for up to three months.
How to confit fruit
Fruit confit is a type of confit that is made by slowly cooking whole fruits or citrus peels in a sugar syrup rather than a salt cure and fat. This method can be used to create sweet treats like pear confit, candied orange peels, and preserved cherries. Unlike duck confit, fruit confit does not require the use of salt or fat.
If you want to fully preserve your fruit using the confit method, it is necessary to remove all of the moisture from the fruit, which can be achieved through several days of soaking in increasingly concentrated sugar solutions. This process can take some time, but if you are looking for a quicker version, you can achieve similar results by slowly cooking the fruit in a sugar syrup mixture at low temperatures. However, this quicker version will only last about five days when stored in the refrigerator.
Garlic confit is a thing
Garlic is an extremely versatile ingredient that can be used in a variety of forms, including raw, dried and ground, flakes, caramelized, or fermented. If you enjoy the flavor of garlic, you might want to try making garlic confit, which involves cooking garlic cloves in fat such as olive oil or grapeseed oil at a low heat. The result is a tender, nutty clove that can be used for spreading, cooking, or even eaten on its own. Garlic confit is a delicious and flavorful addition to any kitchen.
To make garlic confit, place peeled cloves from a whole head of garlic in a pan or pot and fully submerge them in oil. Add flavorings such as sprigs of rosemary or thyme. Cook the garlic over low heat until it becomes golden and tender. As the cloves cook, they will release their flavors into the oil, creating a homemade flavored oil that can be used to dress salads or drizzle over avocado toast. The garlic confit can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week or frozen for up to three months. For more detailed instructions, check out our duck fat garlic confit recipe.