Confit duck

Confit duck

Use this in a cassoulet, or simply on its own, with sautéed potatoes and seasonal veg

Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 30 mins

plus marinating

Method

  1. The day before cooking, put the cumin and coriander seeds in a dry pan and toast until they are slightly coloured and aromatic. Remove to a board and crush them with the blade of a knife. Crush the juniper berries and mix with the spices and the salt. Rub the mixture over the duck, scatter with thyme, rosemary and sliced garlic and chill for 24 hrs, turning two or three times as they marinate.
  2. Next day, heat oven to 150C/130C fan/ gas 2. Wipe the duck with kitchen paper and pat dry, but don't wash off the marinade. (The salt extracts the water from the meat cells, which will be reinflated with fat as the duck cooks gently. If you wash it, you will simply reinflate the cells with water.)
  3. Put the duck in a cast-iron casserole and cover with the goose fat or duck fat. 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.
  4. To cook, remove the confit duck legs from their fat. Put an ovenproof frying pan on the stove until it is hot. Add the duck legs, skin-side down, and cook for 4 mins. Turn the legs and transfer the pan to the oven for 30 mins, until crisp.
Try

Confiting

Confiting, or cooking and preserving in fat, is a classic method of preserving meat, from before the days of refrigeration. The process gives meat the most fabulous texture and flavour. Confit duck legs are particularly worth the wait - cooked long and slow in duck fat flavoured with aromatic herbs until meltingly tender, preserved in that fat, then roasted quickly until crisp and golden. Duck legs are also great value compared to breasts.

Recipe from Good Food magazine, October 2009.

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Latest comments and suggestions

  • Binder photo bethanyjane

    11 October 2009

    bethanyjane commented on this recipe

    and how much would this cause?

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  • Binder photo bethanyjane

    11 October 2009

    bethanyjane commented on this recipe

    *cost

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  • Binder photo JillB

    11 October 2009

    JillB commented on this recipe

    A heart attack, I suspect. An awful lot of fat. Bet it tastes nice though.

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  • Binder photo loopylady

    11 October 2009

    loopylady commented on this recipe

    The thought of all that saturated fat makes me feel quite ill - I notice there are no calories/grams of fat per serving for this recipe. I wonder how the legs would come out if you cooked them in the oven (without fat) straight from marinading. If someone tries it, please post a note of the results.

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  • Binder photo scrummy

    11 October 2009

    scrummy commented on this recipe

    ewwww what a revolting recipe of the day. no thanks!

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  • Binder photo Whitefiver

    11 October 2009

    Whitefiver commented on this recipe

    Hmmmm, but the point is that you cook the legs a second time to crisp them up - at which time most of the fat comes out. I have cooked confit of duck before, and the final dish is not that fatty, but absolutely delicious. I am sure that with the addition of the marinade suggested, it would be even better, and I shall do this next time. Regards, White.

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  • Binder photo Charlie

    11 October 2009

    Charlie commented on this recipe

    Confit duck is amazing cannot wait to try this out. If you have have never had confit before you should try it!

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  • Binder photo Beetle

    12 October 2009

    Beetle rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    Confit duck is absolutely delicious - much less fatty than just cooking it on its own, surprisingly. The crisp skin, melting flesh and delicious flavour are excellent. It is not swimming in fat, or disgusting - quite the reverse. The quick roasting at the end is the secret to removing the fat. The cooking process before that is about infusing the flesh with the flavours of the herbs and spices. Would recommend trying it at least once. Whenever I cook it everyone comes back for more.

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  • Binder photo Foodmonster

    16 September 2010

    Foodmonster rated and commented on this recipe

    5 stars

    I just love duck confit, to me this is the only way to cook duck legs - so moist and tender. Never fails. I must admit that I couldn't taste any of the spices in the finished dish. Next time I will at least double the amount of cumin and coriander.

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  • Binder photo sheepcat

    27 September 2010

    sheepcat commented on this recipe

    Amusing to hear a few people in doubt about the confit, don't be so risk averse! Have salad all week then splurge on saturday night with this. Duck confit is almost unbeatable for flavour and texture. Pure indulgence.

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  • Binder photo alex mackay

    28 November 2010

    alex mackay commented on this recipe

    confit duck is tremendous,i love it,and have just pulled my duck legs out of the oven,to be stored for xmas day yummo.

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  • Binder photo Prince Rupert

    21 December 2010

    Prince Rupert commented on this recipe

    I'm planning on buying a whole duck, making confit of the legs and wings; does anyone have any tips for what the best way to treat the breasts are? Can I bung them in the confit too?

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  • Binder photo martin

    15 April 2011

    martin commented on this recipe

    I agree that confit duck is delicious. You don't need to worry about the fat because duck and goose fat are NOT saturated. I wouldn't use the breasts for confit. It would be better to use them fresh or freeze them for later.

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  • Binder photo cecmary

    13 June 2011

    cecmary commented on this recipe

    I tried this recipe this weekend - very simple to do but the duck legs were far too salty - what did I do wrong? Would love to try again!

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  • Binder photo Peter

    14 September 2011

    Peter commented on this recipe

    Yes, look l know what you mean, it does sound fatty for those who have not been there, but the end dish is one of the best tasting classic French dishes ever, and if you did not know how it was cooked, you would never guess it was cooked in fat-The finished dish is not oily at all, just crispy skin and super tasty. Give it a go and then you will know. Venture out. Try it on a bed of warm spinach green lentils done in veal stock, buttered sprouts haved young and sweet, potatos chopped small and roasted in some garlic and duck fat, served in a wide bowl to hold some reduced veal juces.

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  • Binder photo Nick Johnson

    03 July 2012

    Nick Johnson commented on this recipe

    This is such a disappointing photograph. Can he do it again without it looking burnt.

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  • Binder photo Jane Matheson

    27 April 2013

    Jane Matheson commented on this recipe

    Completely delicious, not hard to do. Perfect pre prep dinner dish, not remotely fatty just moist and tender and full of flavour.

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Difficulty and servings

Easy

Serves 6

Preparation and cooking times

Preparation time

Prep 15 mins

Cook time

Cook 2 hrs 30 mins

plus marinating

Ingredients

  • 6 cumin seeds
  • 12 coriander seeds
  • 3 juniper berries
  • 50g flaky sea salt
  • 6 duck leg and thigh joints
  • 1 small bunch thyme
  • 1 rosemary branch
  • 1 unpeeled garlic clove , sliced, plus 1 whole garlic bulb, halved
  • about 500g goose or ducks fat, or enough to totally submerge the duck legs
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp black peppercorns
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