Confit

Confit

Cook very long and very gently in fat

The technique

The food is completely submerged in a fat, such as duck fat, oil, or clarified butter. The temperature remains low, well below frying, looking almost lukewarm. It cooks for a very long time, sometimes several hours, without ever letting the fat boil. Nothing should sizzle loudly.

When to use it

For duck legs, garlic, tomatoes, or any food you want to deeply tenderize while preserving it longer. The confit process protects the food from air and slowly infuses it with flavor. Use this technique to prepare pieces in advance that you will finish in a skillet.

The pitfalls

• Temperature too high: it fries instead of confiting and toughens the meat.
• Food not completely submerged: one part dries out while the other cooks.
• Shortening the cooking time: the meat stays firm instead of melting.
• Storing without straining the fat: residues will cause the preserve to spoil.

The indicator

The meat pulls away from the bone without any resistance, almost like a paste. The fat remains calm, with just a few isolated bubbles rising slowly, never a visible boil.