Confit Duck

• 2.250 kg Duck legs
• 0.225 kg Salt
• 0.0125 kg Brown sugar
• 0.050 kg Fresh thyme
• 0.050 kg Fresh rosemary
• 0.025 kg Freshly ground black pepper
• 6 pcs Bay leaves
• 4 kg Duck or pork

1. 1 Mix the salt, thyme, rosemary, brown sugar and black pepper together.
2. 2 Massage the mixture into the legs; make sure every part has some on it. Vacuum seal or put into a sealed container and refrigerate overnight, or up to a few days.
3. 3 When ready to cook, rinse off the legs, then dry well (if you are cooking sous-vide: make sure the legs are not stacked. They need to be in one layer). Divvy up the fat into the bottom of each vacuum bag. Divide up the bay leaves into each bag.
4. 4 If you are not vacuum sealing, put the bay leaves in the pot of fat.
5. 5 Sous-vide cooking: get a large stockpot mostly full of water and bring that to a bare simmer; set the sealed vac bags in the water and cook at about 82°c/180°f for at least 3 hours.
6. 6 The cooking time is about the same for the traditional method, which I do in an oven-proof pot in a 95°c / 200°f oven.
7. 7 Remove the bags from the water and plunge into an ice-water bath to cool. Remove them to a rack to dry, and when they're dry on the outside, store in vacuum bags once more in the fridge.
8. 8 To eat, you can:
9. 9 A. shred the meat and use it that way, or
10. 10 B. eat whole and cold.
11. 11 C. The best way is to reheat in the oven at 185°c / 365°f for about 6 to 7 min, covered and then to crisp up the skin with a broiler in the oven, or a torch or the salamander.
12. 12 Nutritional Highlights: duck confit yields a highly nutritious, protein-dense, and rich profile. While high in total and saturated fats due to slow cooking in duck fat, it provides an excellent source of heart-healthy monounsaturated fats and essential micronutrients like iron and zinc.

Sustainability impact

Wasted avoided: duck fat from the previous cooking session. By-product used: traditional European duck confit (especially in France) relies on utilising every part of the waterfowl to ensure no waste. When whole ducks are processed to harvest the prime breasts (magrets) and legs for preserving, several core by-products are generated and used directly in the confit process or associated dishes: rendered duck fat, duck gizzards, duck necks & hearts, duck skin & trimmings. Valorisation strategy: a valorisation strategy for duck confit maximises its culinary and commercial appeal by balancing traditional French preservation with modern, premium adaptations. Key approaches include cross-utilisation in secondary dishes, premium packaging for retail, and enhancing side pairing. Circular economy principle: applying circular economy principles to duck confit means embracing nose-to-tail eating and establishing a zero-waste cycle for your ingredients. You can maximise your resources by processing a whole duck rather than just buying separated legs, and by infinitely reusing and repurposing the duck fat and bones.