Among traditional cooking techniques, confit carries a certain mystique. Cooks speak with reverence about the slow-cooking process that submerges meat in generous amounts of rendered fat. The results can be sublimely rich, but it’s important not to confuse the flavor with the method.
Originally, confit was a preservation technique designed for unrefrigerated storage, in which food would be cooked slowly over a long period of time in fat.
Traditionally, meat or seafood was partially cured with salt and saltpeter (nitrates and nitrites), then simmered in oil. In the past, curing was essential. It killed dangerous anaerobic bacteria that could thrive once the meat was sealed in a barrier of solidified fat. During simmering, the meat also had to be fully submerged in oil to prevent contamination.
Once cured, cooked, and sealed, the food was protected from oxidation, bacteria, and spoilage—and safe to store for months. But a traditional confit cooking meat is usually so salty that you have to dilute the salty taste before serving, either by soaking the food in fresh water or by shredding it and mixing it with other ingredients.
This element of preservation is no longer necessary, and many cooks skip curing altogether nowadays.
The Easiest Way to Cook Confit
Though you can still cook confit with oil or pressure-cooking (try our pressure-cooked garlic confit), the easiest way to prepare a modern meat confit is sous vide. It provides a clean, reliable way to cook the meat, and the snug-fitting bag keeps the fat close to the surface of the meat as it cools after cooking. The largest difference is that confit cooked sous vide is cooked without oil—which means you don’t need a cauldron of fat for this method.
Some cooks have complained that sous vide confit lacks a certain soulfulness. They may be referring to the missing flavor of oxidation: not oxidation of the food, but oxidation of the fatty coating, which causes the nutty aromas of a traditionally aged confit. The vacuum inside the sous vide bag does prevent this slow oxidation. You can restore it, however, by aging the rendered fat before applying it or by opening the sous vide bag once the food has cooled, thus exposing the fat to air.
Does Confit Need to Be Cooked in Fat?
Confit is less about cooking in fat than you might think and more about time and temperature. In fact, oil doesn’t actually soak into the meat while it’s cooking. It only begins to seep in as the meat cools, and even then, not very much.
The moisture just beneath the surface quickly stops the oil from going deeper. In the end, fat penetrates only about a millimeter into the meat. But that’s enough, because it’s the surface fat that delivers the flavor and texture we associate with confit.
After much testing, we can say with confidence that you can achieve the same rich, decadent results using sous vide and just a coating of flavorful fat. No need for a vat of the stuff!
We know this might sound hard to believe. Many cooks are skeptical when we first tell them. But this is something you have to try yourself. Cook confit both ways and see if you can tell the difference.
We recommend starting with our turkey confit recipe, inspired by classic duck confit. Dark turkey meat is vacuum-cured with a blend of autumn herbs and duck fat, and then cooked sous vide for 24 hours. If duck fat isn’t available, butter or a neutral oil works just as well. You can also substitute duck or chicken legs. We like serving the confit alongside slices of juicy sous vide turkey breast and home jus gras.
Find our turkey confit recipe in Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 246.
FURTHER READING
- Sous Vide Tuna Confit—Modernist Cuisine at Home, p. 174
- Pressure-Cooked Garlic Confit
- Tomato Confit—Modernist Bread at Home, p. 128 / Modernist Cuisine vol. 5:62
- Cooking in Oil—Modernist Cuisine vol. 2:115
- Cooking Confit the Easy Way—Modernist Cuisine vol. 2:128
- Sous Vide Chestnut Confit—Modernist Cuisine vol. 5:18
- Sous Vide Lobster Mushroom Confit—Modernist Cuisine vol. 5:187
- Duck Confit—Modernist Cuisine vol. 5:82