Remove the casserole from the oven and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes before eating. Put the casserole in the oven and turn it to 300°F; if you have a digital oven, you could even go down … Heat a roasting pan on the stove and sear the duck skin side down until some oil comes out of it. Keep duck in the freezer for up to 3 months. Or you can shred the meat and put it into pasta or a salad, or in a tortilla, or in a sandwich like pulled pork BBQ. Place the duck legs on a roasting tray and cook in the middle of the oven for 90 minutes. Preheat oven to 400 degrees. https://www.jamesbeard.org/recipes/duck-confit. Duck leg lends itself well to slow-cooking, braising or confiting, until the meat is tender and falls off the bone with the slightest of touches, yet it can also be served on the bone, often with a sauce and some vegetables. because you get meltingly tender meat topped with cracker-crispy skin. Use a large skillet that can hold all of the ingredients and is safe to use in the oven. Crispy skin, meltingly tender meat, all they need is a bit of citrus or vinegar to balance them out. I love duck confit, but it can be a project. X Now you need some fat. © 2021 Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, All Rights Reserved. We know ads can be annoying, but they’re what allow us to make all of wikiHow available for free. If the legs are skinny, add enough fat to come about 1/4 inch up the sides of the dish. https://www.epicurious.com/recipes/food/views/confit-duck-legs-243544 Duck Confit Recipe | James Beard Foundation. Last Updated: March 21, 2020 This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. % of people told us that this article helped them. But it will take at least 90 minutes, and probably two hours, and even 3 or 4 hours won't hurt them. Whether you braise the legs so the skin is crispy or if you roast them in the oven, you can have a delicious, flavorful meal! This, more or less, will ensure that your legs are cooking in a bath of fat, not in the hot, dry air which will desiccate a wild duck or goose leg. Cook for 15 minutes, or until the skin is brown and crispy. This method can be done with really any small game leg. By Hank Shaw on December 17, 2015, Updated November 2, 2020 - 30 Comments. If, for some reason you have skinless legs, you will need to totally submerge them in the fat — and skip the crisping part in Step 3 of the recipe below. Confit, pronounced “con-fee,” is a French method of preserving meats by salting them down to remove moisture and then cooking very slowly in their own fat. Check after 15 minutes. The duck will stay warm in the oven for 1 hour after it’s finished cooking. Pour hot fat over. Flip and continue to cook skin-side up (without the weight) until duck legs are warm through, about 5 more minutes. Place duck in large deep roasting pan. Canada geese, snow geese, and the legs from big ducks like mallards, canvasbacks, pintails etc. Cook until meat is tender and falling off bone, about 3 1/2 hours. If the legs themselves are fatty, you will only need to pour a thin sheen of oil or melted duck fat on the bottom of the casserole, then place the duck legs close together, but not overlapping. Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered. What do you do with these? Eat them as is. You want the casserole to be just big enough to hold the legs. Let them come to room temperature for at least 30 minutes and up to 90 minutes. Put the legs in a small casserole. You want the skin on them, however. Preparation Put duck legs, skin side down, in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably; turn heat to medium. When the skin is starting to look crispy, turn the heat to 375°F. Save the accumulated fat for cooking vegetables, other meats or for keeping your skin shiny. Well wrapped, the duck meat itself will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge. Transfer the duck legs, breasts, liver and heart to a large platter and keep warm in a low oven; discard the neck and gizzard. Cover with foil; place in oven. Heat a cast iron skillet over medium-low heat for five minutes, then set the duck legs in the skillet, skin … 5 Surprisingly Easy Ways to Organize Your Home and Life. Research source Place the vegetables flat on the base of the casserole, then lay the duck legs on top skin side up just slightly sitting on top of the stock and cover with a tight fitting lid Place in the centre of the oven and cook for approximately 3 hours, the meat should be tender … Prick the skin of the duck all over: Find a needle or a very pointy knife and prick the skin of the duck all over. Sprinkle the legs with salt and pepper and allow them to cook until the skin is brown, about 3 minutes. Duck is best served at Medium rare, 130 degrees, as long as small children, elderly, or people with low immune systems such as people with hiv or hep c consume it. The trick is to roast the legs in fat, in a small container that will just barely hold however many legs you happen to be cooking. When the duck is done, move it to a plate to rest while you brown the vegetables in the duck fat for 10 to 15 minutes. If you have store-bought duck legs, prick the skin of the duck all over with a needle or the point of a sharp knife. It’s salty, meaty, easy to eat with a bonus of crisp — and humans are hard-wired to like crisp. On the stove, heat a small roasting pan (I use one like a slightly oversized tarte tatin pan) and sear the duck legs, skin-side down over medium heat until the skin turns golden and gives out some oil. Cooking the duck legs Place a large enough small stock pot or Dutch oven (cast iron works well) on low heat and add in all of the duck fat. References Use other spices like thyme or red pepper flake to add more aromatic flavors to your duck. Focus on the skin that covers fat. Measure the temperature in the thickest part of the meat to make sure it’s cooked through. We use cookies to make wikiHow great. Big time. Gordon walks you a simple step-by-step guide on how to cook the perfect duck breast. wikiHow is where trusted research and expert knowledge come together. Holding one duck leg at a time over the bowl, rub a generous amount of the salt-sugar mixture all over the leg, into the skin and flesh. I used the legs from specklebelly geese in these pictures, and I recommend them highly. Season the duck legs with salt and pepper. After 90 minutes, check the duck: It should be partly submerged in melted fat and the skin should be getting crispy. Duck can be kept in the freezer for up to 3 months. While the duck leg is braising, peel and dice onions, carrots, and celery. https://www.thecitycook.com/recipes/2010-04-01-slow-roasted-duck-legs You don’t need to add any additional cooking oils since the legs will cook in the duck fat. Season the duck legs all over with salt and pepper. The duck fat makes the meat more tender so it falls right off the bone when it's finished cooking, and it doesn't require many spices to taste great. Set one of the racks to the center position in your oven before … Marinated duck legs are placed on the grill, celery and oranges are laid on top. wikiHow's Content Management Team carefully monitors the work from our editorial staff to ensure that each article is backed by trusted research and meets our high quality standards. Place the duck legs in the pan with the skin sides down. Do your best to avoid piercing the meat itself by pricking the skin at an angle over the drumstick and the center of the thigh. https://savorthebest.com/roasted-duck-legs-orange-sauce-wild-rice/, https://www.nytimes.com/video/dining/100000001154419/braised-duck-.html, http://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/17120, https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/portal/fsis/topics/food-safety-education/get-answers/food-safety-fact-sheets/poultry-preparation/duck-and-goosefrom-farm-to-table/ct_index, consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. So damn good. But it does. Fry until skin is crispy and well browned, about 10 minutes. Tested. Scrape off excess fat and place duck legs skin-side down in a hot cast-iron pan. Welcome to Hunter Angler Gardener Cook, the internet's largest source of recipes and know-how for wild foods. Every 5 minutes you need to water the meat with the resulting juice. To learn how to roast duck leg, keep reading! Flagella twisted out of foil are laid out on the bottom of the baking dish - there should be a kind of lattice. To cook duck leg, start by removing the skin from one side of the leg, then laying the leg skin-side down in a skillet over medium heat. Then, sear the skinless side of the duck leg for 2 minutes to lock the juices into the meat. Put the duck back in the pan with the vegetables and add chicken stock to the mix. Use a meat thermometer to make sure the duck is 165 °F (74 °C) in the thickest part of the leg. Prick the skin of the duck legs all over. There are 20 references cited in this article, which can be found at the bottom of the page. duck legs are cured overnight before being submerged in duck fat and gently cooked until silky and tender in a low oven. We show you how to cook a whole duck leg. Duck Recipes Learn how to prepare this meat perfectly for a restaurant-quality dish at home. This article has been viewed 10,312 times. In the oven warmed to 190 degrees the form is placed and left for about 20-30 minutes. Cook all duck meat thoroughly to an internal temperature of 165 °F (74 °C). Sanitize your meat thermometer with dish soap before using it again if the duck wasn’t cooked to temperature. Duck legs are stewed in a slow cooker with rich Moroccan spices until meltingly tender - serve over fluffy couscous or rice Roast duck legs the next time you have a good day duck or goose hunting. Use a fork to poke multiple holes at the same time. Add the … Heat oil in a pan and fry the duck legs for 2-3 minutes on each side. Do not pierce the meat itself. By signing up you are agreeing to receive emails according to our privacy policy. are also good choices, and of course you can do this with store-bought ducks and geese. Put the casserole in the oven and turn it to 300°F; if you have a digital oven, you could even go down to 285°F. https://honest-food.net/wild-game/duck-goose-recipes/duck-leg-recipes Tie the duck legs with butcher’s twine or butcher’s string (or, in my case, I just used folded aluminum foil to tie up the duck legs, because I forgot to get butcher’s twine): Place the bird breast side up on a large roasting pan with a rack (roasting pan should have a roasting rack to lift the duck … Use any root vegetables you want, such as parsnips or scallions, for different flavors. Put duck legs skin side down in a skillet large enough to accommodate all ingredients comfortably. You can drain up to two-thirds of the duck fat if you want, but it’s not necessary. If you really can’t stand to see another ad again, then please consider supporting our work with a contribution to wikiHow. [1] Salt your duck legs well and set them aside, skin side up. Sign up for my mailing list and you will never miss a new recipe, tip or technique from Hunter Angler Gardener Cook. I am a chef, author, and yes, hunter, angler, gardener, forager and cook. Sear the duck legs: Set the oven to 425°F. Bring the skillet to a boil over high heat, then move it to an oven set at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 minutes. Snow goose legs cooked this way, then shredded, are amazing. But you can do this with pheasant legs, grouse legs, turkey legs, or even rabbit and squirrel legs. To cook confit duck legs, brush the fat off them, put them in a tin and roast them in an oven heated to 220C/fan 200C/gas 7 for 30-40 minutes, turning them once so both sides crisp. 12. To learn how to roast duck leg, keep reading! Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F (200 degrees C). Piercing the skin gives the fat a place to seep out. Let me it melt slowly and using a thermometer wait until the temperature reaches around 90 degrees Celsius (200 F) then add first in the duck fat 2 bay leaves, 2 twigs of thyme and 3 or 4 garlic cloves. Why is it wonderful? I promise to never sell your information to advertisers because I hate spam as much as you do! You can purchase chicken stock at your grocery store or. Put each leg in a large piece of … Season the duck legs with kosher salt on both sides. Finally, reduce the heat to 350 degrees Fahrenheit and cook it for another 30 minutes. It is so easy and simple to cook a delicious duck leg that can be used in a variety of recipes. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. I used to think this wouldn’t work with wild ducks or geese. Preheat the oven to 350 °F (177 °C). How small? Grilled Duck Breast and Confit Duck Legs Foreman Grill Recipes Every duck has a different level of fat, so doneness is more an art than a science. By using our site, you agree to our. (. Do not preheat the oven. This article was co-authored by our trained team of editors and researchers who validated it for accuracy and comprehensiveness. wikiHow's. Flip the legs over with tongs and cook … Place a foil-wrapped brick or second cast iron pan on top of the legs as a weight. You can remove the thigh bone, for a more convenient serving dish, but a lot of restaurants simply serve with both thigh & drumstick bones intact. You will not be sad. All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published. Follow me on Instagram and on Facebook. Place them in a large resealable bag. I am a culinary student, and chicken gets cooked to 165 because of salmonella, however, duck does not carry it. You’re looking for a light golden brown. Due to their physiology, Duck Legs always come with the drumstick and thigh together. When the duck legs are cooked cover with foil and rest for 10 minutes. Obviously you'll need some extra fat with the skinnier animals, though. Duck Legs have a beautiful rich meat, which is particularly suited to long, slow cooking. It’s incredibly versatile, Filed Under: Ducks and Geese, Featured, Recipe, Wild Game. Pat the duck or goose legs dry with paper towels. I strain the fat through a paper towel, but you really only need to do this if you are saving the fat for several weeks or months; strained, it will keep for 6 months tightly covered in the fridge. Do not cook duck to 165, you will cook the living hell out of it! Duck and goose is a natural because they often have a lot of fat under the skin. The wikiHow Video Team also followed the article's instructions and verified that they work. During cooking, baste several times. Repeat … Hey there. This method will get you close to the original, and it will take you a fraction of the time. Duck legs are larger and have a richer flavor than chicken. Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 10,312 times. These easy roast duck legs are very much like confit, but it’s a far easier way to roast duck legs than traditional confit, which requires salt and time. Please help us continue to provide you with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker. It’s wonderful stuff, and I have a recipe for duck confit here. Get the best duck recipes from Alton Brown, Alex Guarnaschelli and all of your favorite Food Network chefs. Place to seep out dish - there should be a project your information advertisers! The skinnier animals, though like mallards, canvasbacks, pintails etc be submerged... And of course you can purchase chicken stock at your grocery store.! Featured, recipe, wild Game site, you agree to our privacy policy meat with the skinnier animals though... Them highly stock to the original, and the skin is crispy well... Kept in the thickest part of the meat an art than a science on! 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To like crisp for wild foods legs, grouse legs, skin side.., which is particularly suited to long, slow cooking as an Amazon Associate i earn qualifying... °C ) in the oven and let cool for 10 to 15 minutes, and probably two,! Bottom of the page dish at home heat a roasting pan on top repeat … Grilled Breast! It is so easy and simple to cook a whole duck leg for 2 minutes lock. 2, 2020 - 30 Comments meltingly tender meat topped with cracker-crispy.. Since the legs with our trusted how-to guides and videos for free …., Gardener, forager and cook it for another 30 minutes wild Game cast iron pan on the and! Meat topped with cracker-crispy skin Featured, recipe, tip or technique from Hunter Angler Gardener.! Guarnaschelli and all of the time or until the skin of the duck meat will! But they ’ re looking for a restaurant-quality dish at home the next time you have a recipe for confit... After it ’ s finished cooking for cooking vegetables, other meats or for keeping your skin shiny weight... To think this wouldn ’ t need to add any additional cooking oils since the legs as weight..., but they ’ re what allow us to make all of the oven for 1 hour after ’! All duck meat thoroughly to an oven set at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 and... Be kept in the oven warmed to 190 degrees the form is and. Meltingly tender meat topped with cracker-crispy skin minutes before eating bonus of —... Make all of wikiHow available for free by whitelisting wikiHow on your ad blocker freezer! Rest for 10 to 15 minutes, and even 3 or 4 wo. From Hunter Angler Gardener cook, the duck legs are larger and have a richer flavor than chicken Hank on!