Duck scraps

[Qwerty]

Would you expect a leg to need more time than a breast because there is more connective tissue, sinews, etc.?

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Absolutely. IMO, a duck breast needs to be served rare to medium rare, while the leg, thigh, wing need to be much more cooked to break down all that conective tissue, fat, sinew, etc.

I don't necessarily see the benefit of cooking the breast for hours and hours in a water bath when it can be nicely cooked on top of the stove...great crispy skin and lovely rare meat can be had in 15 to 20 minutes.

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Agreed. Bear in mind that the duck would probably really only need about 20 minutes in the bath to reach temp, not hours and hours, and the results are quite tasty.

Peter, cooking the breasts and the legs are two completely different things. Legs are more forgivable for higher temps and longer times...75 is fine for legs and for hours, as stated earlier, you want to cook it low and slow to break down all the connective tissue. You do it with breasts and you'll most likely have mealy, dry, overcooked meat.

You wouldn't braise a strip steak or a ribeye, would you?--which is essentially what you are doing in the pouch.

I would score the duck skin (down to the flesh but don't cut the flesh, in a crosshatch pattern), and render out as much fat as possible on a low low low flame on the stove. You don't even want any color, just render out the fat. Reserve the fat for another use--potatoes, whatever--and seal the breast in your bag with whatever flavorings/seasonings you want. Could be simple like thyme, garlic, etc, or you could do citrus juices, marinades, etc (though I personally wouldn't, keep it simple).

Pop it in the pot at about 57/135, let cook for about 20-30 mins (hard to overcook really if you keep your temp stable). Take out of the bag, and sear in a pan skin side down to crisp up that skin and get that lovely golden brown color that duck gets.

Duck is nice with a sauce, keep it simple and sweet and sour. Fruit compotes work well, but even natural jus are nice--just keep it light. Duck is very rich and fatty.

Good luck, hope I helped all.

[Chris Hennes]

You wouldn't braise a strip steak or a ribeye, would you?--which is essentially what you are doing in the pouch.

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While I agree with most of the above, I have to take issue with this - comparing sous vide to braising is just not useful in this context, since you can sous vide a ribeye to excellent effect, following it up with a very high heat sear to get the carmelization. I see no reason why you couldn't use exactly the same technique with the duck breasts: bring them up to temp in the water bath, then sear them off to finish.

[Qwerty]

I was specifically referring to the cooking of duck legs, sous vide, at a higher temp than you would use to sous vide a nice piece of steak.

The duck legs cooking at 75 is more akin to braising than any other cooking method.

I wasn't trying to state that you couldn't, shouldn't or wouldn't sous vide a steak or a duck breast (in fact I gave instructions for doing so right after), just that you probably shouldn't do it at the same time/temp you do it for braising cuts.