Adding fruit to a confit?

[skruz]

Hi there,

 

   I have searched for this topic but all I find is info on dessert. Here is my plan: I would like to confit some pork ribs using fat that I have previously cured (maple bacon) and smoked with applewood. I then plan to smoke with ribs and grill after sitting for a while. My question is has anyone added fruit (i.e. apples) into the confit during slow cooking and then stored the apple with it? I am wondering if this will give extra flavour. I was also thinking of adding some maple syrup to enhance the flavour and not sure if I should do this while cooking or just  at the end before storage. Any thoughts are greatly appreciated.

 

Thanks,

Steve

[Chris Hennes]

I've never added fruit to a confit cure, but I've certainly added a number of other flavorings, and apple and pork do seem to have a natural affinity. My one concern is that it sounds like you have a LOT of different flavors going on here, I'd be worried that the pork itself would get lost in the crowd.

[Mjx]

The fruit would probably disintegrate to apple sauce during the prolonged cooking, which might actually work, but may not be what you want.

 

If you search for pork + confit + [specific] fruit (rather than, say, fruit + confit), you should find a fair number of discussions that address what you're doing.

[Plantes Vertes]

If you cook an apple it goes to puree within a few minutes, so I could see the fruit just becoming dispersed in a gigantic amount of fat and becoming inedible/irretrievable while also ruining the fat for future use. I wonder also whether the relatively mild flavour of an apple could really penetrate the meat in the same way garlic or herbs could. If you wanted to try that I would probably go for a small test sample in the first instance.

[fvandrog]

If you cook an apple it goes to puree within a few minutes, so I could see the fruit just becoming dispersed in a gigantic amount of fat and becoming inedible/irretrievable while also ruining the fat for future use. I wonder also whether the relatively mild flavour of an apple could really penetrate the meat in the same way garlic or herbs could. If you wanted to try that I would probably go for a small test sample in the first instance.

Would adding apple peels in a muslin bag be an option? They should give quite a bit of taste, and it would avoid having apple mush in the confit.

[Norm Matthews]

You might consider using cider instead of an apple.

[Plantes Vertes]

Would adding apple peels in a muslin bag be an option? They should give quite a bit of taste, and it would avoid having apple mush in the confit.

 

 

Well this could avoid the fruit mush difficulty, but I would still have doubts about the possibility of flavouring the meat. There are two questions in my mind; first, is apple (or apple peel) really a strong enough flavour to impart its taste to the very large quantity of fat required for confit and then transmit it to the cooking pork? Second, is oily fruit actually a desirable flavour anyway? 

 

I haven't eaten meat in years so I'm obviously no expert here, but in my stomach's imagination the nice thing about pairing pork and fruit is that the refreshing sweetness and acidity contrast with and remain independent from the fat and savoury aspects of the meat. I'm not sure that wedding the fat and the fruit would be a success. I wouldn't knock the idea though, by all means the OP should give it a go and see what happens - maybe it'll be delicious!

[Plantes Vertes]

You might consider using cider instead of an apple.

 

Norm, do you think that the cider and the fat would combine successfully throughout cooking, and how do you think adding alcohol would affect the confiting process? Or maybe you were thinking of marinating the pork before cooking?

[Norm Matthews]

Norm, do you think that the cider and the fat would combine successfully throughout cooking, and how do you think adding alcohol would affect the confiting process? Or maybe you were thinking of marinating the pork before cooking?

 

After some thought, I am thinking of a separate process using apple flavor as a sauce.

 

 

Here is pork confit with a cider reduction

 

http://food52.com/recipes/1832-pork-confit-with-cider-veal-reduction

Edited April 4, 2014 by Norm Matthews (log)

[Plantes Vertes]

That sauce sounds pretty special!

[pastrygirl]

If you cook an apple it goes to puree within a few minutes

Depends on the apple. Some hold their shape better than others, though I can never remember which do what. IIRC, granny smith fall apart fairly readily, while honeycrisp can be caramelized in a saute pan and hold their shape.

[skruz]

Awesome, thanks for the replies. I was wondering about using dried apple chips instead - may have more flavour and not disintegrate as easily. I will keep you posted on what comes out on the other side. Steve