Turkey confit

[iamthestretch]

I'm cooking Thanksgiving lunch for a bunch of other expat DC Eurotrash this year. So no one is going to complain too much if we veer away from the old standards. Thought I'd maybe confit some turkey thighs -- mainly so that the main course can be safely done a few days ahead -- but wondering what to use for the fat. Olive oil? Duck drippings? Is this a bad idea in the first place?

[ariggsby]

I had some rabbit confit (done in duck fat) recently, and it was great, so I suspect turkey would be just fine. I can buy the fat at my good local supermarket, so I suspect you could as well.

Andrew

[melkor]

We're planning to do the same thing - legs, thighs, and wings are going to be confit'd early in the week. I found a recipe here and since the recipe is from the turkey councel I assume it to be safe. We're using duck fat and we're going to do it the same way you'd do duck confit, just cooked longer since the meat is thicker.

[iamthestretch]

Thanks Dave. I think I may give this one a try, though who knows where I'm going to find the juniper berries?

[Al_Dente]

Thanks Dave. I think I may give this one a try, though who knows where I'm going to find the juniper berries?

←

I've seen juniper berries at Dean&DeLuca in Georgetown. Call ahead and check though, this was a while ago.

[melkor]

Thanks Dave. I think I may give this one a try, though who knows where I'm going to find the juniper berries?

←

If ya can't find um, just substitute a little gin.

[fifi]

Thanks Dave. I think I may give this one a try, though who knows where I'm going to find the juniper berries?

←

I have actually seen them at my "larger" grocery stores. Sometimes they have been an odd brand so you have to rummage around on the lower shelves.

That recipe actually looks like it is worth doing. I have tried for years to make something edible with the noble turkey. I am wondering about that many juniper berries though. They are pretty strong and it seems like that many could overwhelm the other flavors. But... What do I know.

I have another question. Let's say that I want to confit a small batch of thighs to have the meat on hand to shred on salad or add some chunks to a bean dish... not necessarily a full blown cassoulet. Would you take the skin off first? Remember that I am not talking about crisping up for serving like in the recipe. I am working off of the same learnings from doing Paprika Chicken thighs.

[melkor]

I'd leave the skin on until your ready to shred it. I've got absolutely nothing to support that being a good idea, but for some reason it seems strange to skin the parts before you confit them.

[fifi]

I'd leave the skin on until your ready to shred it.  I've got absolutely nothing to support that being a good idea, but for some reason it seems strange to skin the parts before you confit them.

←

It seemed strange to me when I did it with the chicken thighs as well. I don't know why I started doing it. I think it was the fact that I was throwing out the flabby, unappatizing skin and felt that I was throwing away a lot of paprika flavor. Anyway... once I did that I found that the flavor permeated the meat much better. It does seem to fly in the face of tradition for confit, though. Of course, flying into faces is not a strange activity for me.

[iamthestretch]

Much kudos to Sandy D'Amato, whose turkey confit recipe turned out absolutely delicious today. My wife was a definite sceptic watching the turkey thighs ever so slowly simmer in the olive oil: "Eww, won't it be really greasy?" But not a bit of it -- they were tender and juicy and succulent in a way no roasted bird has ever approximated, in my experience. Served them up with wild mushroom bread pudding, roasted cauliflower a la eGullet and haricots verts with all the implied butter. There wasn't a crumb left over -- and not because I didn't make enough, either!

[fifi]

I am definitely going to try that recipe asap. I have everthing for it... except the thighs. I am having a devil of a time finding the darn things. I will be searching again tomorrow.

[iamthestretch]

I managed to get five nice 1 1/4 lb thighs from Whole Foods up here in DC, though I confess to having never seen them before in the poultry case when it's not Thanksgiving. As for the recipe, I left out the juniper berries and went a little harder on the star anise without any noticeable detriment. We drank some nice Hermitage with it and everyone was very happy.

[fifi]

Interestingly enough, I went to the REALLY BIG HEB this evening to try to snag some thighs. They had a ticket on the shelf for them but they were out! The butcher says that they carry them all the time, not just the holidays, and he was perplexed as to how they could have run out. They were also out of kosher salt! What is going on here? Is eGullet starting a run on thighs and kosher salt?

Anyway, I couldn't wait any longer. I bought three legs, skinned them, and they are now in the fridge with salt mixture. I adjusted the amounts for the poundage. After grinding the spices in the little Braun, the smell was incredible. I don't expect the texture to be the same as the thighs, but I will at least get an idea of what to expect and can adjust according to my taste when I finally find the thighs.

[fifi]

The legs are now in the oil and the temp is coming up. It is starting to REALLY smell good now. I got smart and didn't throw out the olive oil bottle, looking toward saving this stuff. This is so pretty, I will take pictures and post later.

I sure wish I had some duck fat.

[iamthestretch]

The legs are now in the oil and the temp is coming up. It is starting to REALLY smell good now. I got smart and didn't throw out the olive oil bottle, looking toward saving this stuff. This is so pretty, I will take pictures and post later.

I sure wish I had some duck fat.

←

So? What did you think? I guess it was either bad enough that you don't want to talk about it, or good enough that you're still sleeping it off.

[fifi]

The confit is done and I have to say that I am impressed. Finally... turkey meat that I can like. As promised...

This was so pretty it inspired me to take the pictures.

Five hours later I had this.

And, the final product. This is from three drumsticks minus my nibblings. I will have to say that thighs would be a big improvement and I will hold out for those next time. There is just too much "junk" in the drumstick to work around and the texture of part of it isn't great.

Here is the oil after straining. I used a light olive oil and, amazingly enough, got all but about a half a cup back. That is turkey juices on the bottom. This is weird... The juice was impossibly salty but the meat isn't.

And these lovely garlic cloves are now all nestled snuggly in their little jar in the fridge.

So... Now what? I will add some chunks to a garbanzo bean salad for lunch. And, I will probably make a small faux cassoulet. Any other ideas?

[fifi]

So? What did you think? I guess it was either bad enough that you don't want to talk about it, or good enough that you're still sleeping it off.

←

Heh... I was wrestling ImageGullet into submission when you posted. This is a keeper. Olive oil and turkey are available and cheap. As you can see, I used the light, cheaper grade of oil. I don't think I would waste extra virgin on this. I might try it once just to see. But I think it would be an entirely different thing.

*everyone get your stones and bricks ready to throw*

This is not unlike really good duck confit. IMHO it would pass the average taster.

Confit for the masses! Victory for the downtrodden and duckless!

[melkor]

We made turkey confit for thanksgiving this year also. I forgot to take a picture of the parts before they went in the oven. We used the legs and wings from two birds, and the thighs from one bird - the limbless turkey got roasted, the one with its thighs still attached got fried. We coated the parts with a salt & herb mixture and left it in the fridge overnight before cooking like this:

procure an absurd amount of duck fat:

melt fat and drown turkey parts in said fat - stick in 190*F oven for 10 hours.

(this is how much fat was left in the bucket)

Out of the oven, a little more fat on top and ready to go in the fridge

The next day it looks like this

Here's the final product:

The meat was significantly better after resting in the fridge overnight and being reheated. The wings were better than the legs, which in turn were better than the thighs - if we for some reason are making turkey confit with parts we buy at the store, I think we'd use all wings. Ultimately we strained the fat back into the bucket, nearly all of it came back.

[fifi]

The meat was significantly better after resting in the fridge overnight and being reheated.  The wings were better than the legs, which in turn were better than the thighs - if we for some reason are making turkey confit with parts we buy at the store, I think we'd use all wings. Ultimately we strained the fat back into the bucket, nearly all of it came back.

←

Now, those are interesting observations. If I were going to keep my confit any time at all I was planning to reheat the oil and submerge it in a jar. As it happens I will probably use it all up in a couple of days. Of course, the olive oil will congeal in my fridge but not into a hard fat like the duck fat. I wonder if that makes any difference.

Also odd about the wings. I would have never guessed that. In fact, when I was discussing my plans with the butcher, as I looked longingly at the empty thigh shelf, we dismissed the wings right away. How handy that you did a side by side.

I forgot to mention that I did get contrary like I mentioned up-thread and removed most of the skin before salting. I wonder if that had something to do with the fact that it doesn't taste like turkey? I just nibbled another chunk and if I close my eyes and really think about it, I can find a glimmer of turkey in there but it isn't obvious. Do any of you who did it with the skin on taste turkey?

And... my curiosity is killing me. How much did that bucket of duck fat cost?

[iamthestretch]

Damn, now I wish I'd taken some pictures, too! We decided against picking the meat off the bone and served the thighs up whole, after browning them in a saute pan with a smidgen of leftover oil. There was some initial squabbling over the resulting crispy skin, but it was so impossibly rich, being the only part that really tasted steeped in fat, that there was plenty to go round in the end. I'd be quite interested to know how much the wide range of cooking times influenced the final product. Ours appeared quite well done after three and a half hours on top of the stove at about 165 degrees. Anyway, thanks for the images, even if they made me fervently wish I hadn't already eaten all of mine.

[melkor]

Now, those are interesting observations. If I were going to keep my confit any time at all I was planning to reheat the oil and submerge it in a jar. As it happens I will probably use it all up in a couple of days. Of course, the olive oil will congeal in my fridge but not into a hard fat like the duck fat. I wonder if that makes any difference.

Also odd about the wings. I would have never guessed that. In fact, when I was discussing my plans with the butcher, as I looked longingly at the empty thigh shelf, we dismissed the wings right away. How handy that you did a side by side.

I forgot to mention that I did get contrary like I mentioned up-thread and removed most of the skin before salting. I wonder if that had something to do with the fact that it doesn't taste like turkey? I just nibbled another chunk and if I close my eyes and really think about it, I can find a glimmer of turkey in there but it isn't obvious. Do any of you who did it with the skin on taste turkey?

And... my curiosity is killing me. How much did that bucket of duck fat cost?

←

It tasted much less like turkey than the rest of the birds did, but it wasn't as ducky as the duck confit I had with dinner 2 nights before thanksgiving. The meat was reheated after it was pulled off the bone, so the skin never crisped up.

$40 for the bucket-o-fat, it should last forever in the freezer. Unfortunately we've only got a quart of duck fat at home the bucket is in the freezer at MsMelkor's dads place 2,500 miles away. Somehow I figured the people on the flight home might not like it if we brought it with us as carry-on.

[fifi]

Damn, now I wish I'd taken some pictures, too! We decided against picking the meat off the bone and served the thighs up whole, after browning them in a saute pan with a smidgen of leftover oil. There was some initial squabbling over the resulting crispy skin, but it was so impossibly rich, being the only part that really tasted steeped in fat, that there was plenty to go round in the end. I'd be quite interested to know how much the wide range of cooking times influenced the final product. Ours appeared quite well done after three and a half hours on top of the stove at about 165 degrees. Anyway, thanks for the images, even if they made me fervently wish I hadn't already eaten all of mine.

←

Thanks for the report on the final sauted product and the crispy skin. I was wondering how that would turn out. And I do wish you had taken a picture of that. Oh well... You will just have to do it again.

The legs went for 5 hours at about 175 to 180. They may have been done a half hour or so earlier, I just didn't test them that often. Like I said, I expected the legs to take longer just because I think they are tougher... but what do I know. Being a rather inattentive sort, I love recipes like this that are so forgiving of inattentiveness.

[fifi]

Having lived with my bottle of seasoned olive oil for a few weeks now, I have to report that it is about the most sublime fat in my "pantry" now. Having used it for sauteing, salad dressing, and adding a little fat to a pot of paprika turkey thighs, I am now committed to making just a pot of that oil. I will probably double the seasoning mixture just because I like to go over the top. I can always dilute it if it is too strong for direct use.

[nathanm]

You may want to check out the duck confit thread...

[jackal10]

The local supermarket were selling off large turkey legs cheaply, so I confited some. Seems OK.

Any suggestions for use? In particular maybe a variation of turkey-broccoli casserole. This is not in my culture, so I don't have a recipe, and most of the online ones seem to have tinned soup in them.

Any other suggestion for use?

Thoughts so far

In a bean stew (mock cassoulet)

Fried with potatoes

In a risotto