charcuterie

sorry s1ocki i guess i should've made that first sentence into 2, cuz i have no idea if this duck had made duck confit before. i never had a chance to ask it.

so i will cut this thing up sometime this week and see how much fat i can get. amirite, Jaq, that you are suggesting to use all the trimmin skin bits and render them into fat? should i skin the leg/thigh? i guess i should try that duck breast ham with those or does someone have a nice tried and true method for using the duck breasts? this is my first duck, dudes.

righteousmaelstrom (here on i'm calling you RM) what brand of lard is good quality? this is totally gonna scare my gurl: me walking in with some lard, yo. what about bacon drippings? i have some of those, but they will probz give it a bacony flavor which might fite with the duck flavor, huh?

nah, don't skin the parts you are going to confit. But yeah, there's a thick layer of fat under the entire skin of a duck. I usually remove the breasts (w/skin and fat), use a sharp pointy knife to poke holes through all the skin (so the fat can render out more easily, then steam them skin down for 10 min. After steaming (which releases some of the fat), slap them skin-side down in a hot skillet to brown and crisp for just long enough - I like the meat on the rare side.

I render my own lard b/c most you can buy has been shelf-stabilized and has preservatives. I think the flavor of the lard could compete too much with the flavor of the duck fat, but that's me. I'd use a more neutral oil, or just buy some of this: http://www.dartagnan.com/51181/565789/Pantry-Goods/Duck-Fat.html?wt.srch=1&gclid=CL_IpNy53KECFSBaiAodKQJY0A

And here is another duck thread with some tasty ideas: Duck advice

I would stay away from the lard you can find in the baking section or in the Hispanic grocery section. The lard may have been rendered from other parts of the pig besides backfat or around the kidneys (leaf lard). Also, there may be other ingredients and the lard may have been partially hydrogentated to make it more shelf stable. I would stay away from bacon drippings too as you will likely wind up with bacon-flavored confit.

You could render your own however. In some Hispanic grocery stores, you can purchase back fat and render it yourself (Although this will probably also scare your girl). I did it for rillettes once. Kind of a pain in the butt since I did it on the stovetop, but thinking about it now I'm wondering why it couldn't be done in a low temp overn.

xpost

There is nothing better than duck fat fries with crispy sage crumbled on top.

did i ever tell u guys about the duck-fat-fried pancakes/beignets i ate recently, all covered with maple syrup?

My god that sounds incredibly, decadently, good. Restaurant, or home cooked?

restaurant, at the au pied de cochon sugar shack. i linked a thing about i did a little while ago... can repost if you like, but for now, here's a pic:

http://media.tumblr.com/tumblr_l14zhf32PP1qav9v0.jpg

I read that when you posted it before and had a heart attack, like sympathetic labor pains but better.

http://www.lthforum.com/bb/viewtopic.php?f=16&t=4991&hilit=duck+confit

http://www.wedlinydomowe.com/grinding-meat.htm

can't believe i hadn't linked that yet. probz gonna git me the #10 sometime soon. or does somebody have suggestions on the meat grinder that i should buy. it looks like the #10 here comes with the sausage stuffer tubes; bonus if those things really work. the link above goes on about using knives to cut the meat and stuffing the casings with yr thumbs like in olden times . . . not sure i wanna do that tho

I've used a #10 manual grinder and it is a hell of a lot of hard labor. If you're going to chop meat with knives, get some weighty cleavers and semi-freeze the meat. But that's also a shit-ton of work. I've got a meat grinder attachment for my Kitchenaid, and it works great for small amounts (up to about 10 lbs of raw or semi-frozen meat/fat). Have to stop and let it cool down for a few hours, but also clean all the sinews out of the blade assembly at the same time, so that's okay.

yea my mixer is not a kitchenaid (general slicing?) but it does have a thingy in the front that might run one of those grinder dealys i should check into it. i assumed making sausage was going to be lots of work, and seeing as how the #10 is only like $35 i think it'll have to do for the first couple batches.

Just be aware that whatever table or counter you clamp that manual grinder to is going to get messed up by the amount of force you are going to have to use. It also helps to put the grinder in the freezer so it is as cold as possible when you start (also have the meat very cold) - the friction causes things to heat up, which makes the meat mushy as well as can cause the metal parts to expand and have some interference. It can also help to have a cheater bar, a pipe about 2 feet long that fits tightly over the wooden handle on the crank, so you can use both hands to get more of your weight behind it.

btw, thingy on the front aka pto (power take-off)

yea the pto is the thingy fr shizy. is that a universal fitting for the kitchenaid attachments? i am suspicious that it is . . . however knowing capitalism i wouldn't be surprised if it isn't.

Don't know if it's any kind of standard - I seriously doubt it. On a KA, the pto accepts a collared shaft that's about 3/8" square and maybe 1" deep with a 1/2" collar depth. There's a set screw at 9 o'clock as you're facing the front that secures the collar (and therefore the accessory whether grinder or juicer or pasta roller) to the body of the mixer.

oops, set screw is @ 3 o'clock, had to go look at an analog clock face.

so i cut up the duck last night and was a little surprised at the differences in the anatomy of it vs a chicken. the popes nose is friggin hueg, and the wings are so long compared to a chicken. also the meat is so red! i think i will turn the breasts into duck prosciuto and hopefully render enough fat to confit the leg quarters; my guess is i have a scant 2 lbs, or roughly 1/3 of a gallon ziptop bag. i guess if i don't have enough i will get another duck and then do the confit, but i will likely wait until they are on sale. the one i got was $3/lb which aint the best of deals. it was king cole brand (from ontario) and didn't say what breed of duck it was nor can i find anything about it on they website. oh well, i guess i can nerd it up on the duck breeds with the next attempt. but i got almost a full gallon ziptop bag of bones and was wondering how any of y'alls make DUCK SOUP?
http://www.evl.uic.edu/pape/Marx/films/posters/DuckSoup_small.jpg

Probably a Pekin duck, most sold commercially in the US are.

I usually make stock with the bones the same way I make chicken stock (carrots, celery, peppercorns, etc) and use it to make risotto or couscous.

Duck legs are attached so differently (odd angle, so much further back) than a chicken's too - for the paddling, I guess. Geese are built the same. Also, that keel bone vs. rib cage arrangement.

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3077/3135505469_c4af295c98.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3211/3135505335_d324c2e1e1.jpg

http://farm4.static.flickr.com/3251/3136327890_dc7b2cdf7c.jpg

this is a duck i bought a couple of years ago.

it had been pretty much raised only maple syrup.

i actually bought it for the foie gras, but the duck came too.

confit-ed the legs, and roasted the carcass. we put it on a bed of root vegetables and even though we hadn't added anything, the rendered maple-y fat made them unbelievably sweet, seriously tasted like they'd been candied.

that duck is like the will ferrell elf character then, eh? is that like nutritionally balanced to feed yr ducks only maple syrup? diabolical from a taste perspective i'm sure tho

ya it's a foie gras "thing"

it might be mixed with grain or something

I can imagine how wonderful the fat from that duck was. One of the pigs we had raised was finished with free grazing on acorns and apples, and the flavor of the meat and fat was just so good.

also if i don't get enough duck fat what do you guys think abt supplementing it with shmalz? or will that make it taste too chickeny?

I used olive oil, myself.

And I just remembered that most of the confit, encased in fat, has been in my fridge for about 18 months. I wonder if they're still good?

Probably. Cook it to 176 F for 30 min (or use it in a long-cooked cassoulet) if you're worried about botulism toxin.

also if i don't get enough duck fat what do you guys think abt supplementing it with shmalz? or will that make it taste too chickeny?

― a fool committed to a VISION of SOMETHING NO ONE ELSE UNDERSTANDS (jdchurchill), Wednesday, May 19, 2010 6:54 PM (4 hours ago) Bookmark

goooooooose fat

yeah go for the goose fat!

btw love how this thread is for all anti-nutrition nazis

i dunno how anti-nutrition we are dude. i think the whole fat=bad is some amurkin suprastitionisms. i was reading this where they mention the weston a price foundation for wise traditions in food, farming, and the healing arts who extol the virtues of *gasp* eating animal fats!

bad news dudes :(

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/8688104.stm

(sorry if this was linked before)

A Harvard University team which looked at studies involving over one million people found just 50g of processed meat a day also raised the risk of diabetes.

But there was no such risk from eating even twice as much unprocessed meat, such as beef, lamb or pork.

This was despite the fact the two forms of meat have a similar fat content.

I was just going to post this. It would be interesting to see if there was any difference between the Oscar Mayer processed crap that people eat and "artisanal" or homemade charcuterie. I know I make my own bacon, sausages, etc. because I like to know what is in my food. Also I find most all mass-produced processed meats to be way too salty. And I like salt!

"defined as any meat preserved by smoking, curing or salting and includes bacon, sausages, salami and other luncheon meats.

Salt can increase blood pressure in some people, a key risk factor for heart disease.

In animal experiments, nitrate preservatives can promote atherosclerosis and reduce glucose tolerance, which can in turn lead to heart problems and diabetes. "

Can we get a mod to retitle this "Charcuterie: The Anti-Nutrition Nazi Thread"? Thx.

i don't have time to deconstruct this snippet of pop science from bbc news perpetuating the myth that fat is bad for you, but i would like to see what brands of sausages/bacon they were eating. also this sentence says it all (correlation does not equal causation, bitches!) "Although cause-and-effect cannot be proven by these types of long-term observational studies, all of these studies adjusted for other risk factors," said Renata Micha, lead author.

basicly she's saying 'we shouldn't draw conclusions from this, but we're drawing conclusions from this.'

Dude the main takeaway here is that fat is NOT bad for you, at least when comparing cured meats with, say, steaks.

"there was no such risk from eating even twice as much unprocessed meat, such as beef, lamb or pork.
This was despite the fact the two forms of meat have a similar fat content."

Though the study looked at people who were eating the equiv of a sausage a DAY so I don't know if it's worth gettin too stray-assed over anyway

Sorry - buzz harsh over!

The fact there was no specific or controlled study, but only conclusions drawn from looking at the results of 20 studies not overseen by the researchers, leads me to discount this. I'm surprised they forgot the part about nitrates causing cancer.

The fact there was no specific or controlled study, but only conclusions drawn from looking at the results of 20 studies not overseen by the researchers, leads me to discount this.

Really? Why would the Harvard Institute of Public Health use such a clearly bum methodology??

ok whatever, tracer hand did you put up that muffin recipe you raved about april 7 yet? would you please add that to the muffin thread?

Here's the direct release: http://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/press-releases/2010-releases/processed-meats-unprocessed-heart-disease-diabetes.html

They started with 1,600 studies and narrowed it down to 20 they felt were pertinent.

They want to influence the US government dietary guidelines, which are up for review. It would interesting to know where the researchers grants come from.

yea this is what happens they cherry pick the studies which themselves are merely correlative and tailor the information so that it fits their paradigm. i do this too btw except my paradigm is sausages + beer and as you might guess the studies start off neatish and then end up with grease spots and indecipherable writing.

that muffin recipe you raved about april 7

Dude... I have completely forgotten what this even was.

i just made some almond muffins last week that were fucking BOMBBBBBB - they had fig paste inside

― Tracer Hand, Wednesday, April 7, 2010 5:37 AM (1 month ago) Bookmark

ok so i put all the skin and what not in my crock pot friday-sunday and was a little disappointed by how much fat i got. not enough to cover both ducklegs, however i was thinking it might work if i confit one at a time. i did end up with a handful of the most delicious scraps of stuff tho. also i put the duck breasts in a bunch of salt so as to make duck prosciutto.

Could you put both legs in a canning jar thick end down and cover them with the fat that way? The jar would stand up to the low heat you want for making confit and give you a small volume to fill vs. a flat dish.

hmmm i dunno if they would both fit in the jars i have. i guess they are quart or whatever 32 oz. this type of idea might find use for me tho

You might be surprised how much will fit in one of those. I got a dozen hard-boiled eggs in a quart jar when I was pickling.

It does help if the jar is the wide mouth kind, not the narrow one.