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Ingredients
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For the duck
For confit cooking
For finishing & serving (seasonal accents, gluten-free)
Method
For the duck
- 1
Cure
Pat duck legs dry with paper towels. In a small bowl combine kosher salt, sugar and freshly ground black pepper. Rub the salt mixture evenly over all surfaces of the duck legs. Place smashed garlic cloves, thyme sprigs, bay leaves and orange zest on the legs and transfer to a shallow nonreactive dish (glass or ceramic). Cover tightly with plastic wrap and refrigerate for 12–24 hours to cure. This draws moisture out and seasons the meat.
- 2
Rinse & dry
After curing, remove duck legs from dish and wipe off excess aromatics. Rinse each leg under cold running water to remove excess salt mixture. Pat very dry with paper towels. Set on a rack and refrigerate uncovered for 1 hour if possible to dry the skin further—this improves the final texture.
For confit cooking
- 3
Prepare fat
Preheat oven to 225°F (about 107°C). In an oven-safe deep roasting pan or Dutch oven, melt duck fat gently over low heat on the stovetop until liquefied. Stir in whole peppercorns. If you have less than 1.5 cups of duck fat, add a neutral oil (grapeseed or light olive oil) to reach the quantity; the majority should be duck fat for flavor.
- 4
Submerge and cook
Nestle the dry duck legs skin-side down into the melted fat so they are fully submerged (use additional fat or pack the legs snugly so the fat covers them). Bring the liquid fat to a bare simmer on the stovetop, then cover and transfer the pan to the preheated oven. Cook gently at 225°F for 2.5–3 hours, or until the meat is very tender and can be pulled from the bone with little resistance.
- 5
Cool in fat
Turn off the oven and allow the legs to cool in the fat to room temperature (about 30–45 minutes). This helps the meat reabsorb some flavored fat. Once cooled, you can either: a) keep the legs submerged in fat, press with a foil disk, and refrigerate covered for up to 1 week (fat will solidify), or b) remove legs and proceed to crisping/serving now.
For finishing & serving
- 6
Crisp the skin
When ready to serve, remove a leg from the fat and scrape or wipe off excess fat from the skin surface (do not rinse). Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). Place legs skin-side up on a wire rack set over a sheet pan, brush lightly with a little reserved melted fat if desired, and roast 12–18 minutes until the skin is deeply golden and crisp. Alternatively, pan-sear skin-side down in a hot skillet for 5–7 minutes then finish in a 400°F oven 6–8 minutes.
- 7
Plate
Transfer crisped duck confit to warm plates. Sprinkle a small pinch of fine sea salt over the skin to taste. Add seasonal roasted fruit (figs or grapes) or a simple frisée/microgreen salad dressed with a teaspoon of sherry vinegar (toss greens with vinegar and a teaspoon of the reserved duck fat or neutral oil and season lightly). Serve immediately so skin remains crisp.
- 8
Storage note
If storing confit submerged in fat, keep refrigerated up to 1 week. For longer storage, freeze cooked legs (without fat or in fat) for up to 3 months. Re-crisp from chilled or frozen by baking at 375–425°F until heated through and skin is crisp.