Chicken Confit


Chicken Confit

This recipe was originally posted as part of The Weekend Project. Click here to see the recipe in its entirety, or follow the links below for additional recipe instruction.


Ingredients

Tbsp. black peppercorns
1 Tbsp. white peppercorns
2 tsp. juniper berries
½ cup kosher salt
3 Tbsp. sugar
4-5 sprigs thyme
4 chicken leg quarters, skin-on (duck leg quarters can also be used) 4-5 cups bacon fat or other rendered animal fat



Preparation

● Place the black and white peppercorns and juniper berries in a coffee or spice grinder and pulse until finely ground.
● Strip the thyme leaves from the stems and place them in the bowl of a food processor. Add the ground spice mixture, salt and sugar and pulse until well blended.
● Rub the leg quarters liberally with the spice cure on both sides. Place the seasoned leg quarters in a covered container or a zip-top bag and refrigerate. Let cure 18 to 24 hours.
● Preheat the oven to 225 degrees.
● Rinse the excess spice mixture from the legs, pat dry with paper towels and place on a rack. Set aside.
● In a 12-inch nonreactive saucepan over medium-high heat, melt 4 cups fat. Place a thermometer in the fat and add the dry leg quarters, completely submerging them in the fat. Add the remaining 1 cup fat if necessary.
● When the fat reaches 225 degrees, place the pan in the oven and bake 1 hour 15 minutes. The meat is done when the skin starts to pull away from the leg.
● Remove the legs from the pan and place them in a large container with a lid. Pour the fat over the top of the legs, then cover and refrigerate. Confit legs will keep up to 3 months.