Duck Prosciutto
- Total Time
- 10 minutes, plus 7 days' curing
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 1whole boneless Moulard duck magret or Pekin duck breast, about 1 pound, skin on, split
- 2 to 3cups kosher salt, more as needed
- ½teaspoon ground white pepper
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Preparation
- Step 1
Weigh breasts individually so you can check their progress toward curing. With a sharp knife, score skin of each breast in a crisscross pattern. Put about 1 cup salt (a half-inch layer) in a nonreactive baking dish that will just hold the breasts without touching. Nestle breasts on top of salt, skin side up. Pour more salt over breasts so that they are completely covered. Wrap in plastic and refrigerate 24 hours.
- Step 2
Remove duck from salt, rinse thoroughly and pat dry with paper towels. The flesh should feel dense and its color will have deepened. Dust breasts with pepper on both sides.
- Step 3
Wrap each breast in cheesecloth and tie with string. Hang for about 7 days in a cool (50 to 60 degrees is optimal), humid place, like a garage, a basement or in an unlit fireplace. After curing, the flesh should be stiff but not hard throughout; the color will be a deep rich red. If they still feel raw in the center, hang for a day or two longer. Generally, dry-cured products are ready when they have lost 30 percent of their original weight.
- Step 4
Remove cheesecloth, wrap duck in plastic and refrigerate until ready to use. It will keep several weeks or more.
Private Notes
Comments
Similar to the above but with all steps in the refrigerator. I put a duck magret in a ziplock bag full of kosher salt overnight in the refrigerator, then after rinsing cover all sides with pepper and put it back in the refrigerator wrapped in a dishtowel, for at least a week, but two to three weeks is better. Turn the duck from time to time. Absolutely delicious.
I cure duck prosciutto in the refrigerator using a half-gallon milk carton. After the initial cure, I remove enough of the carton top so that the breast fits inside. I then push a skewer through the carton and hang the breast from it. In a couple of weeks it is ready.
I use a recipe with juniper berries, white and black pepper, bay leaves, coriander, salt and sugar. Much better than just salt (which I have done). More complex flavours.
It is hard to believe something so simple could be so utterly amazing. It is the sort of thing that seems almost too good to be true. Try it!
If you have a wine refrigerator, which is usually set between 50 and 60 degrees, use it for the curing phase. Just place a small bowl of water in the fridge while curing.
I use this a basis for curing any meat I choose (most often I cure pork belly for ramen recipes and pasta dishes). Easy but time-consuming, you just have to remember to check it. I put the hanging meat in a cabinet in the winter, and the fridge in the summer. And, to make sure everyone in the house ...knows what's hanging in the cabinet.
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