Turkey Confit
- Total Time
- 3 hours
- Rating
- Comments
- Read comments
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Ingredients
- 4turkey wings, thighs or legs
- 1tablespoon coarse salt
- 2teaspoons ground black pepper
- About 20 sage leaves or 10 thyme sprigs or 5 rosemary sprigs
- 10cloves garlic, crushed and peeled
- 2quarts extra virgin olive oil, or as needed
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Preparation
- Step 1
Toss turkey, salt, pepper, herbs and garlic in a bowl and refrigerate, covered, for a half-hour or up to 24 hours.
- Step 2
Put turkey, herbs and garlic in a saucepan just large enough to fit it. Cover with olive oil. Turn heat to medium and watch carefully; allow just a few bubbles to come up at a time. (Use an instant-read or frying thermometer and keep oil at 190 to 200 degrees.) Do not allow meat to brown.
- Step 3
Cook, turning meat once or twice, for two hours or until it is quite tender but not falling off bone. Remove meat from oil. You can refrigerate turkey and oil separately or together, until needed. (If storing separately, use turkey in a few days; if you store it in oil, it will keep a week or more.)
- Step 4
When you're ready to cook, put 2 to 4 tablespoons of used oil in a skillet large enough to hold turkey pieces in one layer; set heat at medium-low. (Use leftover oil for other purposes.) Cook turkey pieces slowly, turning once or twice, until browned and crisp, 10 to 20 minutes. Serve hot, warm or at room temperature, alone or over a bed of greens with a little dressing.
Private Notes
Comments
This is a delicious, simple recipe that I've made several times. Its a little costly because you have to use about two liters of olive oil, but you can use regular, not extra virgin, which is a little cheaper. The skin crisps up nicely in the skillet at the end, the turkey meat delicious and a bed of baby arugula drizzled with a lemon vinaigrette is a perfect counterpoint to the rich meat.
Made it for our 3-person Thanksgiving. Put it in a dutch oven and into the oven at around 225 as one of the comments recommended. Turned out great.
This is outrageously good. However, I did use duck fat rather than olive oil and I cooked it longer. Be aware that you should base your cook-time on the size of the thighs. The skewer test is your best indicator (skewer inserted into thickest part should slide out without resistance), however, if you're planning to slice crosswise for service, perhaps take it off the heat when your skewer meets little resistance, rather than none. You can easily remove the bone, which makes it easy to slice.
I like to cook my turkey breast separate from the dark meat and wings so this method is perfect for my Thanksgiving menu. The meat comes out so tender and delicious with a nice crispy skin. A family favorite. Highly recommend. FYI- I use Samin Nosrat’s buttermilk brine for the breast and it also gets rave reviews.
Ha! Jack, I did the *exact* same thing! Have always done my turkey de-constructed. A whole bird just does not yield the best results. The buttermilk brine was great tho I found it a little salty - if I do it again, I will rinse off the brine. The confit was the star of the show, however, everyone vastly preferred the confit over the breast.
Has anyone made this with duck fat?
@Daphne yes I’ve been seen plenty use duck fat instead of olive oil for sure and you can use the fat or oil for many different things through the year.
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