Heat & Cooking Methods

Confit

Also: confit de canard, oil poach, fat-poach, confited, confiture, konfyt, confitado

Slow-cooking food submerged entirely in fat (or, in modern usage, oil) at a low, stable temperature until tender — traditionally also a preservation method.

/kon-FEE/French, from 'confire' (to preserve), derived from Latin 'conficere' (to make ready, to prepare). The technique predates refrigeration as a practical preservation strategy developed in Gascony and the Southwest of France, where geese and ducks were raised in abundance.

Definition

Confit (from French 'confire', to preserve) is a technique in which food is submerged completely in rendered fat or oil and cooked at a low, sustained temperature — typically 80–100 °C (175–210 °F) for meat, or as low as 55–65 °C for delicate applications — over an extended period. The all-fat cooking medium does three things simultaneously: it transfers heat gently and evenly, preventing the temperature spikes that cause moisture loss; it excludes oxygen, which inhibits bacterial spoilage; and in the traditional form, once the cooked item is stored submerged in solidified fat, it is sealed from air entirely, allowing preservation for weeks to months without refrigeration. The classic application is duck confit (confit de canard), in which leg quarters are cured overnight in salt and aromatics, then submerged in duck fat and cooked for six to eight hours at around 82 °C (180 °F) until the collagen-rich leg meat becomes extraordinarily tender. The preserved legs are then crisped skin-side down before serving. The method extends equally to garlic, tomatoes, citrus peel, fish (especially salmon and cod), pork, and vegetables — the term 'oil poach' is sometimes used for modern, non-preserved variants. The cooked fat is itself a byproduct of high value, saturated with the flavor of the cooked ingredient. A related sweet form — sugar confit — uses concentrated sugar syrup (as in confiture/jam, or candied fruit) to displace water in fruit's cellular structure over days or weeks, achieving preservation through sugar rather than fat.

In use

“The duck legs, cured overnight with salt, thyme, and bay, are lowered into a pot of rendered duck fat and cooked in a 85 °C oven for seven hours; stored in the fat, they keep for months in the refrigerator and crisp beautifully when pressed skin-down in a hot skillet.”

Related terms

Duck ConfitOil PoachSous VideRillettes CassouletRenderingBraiseConfiturePommes SarladaisesLow-Temperature CookingGarlic Confit

References

1.The Fat Duck Cookbook — Heston Blumenthal
2.Charcuterie — Michael Ruhlman & Brian Polcyn
3.On Food and Cooking — Harold McGee
4.The French Laundry Cookbook — Thomas Keller
5.Cuisine Gasconne — Paula Wolfert
6.Paula Wolfert's World of Food — Paula Wolfert
7.Modernist Cuisine — Nathan Myhrvold et al.

Confidence: high

Notes

Temperature and texture

The low, stable temperature of a fat-poach is the key to confit's characteristic texture. Because fat's boiling point is far above 100 °C but its thermal mass slows temperature rise, meat held at 82–85 °C never crosses the threshold where muscle fibers seize and expel moisture violently. Instead, collagen dissolves slowly into gelatin while moisture is retained — producing meat that pulls apart in long, silky shreds rather than dry fibrous ones.

Modern oil-poach variants

Contemporary chefs have decoupled confit from its preservation context, using neutral oils (olive, grapeseed, avocado) rather than rendered animal fat, and applying the method to salmon, cod, eggs, garlic, and vegetables like artichoke hearts. The results share the gentle, even heat profile but not the preservation benefit. Sous vide cooking in a sealed bag with a small amount of fat is functionally equivalent and produces no spent oil.

Fat reuse

The fat used for confit absorbs gelatin, meat juices, and aromatic compounds. In the Gascon tradition, duck confit fat is strained and refrigerated after use, then reused multiple times, gaining complexity with each batch. This fat is prized for sautéing potatoes (pommes sarladaises) and for enriching soups and braises.

Confit versus poaching in oil

The terms are often used interchangeably for fish and vegetables, but strict usage distinguishes them by intent and temperature. Confit implies preservation and long, low-temperature cooking; oil poaching is a shorter, slightly higher-temperature technique aimed at texture only, not storage. For traditional Gascon duck confit intended for preservation, the distinction is central.

Salt cure before fat confit

Traditional meat confit is preceded by a dry cure of salt, thyme, bay, and garlic for 12–24 hours, which draws surface moisture from the meat and seasons it deeply before fat cooking begins. The cure is rinsed or wiped off before the fat submersion so excess salt does not make the finished dish overly briny.

Garlic and vegetable applications

Garlic cloves slow-cooked in olive oil until golden and spreadably soft are the most accessible introduction to confit for home cooks; the infused oil itself becomes a valuable byproduct for dressings and finishing dishes. The same technique scales to cherry tomatoes, shallots, and fennel, which concentrate in sweetness and shed their sharp raw edge entirely.