Dried and Pre seared in a cold pan for about 5 minutes each.
Sousvide 2 hours at 55c.
Finished with the blowy but fat still wasn't rendered out enough.
Do I need to just keep the fat down longer before it goes in the bag?
Still tasted incredible.
by Gold-Psychology-5312
19 Comments
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Last time I did it I rendered the fat for about 10 minutes or so on pretty low heat. Then it took a decent amount of time to get it where I wanted on the final sear as well. I allowed the duck to cool before the final sear which helped not over cook the internal temp and it slowly came back up during the longer final sear
The thing about duck breast is that to render the fat out properly, by the time you have done so the duck will be 2/3 or even 3/4 of the way cooked. That’s why it’s not an ideal use case for sous vide. If you properly render out the fat and get the skin really crisp, then you only need a minute or two max on the other side for it to be done.
I suppose if you really wanted a perfect, sous vide duck breast, you could separate the skin/fat from the breast. Sous vide the breast, and bake (or slow roast in a pan if you prefer) the skin until very crispy. Then just put the skin on top of the breast when you serve like a garnish
I’ve never felt any need to sv duck breast at all. Cold pan, fat side down until it’s almost done then flip and rest.
Rendering duck fat requires a lot of heat while the meat can overcook easily. It’s just not a great application for SV.
Duck breasts are too expensive where I live to risk much experimentation, but I have had success SV’ing to midrare, with skin removed. I slowly rendered out the skin and made it crispy, julienned it, sliced the breast, placed over a sauce, then drizzled a tsp or so of the rendered fat over the meat and added the crispy skin strips as garnish. Delicious, but not necessary.
I did a version of cold stainless pan , high heat , cooked skin side down 120 degrees internal , then wrapped it in tin foil for 30 / 40 mins . Then 10 mins before serving seared the non skin side in a very hot pan , deglazing pan with canned cherries ( mo pits ) , port wine and shallots reducing for
5 mins before serving.
Sliced it up and served . It was a tad over my normal med rare so nest time will foil for a bit less time .
I followed a recipe once which asked me to remove the duck skin and roast it separately pressed between two sheet pans under the weight of a cast iron pan.
The skin was crispy, rich, and amazing served alongside the sliced breast meat. And that was the only time I’ve managed to render all the fat from duck skin. No idea where that came from, though. ATK/CI, maybe?
I did Kenji’s recipe for sv duck breast last weekend. Came out perfect. Score skin. Dry brine overnight in fridge with salt and pepper. Four hours in the bath at 130F/55C. Pat dry. Start in a cold cast iron skillet, skin side down. Crank to high heat. 5 min then flip for 30 seconds just to warm meat on other side. Pull and rest. I couldn’t believe all the fat that came out after it had been in the bath that long. Meat was medium rare, and so rich.
I don’t generally recommend SV for duck or goose breast, the fat doesn’t render enough. I also caution against using the blowtorch for this purpose, as doing so can lead to burnt flavors, rather than caramelized.
If you sousvide duck you have to render out the fat first. Score it tighter than you did in the picture, atleast double the amount of cuts.
Be extra mindful of the fat on the sides, that is where it might not be rendered enough.
Start it off in a cold pan and let it render on low/medium heat, sousvide it. And when it’s done you cool it down alittle, take it out of the bag and pat it dry, start it off in a cold pan and fry off the skin again.
The meat temperature won’t go over your sousvide temp and the fat is rendered out with a crispy skin.
It’s the only way i cook duck breast at home.
I do similar, but SV to 125F, (50-51C if my math is correct) then medium pan for the fat until rendered, then remove and crank up the temp and meat side for 90 seconds once the pan is hot. Also looks like you are already scoring the fat so that will help
I’ve had amazing success with a low temp long long sous vide. Then I set a wire rack over a pan of water and broil skin side up for 20 mins. Perfectly crust skin, still perfect temp internal.
Oh man, we love to sous vide duck legs! We use this recipe. It’s easy and the fat renders beautifully! I imagine it could be adapted for breasts, too. https://www.seriouseats.com/sous-vide-duck-confit-recipe
SV isn’t great for duck breast, you’re better off just learning how to pan sear it.
I do duck once a month and it doesn’t look like that.
Did you do a cold pan sear or did you put the duck in when it was hot?
A blowy you say?
Love paninis … wait a sec
I raise duck and eat it all the time. Breasts are way better in a pan without sous vide.
If done sous vide duck breast a few times now and it’s always come out great. I score the fat, put the breasts on a cold pan, skin side down, and let the pan slowly come up to temp until the fat renders and it’s just getting a colour. Quick sear on the other side, into the bath at 54°C for about two hours, and then I pat dry and finish both sides on a hot pan. Crispy skin, perfect internal pinkness and loads of rendered fat to use on my potatoes.