A Hunter’s Guide to Confit

Learn How to Properly Confit at Home

Confit is one of those cooking techniques that sounds intimidating and fancy, but is actually remarkably simple.

At its core, confit is just meat that has been lightly cured with salt, then slowly cooked while submerged in fat until tender. That’s it.

Long before refrigeration, people in southwestern France used confit as a way to preserve duck, goose, pork, and other meats. Once cooked, the meat was packed into crocks and covered with a layer of fat that helped keep air away. Properly stored in cool cellars, confit could last for months. Many other cultures use similar techniques, either for preservation, or as a cooking method.

Today, most of us aren’t trying to preserve meat through the winter. Instead, we use confit because it produces some of the most tender, succulent wild game imaginable. It transforms tough, hardworking muscles into rich, silky meat that can be crisped in a skillet, shredded into tacos, folded into pasta, or simply served alongside potatoes and vegetables.

For hunters, confit deserves a permanent place in the toolbox.

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Why Confit Works So Well for Wild Game

Many wild game animals spend their lives moving.

Ducks and geese fly thousands of miles. Wild turkeys roam constantly. Rabbits, squirrels, deer, and moose all rely heavily on muscles that see daily use.

Those hardworking muscles contain more connective tissue than the tender cuts we typically grill or pan-sear. Cook them hot and fast and they can be chewy or nearly inedible. Cook them slowly and patiently and that collagen melts into gelatin, producing incredibly tender meat.

Confit EXCELS at this process.

The gentle cooking temperature slowly breaks down connective tissue while helping the meat retain moisture. The result is rich, flavorful meat that stays juicy and reheats beautifully.

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The Best Wild Game Cuts for Confit

Almost any meat can be cooked confit-style, but some cuts benefit more than others.

My personal ranking would look something like this:

1. Duck legs
2. Goose legs
3. Wild turkey legs
4. Pheasant legs
5. Grouse legs
6. Rabbit
7. Squirrel
8. Bear
9. Big game shanks
10. Big game shoulder

In general, confit shines brightest on collagen-rich working muscles.

That doesn’t mean you can’t confit breasts. Duck breast confit is excellent, and goose, pheasant, grouse, and wild turkey breasts can all be prepared this way. The difference is that breast meat is already relatively tender. Confit improves it, but it doesn’t create the same dramatic transformation you see with legs, wings, necks, and shanks.

Recommended Confit Cooking Times

Cut	Approximate Time @ 225°F (107°C)	Doneness Cue
Duck legs	3–5 hours	Meat easily pulls from bone
Goose legs	4–6 hours	Tender throughout, connective tissue softened
Wild turkey legs	5–8 hours	Tendons soften, meat shreds easily
Pheasant legs	2–4 hours	Fork tender
Grouse legs	2–4 hours	Fork tender
Rabbit	2–4 hours	Meat pulls cleanly from bone
Squirrel	3–5 hours	Legs and shoulders become tender
Bear (shoulder, roast pieces)	4–8 hours	Fork tender, collagen melted
Big game shanks (deer, elk, moose, caribou)	6–10 hours	Meat nearly falls apart
Big game shoulder	5–8 hours	Easily shredded with a fork

NOTE: Lower temperatures (around 200°F/93°C) may require additional cooking time. Higher temperatures (up to 250°F/121°C) will shorten cooking time somewhat (any higher than that and you risk “frying” the meat). The meat is done when it is tender—not when a clock says it should be.

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Choosing a Fat

Traditionally, duck and goose were cooked in their own rendered fat.

That remains the gold standard, but it isn’t your only option.

Good choices include:

• Duck fat
• Goose fat
• Bear fat
• Pork lard
• Rendered bacon fat
• Chicken fat (schmaltz)
• Clarified butter
• Olive oil
• Neutral oils like avocado or grapeseed

Neutral fats generally work best. Strongly flavored oils can overwhelm delicate game birds.

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Do I Need Enough Fat to Completely Cover the Meat?

Classic confit relies on meat being fully submerged in fat throughout cooking. This creates an even cooking environment and helps protect the meat from drying out.

In practice, however, many modern cooks don’t have gallons of duck fat sitting around.

A few duck or goose legs can usually be covered entirely in a small Dutch oven without much difficulty, but larger projects—particularly turkey legs, rabbit, bear, or big game shanks—may require more fat than most hunters have available.

Fortunately, fats can be mixed.

Some good combinations include:

• Duck fat + pork lard
• Goose fat + pork lard
• Bear fat + duck fat
• Bear fat + lard
• Duck fat + chicken schmaltz
• Goose fat + chicken schmaltz

My general recommendation is to use as much species-specific fat as possible, then top off the vessel with a neutral fat if needed. In a pinch, you can even use something like olive oil.

For example, if you’re confiting wild turkey legs and only have a cup of duck fat, use the duck fat and make up the difference with lard. If you’re confiting venison shanks and have rendered bear fat in the freezer, use that as your primary cooking fat and supplement as necessary.

The final dish will still pick up much of the character of the game meat itself.

If you’re significantly short on fat, you can sometimes get away with partially submerging the meat and turning it occasionally during cooking. The results are often excellent, but at that point you’re drifting away from traditional confit and closer to a very gentle braise in fat.

Domestic duck fat can often be found for sale in small tubs at grocery stores. I’ve relied on store-bought fat several times to add to my wild fat if I didn’t have quite enough.

For best results, aim for complete submersion whenever possible.

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Rendering Fat at Home

Rendering fat is simply the process of slowly melting raw fat and separating it from water and connective tissue.

Start by trimming clean fat or skin from ducks, geese, bears, pigs, or other animals. Cut it into small pieces and place it in a heavy pot with a small splash of water to prevent scorching.

Cook over low heat for several hours, stirring occasionally. As the fat melts, small bits of connective tissue will begin to brown and sink to the bottom. Once the solids are crispy and golden, the rendering is done.

Strain the liquid fat through a fine mesh strainer or cheesecloth and refrigerate or freeze until needed. Save the crispy bits and sprinkle with salt or BBQ rub for a tasty snack or a crunchy salad topper.

Properly rendered fat keeps surprisingly well (months!) and is worth saving whenever possible. At any time, my fridge generally has 3 or 4 jars of different rendered animal fats ready for use.

In fact, you’ve probably already rendered fat without realizing it. Every time you cook bacon, you slowly render the fat out of pork belly. The crispy solids at the end are your bacon, while the liquid fat in left in the pan is your rendered fat. Bacon fat is worth saving too!

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Choosing Salt

Use plain kosher salt.

Kosher salt is easy to measure, distributes evenly, and lacks the additives sometimes found in table salt.

Avoid using volume measurements from recipes interchangeably between different brands of salt. A tablespoon of one salt may weigh significantly more than another. Google your brand of salt and how it measures up to other brands of salt.

For most confit applications, weighing salt is the easiest and most reliable approach. Buy yourself a little scale; it’s well worth it.

What About Pink Salt?

Many confit recipes include pink curing salt.

This is not Himalayan pink salt.

Instead, it refers to curing salts that contain sodium nitrite and are dyed pink so they won’t be mistaken for regular salt.

There are two common types:

Prague Powder #1 (Curing Salt #1) contains sodium nitrite and is intended for relatively short curing projects.

Prague Powder #2 (Curing Salt #2) contains nitrite and nitrate and is intended for long-term dry curing projects such as salami and prosciutto.

For confit, if you choose to use curing salt, use Prague Powder #1 only.

The nitrite helps maintain an attractive pink color, contributes a subtle cured flavor, and provides an additional layer of protection against certain foodborne pathogens.

It is completely optional for most modern confit that will be refrigerated or frozen.

Always follow manufacturer recommendations carefully. Too little curing salt is ineffective. Too much can be dangerous.

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Food Safety Considerations

Traditional confit was designed as a preservation method.

Modern confit should be viewed primarily as a cooking method.

Store finished confit in the refrigerator or freezer and follow standard food safety practices.

A few important points:

• Never store confit at room temperature.
• Keep cooked meat fully covered by fat during storage.
• Use clean containers and utensils.
• Discard anything that develops off odors, mold, or unusual discoloration.
• When in doubt, throw it out.

The low-oxygen environment created by fat can create conditions where dangerous bacteria may grow if food is handled improperly, which is why refrigeration remains essential.

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How to Make Confit

The process is remarkably simple.

Step 1: Salt the Meat

Season the meat with kosher salt at roughly 1.5-2% of the meat’s weight.

Optional additions include:

• Black pepper
• Garlic
• Thyme
• Bay leaves
• Juniper
• Rosemary

Refrigerate for 12-24 hours.

Step 2: Rinse and Dry

Remove the meat from the refrigerator.

Lightly rinse away excess salt if desired and pat completely dry.

Step 3: Submerge in Fat

Place the meat in a Dutch oven, roasting pan, or other oven-safe vessel.

Cover completely with melted fat.

Using a smaller vessel will result in needing less fat in total to cover the meat.

Step 4: Cook Slowly

Cook at 200-250°F (93-121°C). Oven is best, but slow cookers work as well.

The fat should remain mostly still, with only the occasional lazy bubble.

Depending on the cut, cooking may take anywhere from 2 to 8 hours. See chart above for approximate cooking times.

The meat is done when it is easily pierced with a fork and feels tender throughout.

Step 5: Cool and Store

Allow the meat to cool in the fat.

For storage, transfer both meat and fat to a clean container, ensuring the meat remains completely submerged.

Refrigerate for several weeks or freeze for longer storage. You can also vacuum seal the meat with a smaller amount of liquid fat. This makes things cleaner, easier to store, and allows for freezing if desired.

Step 6: Crisp and Serve

The final step is where the magic happens.

Remove the meat from the fat and crisp it in a hot skillet, under a broiler, on a grill, or in a hot oven until the exterior becomes golden and crackling. The meat inside just needs to be warmed through.

Serve whole, shred it into tacos, fold it into pasta, toss it with potatoes, pile it onto sandwiches, or simply eat it straight from the pan.

It’s hard to go wrong with confit!

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