Debug

[0 - 1] - If turkey could hear the things

[1 - 2] that Americans say about it in November,

[2 - 4] it would be crushed.

[4 - 5] I hear people say things like,

[5 - 9] I only eat turkey on Thanksgiving because it's tradition. (crowd groans) Oof.

[9 - 10] Or how about, Thanksgiving,

[10 - 13] it's really only about the side dishes. (crowd boos) Yikes.

[13 - 14] Or my all-time favorite,

[14 - 16] a turkey tried to kidnap my sister once,

[16 - 17] so I prefer ham on Thanksgiving.

[17 - 19] (crowd groans) It's like, (groans)

[19 - 20] it doesn't need to be this way.

[20 - 23] And that's because confit is here to lay to rest

[23 - 25] all of these excuses.

[25 - 29] I guess maybe not the kidnapping one. (upbeat music)

[31 - 34] The term confit is derived from the French verb confire,

[34 - 35] which means to preserve.

[35 - 38] Before refrigeration, confit was a simple and effective way

[38 - 39] to extend the shelf life of foods,

[39 - 42] often poultry like duck parts.

[42 - 43] The poultry was cured in salt

[43 - 45] and then poached gently in its own fat

[45 - 46] before being buried in that fat

[46 - 48] and stored in an airtight crock.

[48 - 49] At serving time, all that was needed

[49 - 52] was an optional blast of heat to crisp the skin.

[52 - 54] All types of dark meat poultry,

[54 - 56] pork, and game are given this treatment,

[56 - 58] but regardless of the type of protein,

[58 - 60] duck fat is a common choice for the poaching.

[60 - 62] And these days, confit is a technique

[62 - 64] used for countless ingredients.

[64 - 67] For instance, we have an incredible garlic confit recipe

[67 - 69] that beats the pants off of roasted garlic.

[69 - 71] There's a link to it below this video.

[71 - 73] Here's something that I've always wanted to say.

[73 - 74] Let's get back to the fat.

[74 - 75] When we talk about cooking in fat,

[75 - 77] we're usually discussing frying,

[77 - 80] where the temperature is usually around 325 degrees

[80 - 82] up to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.

[82 - 84] In other words, pretty hot.

[84 - 86] Frying is a fast cooking method.

[86 - 88] Given that, you'd be forgiven for thinking

[88 - 89] that animal fats and oil

[89 - 91] are really efficient cooking mediums,

[91 - 93] quickly transferring energy to whatever they touch,

[93 - 95] but it's just not true.

[95 - 97] Check out this experiment where I put myself

[97 - 100] in real physical danger in order to prove a point.

[100 - 102] I have two containers in front of me.

[102 - 103] One is filled with water

[103 - 105] and the other is filled with vegetable oil.

[105 - 107] They're both sitting in a water bath

[107 - 109] that is regulated by a sous vide circulator,

[109 - 112] which is holding them at a steady 140 degrees Fahrenheit.

[112 - 114] You can see that on this thermometer.

[114 - 119] 140 degrees is a fully cooked pork chop, so it's pretty hot.

[119 - 121] Now, I'm gonna stick a finger in each

[121 - 123] and we'll see how long I can hold them there,

[123 - 126] and maybe we'll throw a little timer up on the screen. (timer beeps) Cool.

[126 - 133] All right, let's go. (timer clicks) Ouch, ow.

[134 - 136] As you can see, I couldn't keep my finger in the water

[136 - 138] for more than a few seconds.

[138 - 140] It was seriously painful, but my finger in the oil,

[140 - 142] I could do this all day.

[142 - 143] I mean, this is nice.

[143 - 145] This is, like, my fingers, like, taking a tubby.

[147 - 149] Is that how you say it?

[149 - 151] Do you say taking a tubby? Really?

[151 - 153] Not me, I don't say that.

[153 - 156] I just said it for the video 'cause I thought it was cute.

[156 - 157] Anyway, back to the experiment.

[157 - 158] So what gives?

[158 - 160] They're at the same temperature.

[160 - 161] They should hurt the same amount,

[161 - 164] but they don't contain the same amount of energy.

[164 - 167] The reason that the water feels a lot hotter

[167 - 168] is that it takes a lot more energy

[168 - 171] to heat water up to 140 degrees than it does

[171 - 173] the same volume of oil.

[173 - 175] The amount of energy required to raise the temperature

[175 - 178] of a substance is called its heat capacity.

[178 - 180] The heat capacity of water is about two times greater

[180 - 182] than the heat capacity of oil.

[182 - 184] That means that it takes two times more energy

[184 - 186] to bring that water to 140 degrees.

[186 - 188] All of that energy is then available

[188 - 191] to cook your food or finger faster.

[191 - 192] You can try this experiment at home

[192 - 194] in order to prove it to yourself,

[194 - 195] though you might want to go

[195 - 196] with slightly lower temperatures.

[196 - 198] I am a professional, after all.

[198 - 199] This experiment gets to the heart

[199 - 201] of one of the reasons why confit

[201 - 203] produces such silky, moist poultry.

[203 - 205] Even if the temperature of the fat

[205 - 207] gets up to, say, 190 degrees Fahrenheit,

[207 - 209] the amount of energy that it's gonna transfer to the food

[209 - 212] will be much less than if it were in water.

[212 - 214] We know that cooking proteins at lower temperatures

[214 - 218] pushes out less juices, and confit is especially gentle.

[218 - 220] Now I'm sure a lot of you out there are saying, yeah, right.

[220 - 222] Confit is good because all of that fat goes into the food,

[223 - 224] but that's not actually the case,

[224 - 228] because proteins don't act like sponges, (buzzer hums)

[228 - 229] which is really too bad.

[229 - 231] I would love to soak a chicken breast in duck fat,

[231 - 232] but there's another reason that fat

[232 - 235] is a better cooking medium than water in some instances.

[235 - 237] Water is an incredible solvent.

[237 - 240] In fact, water is considered the universal solvent

[240 - 242] because it is able to dissolve more substances

[242 - 243] than any other liquid.

[243 - 245] That makes it a great choice for making, say, stock,

[245 - 246] where it's able to dissolve

[246 - 249] and extract loads of flavorful compounds.

[249 - 251] But if you've ever tasted the chicken leftover

[251 - 252] after making chicken stock,

[252 - 254] you know the flip side of this equation.

[254 - 256] Whatever you dissolve into the water

[256 - 257] is no longer in the chicken.

[257 - 259] That's why it's so common to make a sauce

[259 - 261] out of watery cooking mediums.

[261 - 263] Think about gravy or braise,

[263 - 265] because that stuff is loaded with flavor,

[265 - 268] and our goal is to kind of put it back on the protein.

[268 - 269] If you made your chicken stock using, say,

[270 - 271] vegetable oil, which sounds really gross,

[271 - 274] you would end up pulling a lot less out of the chicken,

[274 - 276] so the chicken itself would taste better.

[276 - 278] To recap, cooking in fat at a low temperature

[278 - 283] means super juicy, tender poultry that retains more flavor.

[283 - 284] Nice job, confit.

[284 - 286] We all know that duck confit is classic

[286 - 287] and insanely delicious.

[287 - 289] You should definitely make duck confit,

[289 - 290] but don't stop there.

[290 - 293] I actually find the technique is even more impressive

[293 - 296] when applied to less well-endowed proteins. (record scratches)

[296 - 298] There's gotta be a better way to say that.

[298 - 301] Duck legs are richly marbled dark meat.

[301 - 303] They don't necessarily need our confit help.

[303 - 304] Turkey thighs, on the other hand,

[304 - 307] are leaner and often end up on the tougher, drier side

[307 - 309] when roasted on a whole turkey.

[309 - 310] The recipe I'm about to show you

[310 - 312] by Cook's Illustrated Senior Editor Lan Lam

[312 - 314] might just be the best turkey

[314 - 315] you have ever eaten.

[315 - 316] Let's go to the kitchen.

[316 - 319] All poultry confit starts with a curing step

[319 - 320] that seasons the poultry deeply,

[320 - 322] improves its texture and allows it

[322 - 324] to hold onto more moisture during cooking.

[324 - 327] I'm applying this season cure of salt, onions,

[327 - 329] thyme springs, sugar and pepper.

[329 - 331] This is a similar technique to just salting any poultry,

[331 - 333] but here we're using a higher ratio of salt

[333 - 334] and we're letting it sit in contact

[334 - 336] with the poultry for longer.

[336 - 338] We'll let this sit on the thighs in the refrigerator

[338 - 339] for anywhere from four to six days,

[339 - 341] whichever is more convenient.

[341 - 343] Next we'll melt our duck fat in a Dutch oven.

[343 - 344] Duck fat has a wonderful flavor,

[344 - 346] so when we're done using it for this confit,

[346 - 348] it's great for roasted potatoes,

[348 - 350] making more confit, sauteing vegetables.

[350 - 352] It's a good beard oil.

[352 - 354] To my mind, it is totally worth the cost,

[354 - 356] but you should feel free to sub in schmaltz

[356 - 357] or even vegetable oil

[357 - 359] and you'll get the same exact cooking benefits.

[359 - 361] And then we add our fully cured thighs,

[361 - 363] transfer the pot to a 200 degree oven,

[363 - 365] and let them slowly poach until incredibly tender,

[366 - 367] which takes about four to five hours.

[367 - 369] At this point, we can let everything

[369 - 370] cool down on the counter and then refrigerate it

[370 - 372] for up to six days.

[372 - 374] Remember, confit is about preservation,

[374 - 377] and that means major make ahead potential,

[377 - 378] perfect for Thanksgiving.

[378 - 380] But you can also skip right to that step

[380 - 382] of crisping the skin, which only takes 15 minutes

[382 - 383] in a 500 degree oven.

[383 - 385] Just look at these beauties.

[385 - 386] Now I'm gonna flip them over and show you

[386 - 389] how tender they are by removing the bone.

[389 - 391] Then we just slice and top with a dab

[391 - 393] of this beautiful citrus mustard sauce.

[393 - 395] Now, for all of you out there in video land

[395 - 398] who only eat turkey one time a year, look, I get it, right?

[398 - 400] You've been burned multiple times before.

[400 - 403] All I'm asking is that you give it one more chance.

[403 - 407] This year, give your turkey a tubby.

[407 - 408] Give your turkey tubby,

[408 - 411] because this is positively without a doubt

[411 - 416] how to eat turkey. (upbeat music)

[418 - 420] Thank you all so much for watching

[420 - 422] and a big shout out to Lan Lam

[422 - 424] for that recipe for turkey confit.

[424 - 425] She saved turkey for all of us.

[425 - 427] I have a serious question for everyone.

[427 - 430] Are you a food nerd? (laughs)

[430 - 431] I don't even know why I ask.

[431 - 432] Of course you are.

[432 - 433] You watch my videos

[433 - 434] and you've watched all the way to the credits here.

[434 - 435] Well, I have great news for you.

[435 - 437] We have some Cook's Illustrated merch

[437 - 439] that is designed with you in mind.

[439 - 441] I'm wearing one of the items right now in maroon and yellow.

[441 - 444] This is the nacho shirt, and yes, you guessed it right,

[444 - 447] this is the chemical formula for sodium citrate,

[447 - 448] which is the emulsifying salt

[448 - 451] that gives us nacho cheese sauce and American cheese.

[451 - 453] It's a brilliant, brilliant thing.

[453 - 455] You're gonna need one of these, but that's not all.

[455 - 456] We also have another one

[458 - 460] for all you cheese lovers out there.

[460 - 462] Chevre is the GOAT.

[462 - 464] So, a couple of good options.

[464 - 465] We never have merch.

[465 - 468] This is really, really fun, so I'm wearing it.

[468 - 470] There's a link below this video if you want to check it out

[470 - 471] and pick some up for yourself.

[471 - 473] I think we have t-shirts and sweatshirts.

[473 - 474] I'm never gonna to take this off,

[474 - 476] so you'll see it a lot from here on out.

[476 - 477] Thanks for watching.

[477 - 479] I'll see you guys next time.