duck confit

I've been using a crock-pot to make my own duck confit; I just put four frozen duck legs (moulard) in the pot, turn the heat on low and wait eight-ten hours. I notice the results are pretty good, the fat melts and envelops the legs which continue cooking slowly. I end up with a couple of jars of duck fat and four confit. Anything I should watch out for in this method beside keeping the cooking slow?

I've been using a crock-pot to make my own duck confit; I just put four frozen duck legs (moulard) in the pot, turn the heat on low and wait eight-ten hours. I notice the results are pretty good, the fat melts and envelops the legs which continue cooking slowly. I end up with a couple of jars of duck fat and four confit. Anything I should watch out for in this method beside keeping the cooking slow?

Jacques,
I use an external source of fat for the poaching of the duck legs (moulard, which I use unfrozen) so that the legs are completely submerged in the fat. For true confit, you also should salt the legs for 1-3 days before the cooking. I use a huge amount of Kosher salt with thyme added. Regardless, you should use a submergible thermometer to make sure that the temperature of the oil never exceeds 200°F, else the meat will get stringy. I find that, cooking my moulard legs at a fairly steady 180°F requires about 2 hours to get them cooked through. Visually, it's pretty easy to tell when the legs are cooked through: the flesh recedes from the bone and changes color.

Mark Lipton