Go to the Recipe: Crispy, Tender Sous Vide Confit Turkey Legs
Soooooo happy this was finally posted. The other ones to a degree, but this is the one that I've really been waiting for!
Do you think it is possible to freeze the turkey after cooking them sous-vide? We're flying for Thanksgiving and I'm thinking of cooking it the day before and then taking it frozen in my suitcase (well packed) and then warming it and searing it on Thanksgiving. Would the structure of the meat and its juices be greatly affected by it?
How come the food safety people say it's unsafe to cook turkey lower than 165F?
It has to do with pasteurization temperatures. Food only needs to be held at 165F for ~3 seconds to kill (almost) all of the salmonella. But the same reduction of bacteria can be achieved at lower temperatures over a longer cooking time. For example, you can sous-vide a piece of meat at 130F and hold it at that temperature for ~120 minutes for pasteurization, or, in this case, 149F for ~90 seconds. Before sous vide was common (and people were only pulling out a meat thermometer during the holidays), the temperature where pasteurization is near-instant was a good guideline.
I'd like to cook a few extra legs so I have them throughout the winter. Would it work to cook through step 5, cool and freeze, thaw/reheat sous vide at a later date and sear? Or would you suggest prepping a bunch of them and freezing before sous vide?
Harold McGee actually suggests that cooked proteins freeze better than raw proteins. I would sous vide, then freeze. Just make sure you chill quickly, with an ice bath.
Absolutely. Cooked proteins actually degrade less from freezing, than raw proteins. Make sure you chill it quickly, with an ice bath.
by far the best turkey I have ever eaten. I didn't know something like this was even possible!!
This is a great looking recipe I will be doing this for TDay. I am curious though if anyone (ChefSteps) has a sous vide confit duck leg recipe?
Could you do the second sear as a quick deep fry?
This was terrific! Instead of doing the second sear under the broiler or in cast iron, I peeled the cooked skin off, flattened it, and stuck it in the oven for cracklings, as I often do for poultry. Cracklings are great in salad, potatoes, anything.
So I made this and the corresponding turkey breast recipe. Cooked them both for 24 hours (at different temperatures, of course), legs with the Joule and breast with my old standby, the Sous Vide Supreme. Everything was perfectly done. Tender and moist.
But here's where I'm struggling. I used a high-quality fresh (not frozen) bird from a good provider, a provider I've used for years now. But my turkey, while moist and tender, seemed bland in comparison to previous birds I've roasted and I'm trying to sort out why. Possibilities:
1) Roasting allows some of the Maillard Reaction flavor to be absorbed into the meat???
2) The flavoring from my sausage stuffing (cooked in the roasted bird) penetrates into the turkey???
3) There's more variety in flavor because some exterior parts of the roasted bird are more done than the interior and that adds interest???
Mind you, I'm not unhappy, just curious. Any thoughts out there?
The legs have it. Wow!
Is there any reason I couldn't do this with chicken leg quarters? And, if not, is the cook time and temperature the same?
@Julie H Case You would need to greatly adjust the time and temp, and ensure that the chicken breasts are separated from the legs because they cook asset different rates
I can't see why not. Just pat dry before. I would try 360 - 375F
Can I cook at 158 for less than 24 hours with safety? like 20 hours?
Has anyone tried using duck fat rather than olive oil?
I am making two turkeys - with one I am doing the dark meat roulade. With the second, I'd like to remove the bone and tendons from the dark (similar to the roulade), but then cook it as discussed above. If I remove the bones and tendons from the dark meat, will cooking it for the same duration and temperature have a negative impact on the dark meat? Thanks!
Here is a link to a Salmonella compliance guide from the USDA:
https://www.fsis.usda.gov/wps/wcm/connect/bf3f01a1-a0b7-4902-a2df-a87c73d1b633/Salmonella-Compliance-Guideline-SVSP-RTE-Appendix-A.pdf?MOD=AJPERES
Page 35/37 provides a table for safely cooking turkey. You'll see that once the internal temperature of the meat reaches 158F, it is safe in less than one minute.
Also, here is an article from SeriousEats discussing the same issue with chicken (which also applies to turkey, as shown in the USDA guide): http://www.seriouseats.com/2015/07/the-food-lab-complete-guide-to-sous-vide-chicken-breast.html. In the article, the author notes that the USDA guidelines rely on an internal temp. of the food, and the author recommends allowing 1 hour for fridge-cooled chicken and 2 hours for frozen chicken.
Yep, I was just going for the leg quarters, Brian. My attempt was not so hot. Going to give it another trial tonight. And, I'll use the cook time and temp from one of the other chicken leg quarters recipes.
Yes I have.
Yes they’re delicious.
Yes I’m making them again today!
What was temp and cook time?
Is the timing the same for one breast and 1 thigh?
it is going to be the same time and temp for any amount of pieces.
ok this was fantastic! During our Covid-19 social distancing time we have been eating some awesome food thanks to ChefSteps. Being cooped up at home for weeks has gave me a chance to empty the freezer and I had a couple of turkey leg quarters and used them for this recipe. The results were fantastic. We portioned out the turkey for nicoise salads. Next time, I may salt the leg longer for a saltier kick, but this was really great. Thank you
How much oil should one use? Enough to coat or enough to completely submerge the leg? Traditional con fi take a whole bunch of oil.
I don't see how this can be called "confit". The term "confit" means cooked in (it's own) fat. Adding a little oil to the bag doesn't make it confit, sorry.
I took a look on line for the definition of "confit" and it yielded this definition from Wikipedia: "Confit (/kɒnfi/, French pronunciation: [kɔ̃fi]) (from the French word confire, literally "to preserve")[1][2] is any type of food that is cooked slowly over a long period of time as a method of preservation". Now that being said traditional French confit was indeed done with copious amounts of duck fat, yum! The beauty of the sous vide is that you can mimic this technique with much smaller quantities of fat. While the recipe should specify the amount of olive oil as a tablespoon or two it does not. I am making this for Thanksgivings Day this year and I am using duck fat leftovers in this recipe. I plan on using 1/4 cup per turkey leg, drumstick and thigh and I guarantee this is turkey confit.
LOL all of us have experienced this in one way or another. If you make it again adjust the salt up a fraction, keep good notes for future attempts. I have spent tons of money on the finest organic birds only to have the free one be tastier. That was probably because the free one was sold in a brine, which has tons of salt in it.
Also doing it this year. I'm going to use their Holiday Herb Oil. Definitely confit, either way.
Could I smoke the turkey leg for a bit (an hour) instead of first sear?
Regardless, could I debone first so I have bones for gravy?
You could certainly do both of those things, but if you have never deboned a turkey leg before, beware the very hard tendons are hard to work around.
Think I am going to try to these confit turkey legs this year. Since it is just one person, could you just use the drumsticks only? I can easily find those and don't want to waist breaking down a whole turkey when I won't eat all of it.
You can use just the drumsticks, but once you've tasted this recipe, you won't have enough leftovers. I made 3 enormous legs last year, and the guests wanted to take home entire thighs and drumsticks. There are just three of us this year, as per covid restrictions, and I'm still making 2 legs. The 24 hour cook turned out so well, I'm going to do it the same way again. Amazing how good turkey can taste.
I opted to use a good quality olive oil vs the duck fat I originally thought that I would use. I used three tablespoons per leg/thigh bag. The results were fantastic and I was amazed at how short a time the broiler gave these parts a golden brown crisp. Watch them carefully when you put them under the heat.
I plan to make two legs and immediately sear and eat one and put the other in an ice bath and refrigerate to eat in a few days. How would you reheat the refrigerated leg? (preferably not sous vide, because my wife who will actually be doing the reheating when I am out of town isn't very comfortable with sous vide).
Any issues if say on day 1 I sear and vaccum bag the legs with the salt/sugar mixture, oil, and herbs and put in the fridge until Day 2? Day 2 cook SV for 24 hours and Day 3 remove from bath, brown, and serve?
Trying to time this out around my work schedule and a Friendsgiving I'm hosting.
I don't see a problem with that schedule.
Is there a definite reason that I should use the 2 gallon bags this recipe calls for instead of vacuum sealing? I will be making this recipe one day ahead of serving and then transporting and reheating, so the vacuum bags seem like a safer bet!
You're right on the money. They were giving the least involved option. Happy Eating.
Bagged these up with salted butter, lemon, herbs, and beer and finished them in the fryer. Absolutely killer.
I only have 15 hours to cook the legs. What time and temperature should I use, and will it turn out ok?
7 hours if cooking at 167 °F / 75 °C. Traditional duck legs will confit 4-5 hours at 300 °F for a reference.
Does anyone have any feedback on the saltiness of this recipe?
I'm using this and modernist cusine's. https://modernistcuisine.com/mc/a-very-sous-vide-thanksgiving-with-modernist-cuisine/ as a references for my confit preparation. The biggest difference is the amount of salt. They recommend 4.4%. Which is about 4x chef steps. We have a high tolerance for salt, but don't want to go over board.
Also, would love a recipe a sous vide turkey breast roulade. Saw your dark meat one, we're using this recipe for the dark meat.
Thank you! and Happy Thanksgiving
ES
Modernist Cuisine's recipe is too salty. This should be better.
Has anyone tried this with duck fat? Is the neutral oil better?
I have yet to try that.... but I would highly recommend it.
I have two sous vide and I am cooking breasts and legs separately for 24 hours at 131° and 149° - I may have started a bit early by a couple of hours. Would I be able to keep in sous vide for an extra couple of hours (2-3 hours), and serve it safely? Or would 24 hours be the max?
You have some wiggle room and a few hours on either end is fine.
Hi Josh, did you ever try to cook the legs without the bones? did it work? did you adjust anything? thanks
Hello Lena. I have tried this before and had great results. If the only change you do to the legs is remove the bone you can reduce the total cook time to 20 hrs and can be held in sous vide bath for an additional 4 hours (24 hours total).
