The perfect seared duck breast

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jamaster14

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i have long struggled to achieve this. i like to think of myself as a good chef, have worked in several high end restaraunts and have been cooking since i could stand up.

but the one thing that has always aluded me is the perfect seared duck breast. i can just never seem to achieve perfect crispy skin with the fat rendered out. i get crispy skin and a slightly gummy center.

i've tried several methods. closest ive come is room temperature duck with scored and seasoned skin in a stainless pan on medium-low flame for 10-15 minutes, periodically dumping the fat, then turning the heat up, giving it a good sear on both sides before going into a 400 degree over for a few minutes.

decent, edible, far from perfect.

can anyone here give me a fool proof method, with exact and price times and temps and materials used?
 
I honestly don't know my own method too well just scored and render the fat really GOOD
 
The essential thing that a lot of people don't do is to start with a cold pan. Preferably dry too - let it rock low & slow for a while and render out as much fat as you can before touching it.
 
Exactly Low and slow render the heck out of that fat
 
Remove the skin from the breast and cook sous vide. Cook skin in a low oven between to silpats until rendered and crispy.
 
how long are you rendering the fat and on how low a flame? 25 mins? 30? 40?
 
never really timed it to tell you the truth but I would say about 30 as low of a flame as possible

You know what works good for this since it is an indirect flame the plancha or the flat-top
 
how long are you rendering the fat and on how low a flame? 25 mins? 30? 40?

Sort of depends on your time constraints, range, oven, pan, and duck.

If it's at home and you have all the time in the world, you can slowly render it out in a pan for as long as you'd like.

If it's a work you have to speed things up a little. I love cooking duck and here's how I get the best results:

- Start with a cold, dry french/cast iron pan
- Over low to medium low heat begin to render the fat. If it's extremely fatty and there's a lot of liquid, drain off a little. It's important at this point to not move the duck around... leave it where you first originally placed it.
- When you feel that you're around 70% there, turn up the heat a little and let it ride for a minute or two. Around here I'll usually check and see how the skin is looking. If you need to drain off more fat, do so.
- If the skin is still not as crispy as you'd like, put it in the pan skin-side down again and place the pan in the oven with whatever aromatics you're using.
- After a few minutes, pull it out of the oven, put back on medium heat, and sear the back of the breast and finish cooking to whatever temp is needed. If you want to crisp the skin further you can baste the breast in the pan fat with a spoon
 
Sort of depends on your time constraints, range, oven, pan, and duck.

If it's at home and you have all the time in the world, you can slowly render it out in a pan for as long as you'd like.

If it's a work you have to speed things up a little. I love cooking duck and here's how I get the best results:

- Start with a cold, dry french/cast iron pan
- Over low to medium low heat begin to render the fat. If it's extremely fatty and there's a lot of liquid, drain off a little. It's important at this point to not move the duck around... leave it where you first originally placed it.
- When you feel that you're around 70% there, turn up the heat a little and let it ride for a minute or two. Around here I'll usually check and see how the skin is looking. If you need to drain off more fat, do so.
- If the skin is still not as crispy as you'd like, put it in the pan skin-side down again and place the pan in the oven with whatever aromatics you're using.
- After a few minutes, pull it out of the oven, put back on medium heat, and sear the back of the breast and finish cooking to whatever temp is needed. If you want to crisp the skin further you can baste the breast in the pan fat with a spoon

this is kind of the method i use, only i dont use cast iron.... the fat just never seems to render enough. ive gone for 30 minutes or so and still its gummy and not fully rendered. maybe i need to go with another pan choice?

i dont mind rendering it longer either. i really just want achieve proper results. hundreds of breasts have come out unsatisfactory with 0 being passable by my standards and its been frustrating.

do you do anything to prep the breast before going into the pan? i've read a ton on this and watched tons of video and just cant render it out the same
 
Are you trimming the skin on the breasts? I'd assume so but maybe play with how much you're trimming & how you're scoring the breast?

In Heston Blumenthal's 'Total Perfection' book he mentions pricking the duck skin all over with a fine needle (but not puncturing through the skin) which helps allow moisture and fat to escape. But he also removes the duck skin, uses a needle & butchers twine to stretch it out over a resting rack, roasts in the oven on low temp for hours, brushes with maltose & rice wine vin., roasts further at a higher temp with wood chips and then finishes by basting with 375F oil... sooooooo.... :biggrin:
 
I guess you are just not rendering out the fat enough?
 
Domestic duck, usually Pekin, has a tremendous amount of fat under the skin. If you can find mallard, the skin is yellow, the meat is red, and they are much leaner. The legs can get tough, though....
 
Domestic duck, usually Pekin, has a tremendous amount of fat under the skin. If you can find mallard, the skin is yellow, the meat is red, and they are much leaner. The legs can get tough, though....

thanks, do you agree with the above technique? maybe i just need to be more patient with it.
 
My method may be a bit unorthodox...

I like to score the skin.

I use the flat side of a cast iron grill plate. Pretty low and stable heat.

Here is where I differ. I use a weight. A few pans or a brick will work. I also continually drain the fat.

Also, the weight keeps the meat from pulling up into a ball, making for a very even doneness inside.
 
My method may be a bit unorthodox...

I like to score the skin.

I use the flat side of a cast iron grill plate. Pretty low and stable heat.

Here is where I differ. I use a weight. A few pans or a brick will work. I also continually drain the fat.

Also, the weight keeps the meat from pulling up into a ball, making for a very even doneness inside.

Doesn't sound unorthodox to me. Sounds like solid technique to me. 👍


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Ive done it basicly the same way as no chop its just about pressure and heat control
 
I brine mine over night, pat dry and place skin side down in cold pan. Set flame to as low as it will go and render for as long as it takes. This usually happens in the morning as there are a lot of breasts being rendered and takes up a ton of burner space. Now in my new digs I have a large flat top to play with so I set that pretty low and place the pans on top of that.
I believe the trick is to watch for steam and listen for any bubbling/sizzling noises. These are all bad signs of too high of heat which means you are now cooking the meat.
And for the meat side,I Never cook over direct heat. Pre sous vide days I would baste the crap out of the flesh side and then flip it over once I pull the pan OFF the heat, allowing it to finish in the pan for 10-20 seconds. I usually serve my duck breast at medium and this method achieves a well rendered perfectly juicy medium.
Now with sous vide it's pretty much the same way but with less time in the pan to finish. I still won't allow the flesh side to touch direct heat and only flip the breast once OFF the heat source. Duck, with skin and subcutaneous fat removed, is actually more lean than a chicken breast which means it will dry out much faster through muscle tension (result of direct heat contact).
One of these days I'm going to go buy one of those sharp needley dog brushes and use it to "perforate" the skin to see if this helps render the fat out faster.
I certainly don't think my method is the end all be all way across the board, but I won't allow any other way in my kitchens. At least just not until I see another way execute same or better results. I'm always up for learning something new!
 
Has anyone tried the cryosearing method from Modernist Cuisine?

It uses a block of dry ice to half freeze the skin side, ensuring fat can be rendered for a long time without cooking the meat.
 
crofrying would be ideal however most people would not do that.

i have always used room temp or in a kitchen place it on a warm shelf to raise temp before cooking. Then in a cold pan on very low flam skin side down until skin is very crispy then and only then flip and raise heat, use fat int he pan to baste the skin side and it will continue to crisp. i have gotten perfect medium rare to medium that way.

Although i have done it different ways to, once i worked for a chef, he made us blanch whole ducks 6 times before roasting in the oven low and slow. he said it helped release some fat under the skin and helped with getting perfect crispy skin.

you could try that. blanch for 15-30 seconds, then into ice water and repeat, therefore not cooking really and try to do the method above, not sure if ti will work for just a breast but i can attest the whole ducks came out very nice. Also a brine wouldn't hurt before.
 
crofrying would be ideal however most people would not do that.

i have always used room temp or in a kitchen place it on a warm shelf to raise temp before cooking. Then in a cold pan on very low flam skin side down until skin is very crispy then and only then flip and raise heat, use fat int he pan to baste the skin side and it will continue to crisp. i have gotten perfect medium rare to medium that way.

Although i have done it different ways to, once i worked for a chef, he made us blanch whole ducks 6 times before roasting in the oven low and slow. he said it helped release some fat under the skin and helped with getting perfect crispy skin.

you could try that. blanch for 15-30 seconds, then into ice water and repeat, therefore not cooking really and try to do the method above, not sure if ti will work for just a breast but i can attest the whole ducks came out very nice. Also a brine wouldn't hurt before.

im not really having problems with crispy skin or getting the duck medium. the duck is quite good and the skin is crispy - just not fully rendered so its a bit gummy between the crispy top and the meat.
 
Basically sounds like you may be just cooking too fast. I like mine scored. Render in dry pan flip and baste with fat.
 
im not really having problems with crispy skin or getting the duck medium. the duck is quite good and the skin is crispy - just not fully rendered so its a bit gummy between the crispy top and the meat.

Well as you render all the fat it becomes more crispy..
 
Best way possible is to actually take the skin off scrap all the fat away and use meat glue or transglucimate or something to reattach skin then you have no fat perfect crisp skin and beautiful duck breast. They do that over here in some of the 3 hat places.
 
Sounds like that haha some of the **** they do these days is ridiculous.
 
What is the best way to crisp the skin if you separate it?
And is it that important to keep the skin attached anyway? Never tried that so wondering about it
 
What is the best way to crisp the skin if you separate it?
And is it that important to keep the skin attached anyway? Never tried that so wondering about it

imho. keep the bird in as natural form as possible, it's nature. There is no need for surgery here.

Render your scored breast low and slow; a thin layer of fat under the crispy skin is not unpleasant.

Render longer, slower, and if you're still chewy, it is probably due to over or under cooking the breast meat. Perhaps try a better purveyor. Get a fresh kill, if possible.
 
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