Duck Legs in Brine

Name: Duck Legs in Brine
Yield: Serves 4
Cuisine: British
Ingredients: plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); stock vegetables (2 celery sticks, 1 large white onion, 1 large carrot, 1 leek); stock vegetables (2 celery sticks, 1 large white onion, 1 large carrot, 1 leek); 4 duck legs, rinsed; stock vegetables (2 celery sticks, 1 large white onion, 1 large carrot, 1 leek); an assortment of hard herbs such as thyme or rosemary, no more than a 100 g bunch, say; an assortment of hard herbs such as thyme or rosemary, no more than a 100 g bunch, say; stock vegetables (2 celery sticks, 1 large white onion, 1 large carrot, 1 leek); stock vegetables (2 celery sticks, 1 large white onion, 1 large carrot, 1 leek); 280 g rock salt; 280 g brown sugar, or muscovado for a more caramelly taste; an assortment of hard herbs such as thyme or rosemary, no more than a 100 g bunch, say; 1.7 litres water; plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); plus any herbs and spices you fancy (2–3 bay leaves, 1 sprig of rosemary, 1 small bunch of thyme, 1 tsp black peppercorns, 1 piece of mace, a few juniper berries); 280 g brown sugar, or muscovado for a more caramelly taste; 25 g saltpetre (optional, available from chemists)

Preparation info

Serves
4

Difficulty
Medium

Appears in

Cooks Country

By Matt Tebbutt

Published 2008

About

This is a great way of preserving meats, pork for rillettes, beef brisket for salt beef or, in this example, duck legs. Simply drop the meat into the brine, put in the fridge and forget about it for a couple of weeks. The brine adds a flavour to the meat that no marinade or fancy sauce could ever bring.

Ingredients

4 duck legs, rinsed
stock vegetables (2 celery sticks, 1 large white onion

Europe
United Kingdom
Main course
Gluten-free
January
February
Winter

Method

Put the brine ingredients into a saucepan, bring to the boil and simmer for 20 minutes to infuse. Skim and cool.

Then add the duck legs (or any other meat you would like to try) to the brine. Submerge the meat totally under some baking paper and a couple of heavy plates. Leave for anything between 2 and 6 weeks in the fridge.

When the duck is suitably brined, remove and plunge i