Stoneware jars for storing confit?

Anyone have experience with storing confit outside refrigeration? I'm gearing up to make a batch of duck confit. Usually, I store it under fat in the refrigerator or, if there is too much to fit there, in the freezer. This time, I want to let it ripen naturally in a cool, dry place for several months.

The recipe I have calls for the use of "tall stoneware containers" for storing the confit. I've done some poking around Google and am a little confused. Is there a difference between stoneware and earthenware? Should the containers be glazed? Can't I use any tall container - stainless steel, food-grade plastic, etc.?

Bill/SFNM

I think the main difference between stoneware and earthenware is in usage. Stoneware is fired at a higher temperature, and isn't (as) porous as earthenware, so it's okay to store/cook food in it. Earthenware is porous, so whatever clay is used to make it will leach into your food. It's more decorative than functional.

Maybe it's gotta be stoneware so light doesn't hit it?

I don't know why directions would call for a "tall" vessel, though. I would think a shorter, squat container would work better. Any time I've seen homemade confit, it's been in a round, Mason jar-size piece of pottery.

[Added after Googling "confit stoneware" and "confit pot": You can get an antique French confit stoneware pot for the low, low price of $525. What I think is unusual is that none of the pots seem to have lids, and it's more of an eggplant/vase shaped pot (narrower top and bottom, flared center). I would think a confit pot would have to have a more uniform shape, but apparently that's not the way the Frenchies do it.]

crrush wrote:I don't know why directions would call for a "tall" vessel, though. I would think a shorter, squat container would work better. Any time I've seen homemade confit, it's been in a round, Mason jar-size piece of pottery.

[Added after Googling "confit stoneware" and "confit pot": You can get an antique French confit stoneware pot for the low, low price of $525. What I think is unusual is that none of the pots seem to have lids, and it's more of an eggplant/vase shaped pot (narrower top and bottom, flared center). I would think a confit pot would have to have a more uniform shape, but apparently that's not the way the Frenchies do it.]

The duck needs to be completely covered in fat. The smaller the exposed surface area, the less fat you'll need. Assuming equal volume, a tall vessel will have a smaller surface area than a short one.

The fat is the "lid".

Bill/SFNM

A fat lid. Awesome. But you don't have to cover it any other way? Cheesecloth or something to keep the bugs out? And how long will it sit? Just curious. Are you getting the recipe out of Charcuterie? I'm waiting for my copy to arrive...

My guess is, you could use any heavy (glass or stainless) food-grade container that doesn't allow light in. The recipe may call for stoneware out of tradition (or pretension).

This time, I want to let it ripen naturally in a cool, dry place for several months.

Bill,

You may be naturally quite ill after the ripening process.

Years ago when I took food preservations classes via the University of Illinois Extension; which took 2 years of gentle reminders to get a class. They were talking about the higher incidence of food poisonings in Europe largely from these traditional methods of preservation.

I remember answering questions to the public at the Ravinia Festival when it hosted the Best of the Midwest Produce program. These gentleman had made a large quantity of pesto sealed merely by a layer of oil the weekend before. They had already been sitting on their shelves for a week and they intended to eat it over the winter. They were major league annoyed, even angry, when I told them they now had a shelf full of spoiled pesto. I make pesto, then throw them into ice cube trays and freeze.

Our employee in Moscow had a large metal box buried under his garage for preservation of foods. He and his wife would spend hours putting up tomatoes by simply pouring them into jars and sealing with a twist. I was explaining to them my process, which they thought was ridiculously over involved. Well, my tomatoes lasted into the next summer stored at room temperature in hermetically sealed jars. They had a collection of fizzy tomatoes in mid Winter.

I have a Czech friend who pickles mushrooms and seals it with oil. He then puts it in an extra refrigerator to keep it cool. I have an Italian friend who also seals it with oil and leaves it in the basement. I eat the Czech pickled mushrooms and pass on the Italian's unless freshly made, which is not when a pickled product is at its best.

I have a friend who lives nearby who regularly hangs wild fowl. She does not consider them ready for the table until the ripening has progressed enough for the body to drop to the floor while the head is still tied. Fergus Henderson also uses this traditional method and serves the ripened fowl in his restaurant.

While some of these traditional methods might work, I feel like the shift commander on Hill Street Blues: "Let's be careful out there!" (really, I'd hate for anything to happen to you)

Regards,

Cathy2 wrote:[ "Let's be careful out there!" (really, I'd hate for anything to happen to you)

Thank you for your concern, Cathy. I intend on using the requisite amount of Prague Powder 2 and it will be stored in a very cool spot below 40F. I've made a lot of charchuterie in my life and am ALWAYS extremely careful.

Bill/SFNM

Bill,

I picked up this Ransbottom crock last year at Kit's. John Sigler also got one to make sauerkraut. Mine is a 4 quart, while John's was a 5 gallon size. Here's a picture. Does this seem like what you are looking for? There is a lid for it. I was going to ferment some peppers, but have never got around to it. If so, Kit can tell you the name of the hardware store. They were on closeout, but they had a lot of them left.

I've done a lot of confiting [?confitting?] and, as this msg reveals, lived to tell about it. I use mason jars, the ones with the wide mouth. Lids. And refrigeration. I give them a couple days right after potting, in the cellar, to firm up, then into the fridge.

I've never used Prague Powder, but that sounds like a reasonable alternative. Or Morton's cure, that would work too. Use either of these in place of the major amount of salt in the recipe.

Your standard pumped-full-of-whatever 39¢/lb for 10lb bag of leg quarters can get surprizingly tasty during the confit(t)ing process.

The lipid is the most expensive element in the process...

Geo