Deep Fried Bird [Cooking]

2010 Dec 7
Planning Christmas dinner and I want to do something a little more interesting than a deep fried turkey in peanut oil.

I was thinking of frying using duck fat instead of the oil. Anyone have any experience using duck fat? Also where can I source the duck fat, I just do not have enough.

I am also toying with frying goose instead of turkey. What does everyone (anyone) think of these ideas.


2010 Dec 7
If you're able to buy duck fat in bulk anywhere, I suspect it'll be from Mariposa themselves:

www.mariposa-duck.on.ca

They don't have a full product list on their web page, but it's definitely worth calling and asking. And let me know what you find! I've toyed with the idea of loading my deep fryer with duck fat for making frites...

2010 Dec 7
Hi...

Re: Duck Fat: It is expensive, deep frying in that amount would cost almost $100 I'd predict. Your options to get it include Gatineau Costco, Sasloves, Glebe Meat Market, Sausage Kitchen, or buy a bunch of ducks in Chinatown, trim them well and render away (if you want to roast 10-12 ducks).

I think you would need about 10 tubs, and a tub costs approx. $7-10. Anything deep fried in duck fat is glorious, although I believe my experiences have been limited to fries, chips and other potato derivatives.

Re: Goose: There is a reason why American hunters call Canada Geese "Flying Ribeye's"...I find goose very dense, almost closer to beef in taste and texture than typical farmed poultry. My experiences and those I have gathered from friends is that low, wet and slow is the only way to cook geese, meaning half submerged in liquid in a 225-250ish oven for 6+ hours, and even still they can come out tough, especially wild geese. I have tried roasted domestic goose (around 300 ish over 3+ hours) and it turned out really tough. Great taste but texture was just unpleasant.

All that said, I'm not sure if deep-frying would provide the right tenderizing environment for goose. If you do, I'd recommend a marinade (and a test run in the next week or so). A friend recommends a red wine/red wine vinegar marinade overnight. Apple juice or cider is another suggestion I have heard often.

Good luck and report if you can...

2010 Dec 7
Could you use a combo of a more subtle (but high temp) oil like canola and duck fat? That would cut the cost but give a more interesting flavour.

I echo Trachino's comments re: goose. I've tried twice in the oven, roasting like a turkey (450 for 20 mins, 300 for 3+ hours) and was very dissapointed both times. Without any specific knowledge, I would hazard to guess you would end up with a very tough bird in the fryer. Might be something I'd try sans guests in the balmy grip of May, but no way I'd attempt it at Christmas.

2010 Dec 7
The best way to get duck fat in bulk is to buy two ducks ... and cook them. Then you'll get more duck fat than you'll ever need.

Makes a lovely Christmas gift.

2010 Dec 9
I'll agree with Rizak!

Just buy some ducks, eat them, save the fat :-) Not sure 2 will cover deep fried turkey amounts though.

If you can find utility ducks, they can be amazingly cheap, and a little cosmetic issue won't hurt the fat any.

2010 Dec 9
I think that buying the ducks really makes sense. I am figuring around 2 to 3 cups of fat per duck. I will check out the prices of ducks in China town - anything is better than Loblaws.

I have to measure the amount that I will need. I never seem to remember how much my deep fryer holds.


2010 Dec 9
I believe that most deep fryers hold between 3 and 4 litres. So if the 2 to 3 cups of fat per duck is accurate, budget for 4 ducks.

This is sounding like a *fantastic* idea that I should try, too, since it'll also provide delicious confit legs.

2010 Dec 9
Um, maybe I am doing it wrong, but my turkey deep fryer requires 3-4 GALLONS, or somewhere near 11 litres. You're going to need a lot of ducks.

2010 Dec 9
HHH you are right and I am going to be swimming in duck fat. :)

I am guessing around 20 ducks, that way I may have extra. I will keep everyone posted.

Thanks

2010 Dec 10
I just had a chicken leg cooked in duck fat today!
It was a version of Casoulet from Ferme Saveurs des Monts.
I know they sell chicken pieces and bones.
Not too sure where they get the duck fat from as I did not ask them when I saw one of the owners last week...

www.saveursdesmonts.ca/

I know Bank Street sausage- they always sell smoked fat, but no idea what kind of fat it is or the price.
I usually shop there every few weeks,but it is not a product I would buy.

2010 Dec 10
MBS: I have been thinking about this challenge a bit more...if you are going to go to the trouble of procuring all that duck fat you could take it a step further and just confit the goose either whole (which could pose some logisitical problems getting the bird out of the cooled fat) or in quarters. You'd need a thermometer to keep the fat at poaching temp (rather than deep fried temp) but the results would be certainly tender and I am sure delicious.

Added bonus of pre-butchering the goose is there would be trimmings that could be rendered for fat as well.

Simply dry cure the goose for a day in a salt/spice cure (lots of recipes for that online - J Steingarten has an alsatian recipe with traditional christmas spices that you could modify), poach the meat in duck fat a few days before, remove from the cooled fat and then gently reheat the meat in an oven until the skin is crispy on the day you intend to serve it.

If you did it in quarters you'd lose the Norman Rockwell-style presentation of the finished bird, but I think it would be a bit easier to manipulate and a platter of carved, confited goose would still be an appetizing presentation...

www.ochef.com/r120.htm

2010 Dec 10
@Momomoto: Thanks for the duck link (Mariposa). The Dragonlady would like to make a Cassoulet sometime and wasn't sure of the best place to get 'good' smoked duck.

2010 Dec 10
The cooked chicken legs sold at Saveurs des Monts are definitively "confit", so slow-cooked in duck fat, not deep fried in it.

I'm not convinced of the results of deep-frying a large bird in duck fat. But it sure sounds like an adventure in extreme cooking. Actually... it sounds like something Martin Picard would do ;-p

2010 Dec 11
HHH: Ha! You're not doing it wrong: I still had frites on my brain, not a turkey ;)

Rizak: I always have designs on dropping by there following a Beau's run, but never do. I have so much Foch in the wine cellar and no cassoulet to go with it!

2010 Dec 11
Saveurs des Monts- they actually sell a frozen Cassoulet dish.
I bought it last week and had some for dinner Thurs and have a bit left now.
The package I got was around 500 grams and $13.

It is not traditional though- it was made with confit chicken leg and a chicken sausage.
It was quite good. Was also told that it is already cooked and just needs to be reheated.
The dish was also vacum sealed so you could keep it in the freezer a few weeks.

The chicken was very rich and tender. Sausage was very good, beans were tasty too.
I reheated this in the oven while I went out to do groceries and it smelled really good when I came back.
-only reheated the dish in the oven covered in foil so it would not burn.

2010 Dec 13
Thanks all.....

I think I am going with compromising solution. All that duck fat is a bit rich on my wallet this Christmas. Nathan Myhrvold did a study on confit and found that for confit, there was little or no difference in taste between confit cooked in flavored fat and one smothered in fat post-cooking.

I am leaning towards frying in Canola oil and then basting with hot duck fat afterwards.

By the way, has anyone bought Nathan Myhrvold's book yet?

2010 Dec 13
By the way, has anyone bought Nathan Myhrvold's book yet?

Why, so you can photocopy it? You cheap, duck fat skimping bastard!!

j/k :-)

Seriously though, I like your idea of frying in Canola and then adding the fat after. The only thing to watch for might be that fried things are typically drained after frying, so serving them smeared with more fat might be a little off-putting. Given that, you may want to smear duck fat all over your fried bird and then finish it in the oven for 20 minutes, to give the duck fat flavour some hope of penetration prior to draining.

Please let us know how it turns out!

2010 Dec 14
Darn good idea to roast it. Makes up for the photocopying idea. :)
2200 page in 4 volumes at over US $ 400. Sigh!

I will post pictures as well - the turkey not the book.