Rendered Duck Fat/Sous Vide Fingerling Potato/Cracklin'

Cube the skin and fat. I like to do this in a very low oven so that the heat hits it from all around. I put the fat in a pot in a 250F oven for a while. You can do this on a stove top on very low heat, but be sure to stir it often, it has a tendency to stick to the bottom and can burn very easily. If it does burn, throw it out and start again as the liquid fat will pick up the burnt flavour. As the fat renders out, the skin and remnant meat will shrivel.

What do with the leftover soft skin and unrendered fat. Well cracklin’ of course. Just heat the liquid fat (or oil of you don’t have enough) to 350F and deep fry until the skin puffs up and becomes golden brown, usually about when the bubbles stop forming. Drain onto paper towel, sprinkle with a little salt, and enjoy the artery clogging goodness.

Another great use of duck fat is for frying. It has a very high smoking point, and gives a wonderful flavour.

I used the magical number of 83C (181F) to perfectly cook fingerling potatoes. Sous vide cooking seems complicated and difficult without a vacuum packing machine and immersion circulator, but it’s not. I just sealed the scrubbed potatoes in a large ziplock bag with some duck fat and salt. Suck out as much air as possible and place in a shallow pot and cover with water. I used a digital scale with a max temp to control the temperature of the water, using a smaller pot to keep the bag submerged. When the water came up to 83C, I turned down the heat to maintain a steady temp. It’s normal for the temperature to fluctuate by a few degrees with this method, but it worked perfectly. After about an hour, the potatoes were cooked evenly all the way through, took in the flavour of the fat, and still had a firm, but not undercooked bite.


Slice them on a bias and fry them in a very hot pan with the rendered duck fat. Make sure there is plenty of fat for them to shallow fry in. Throw in a fresh sprig of thyme, or any herb for that matter and base them with the flavoured fat. Season with a little salt and pepper and enjoy your perfectly cooked, golden brown seared potatoes.