Shelf · Water & steam · Low heat
Confit
Cooking food fully submerged in fat, held far below a simmer, for hours.
- The temperature band
- The liquid · 80 to 95 °C
- The time
- About 120 min
Why it works
Fat can sit at 85 °C without ever boiling, so it surrounds the food with steady gentle heat and no agitation at all. Because no water is being added or lost, the food cooks long enough to go silky without drying out.
The tell
The fat is still — a bubble now and then, never a stream — and the meat gives way under no pressure at all.
- Sitting on top
- Half in
- Fully under
How it fails
Fat that starts bubbling steadily has passed 100 °C and is frying, not confiting; the outside toughens. Drop the heat, and keep the food fully covered — anything sticking out above the fat dries.
Open the card in Rikaido
In the app, the card opens on the recipe step that names it, with the tell drawn.
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