Garlic Confit Recipe (2024)

FAQs

How long will garlic confit last? ›

Garlic confit will last up to 2 weeks in the fridge, and up to 3 months in the freezer. Refrigerate the garlic confit immediately after cooled. Freeze it with the oil or puree it and freeze it separately for up to 2 months. You can even freeze it into covered ice-cube trays for easy removal when you want some.

Chilling the confit quickly and storing it in the refrigerator is one big help: At temperatures under 38°F (3°C), the dangerous toxins form much more slowly, which buys you some time.

Unlike traditional oven-roasted garlic, garlic confit roasts slowly in oil, which minimizes browning to yield a sweeter, more mellow garlic flavor. Though this garlic confit recipe calls for thyme and bay leaves, you can customize the flavor notes by swapping these out for other herbs or by omitting them altogether.

Why does my garlic confit taste bad? This could be because it was cooked too long. Overcooked garlic takes on a bitter flavor. Its important to cook the garlic until browned and softened.

It has to do with the garlic's age. Older garlic will build up larger quantities of chemical precursors than fresher garlic, thus both the region in which you buy your garlic and the specific markets in which you are purchasing it can affect how likely it is to form these blue-green compounds.

It's important to store garlic confit in the refrigerator in an airtight container and not on the counter at room temperature. I like to use Glass Mason Jars or these Glass Storage Containers to keep mine in.

You won't be able to tell if it's dangerous, because it will still look, smell and taste the same. Commercially produced garlic-in-oil prod- ucts have been linked to two outbreaks of botulism; one in Vancouver in 1985 and the other in New York in 1989.

Botulism is a rare but potentially fatal infection caused by consuming the Clostridium botulinum bacteria, which produces a poison that can affect the nervous system, leading to fatigue, weakness, digestive abnormalities, paralysis, and even death.

At best, you'll lose control of your facial muscles, including drooping eyelids, experience intense gastrointestinal upset, and have blurry vision, according to the Mayo Clinic. Even at this level, botulism is incredibly dangerous and must be treated by a medical professional immediately.

Garlic Confit Highlights

It's a garlic lovers dream. HEALTHY. Cooked garlic has a tremendous amount of health benefits. It's known to reduce blood pressure and is highly nutritious but with few calories.

Is garlic confit worth it? ›

It will do wonders on any vegetable that only received a simple steaming, grilling, sautéing, or roasting. Smash it, puree it, pulverize it into a paste, or use the cloves on their own. Once you get started, you'll want to find a way to slip garlic confit into all your meals. (It's that special.)

While confit is most commonly seen with duck or goose legs—it makes sense, considering it's a technique that stems from southwest France—it's ideal for any number of meats that are suitable for low and slow cooking. That is, any meat with a good deal of connective tissue that begs for tenderizing.

Garlic confit can cause a fatal food-borne illness

Since you can't smell, taste, or see the botulism-causing toxins, it's crucial to seek medical help if you experience early signs such as tiredness, muscle weakness, difficulty swallowing, drooping eyelids, blurry vision, or paralysis (via Healthline).

Refrigerator – Once the garlic confit has slightly cooled, transfer them to sterilised air tight jars and place straight into the fridge. It's important your garlic confit does not sit out at room temperature as this is when toxins that are created by the spores of bacteria that can increase the risk of botulism.

It sounds like a reliable and mistake-proofed cooking method — that low and slow approach. But it is possible to overcook duck confit.

The freezer is where you'll keep most of what you make, pulling out one batch at a time as often as you need. This is because garlic confit lasts only four days in the fridge. And that four-day limit is definitely not arbitrary.

Storage: the garlic confit will keep a few weeks in the refrigerator, but for longer storage it should be kept in the freezer. Remember that oil does not freeze solid, so it is best to store it in a plastic container with a tight-fitting lid.

Remove from oven and cool duck to room temperature in its cooking vessel, removing lid but keeping it submerged in fat. Once cool, cover container tightly and transfer to refrigerator, where confit can be stored for up to 1 month.