How to make duck prosciutto at home
Ever have the desire to have duck prosciutto at home but can’t find it anywhere in your local area? Why not make it at home. It really isn’t hard at all you just need a bit of patience. I know in a world of instant gratification it is hard to wait for things to either ferment or age to enhance the flavor of ingredients. In this case we are specifically talking about duck breast.
Now I talked with local duck farmer in Austin who has been not only farming ducks but making his own charcuterie as well. He provided the pristine moulard ducks which is what you need to make prosciutto because the size of the breast is large enough to withstand the curing and drying process.
A normal size duck breast is a little too small that gives a lot smaller margin of error than the mallard. The process is really simple, cure the duck, then dry it out, then eat or cold smoke it. Here is the recipe for how to make duck prosciutto at home.
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Smoked Duck Prosciutto recipe[/caption][caption id="attachment_2114" align="alignnone" width="300"]
Smoked Duck Prosciutto recipe[/caption]How to make Duck Prosciutto
Ever have the desire to have duck prosciutto at home but can’t find it anywhere in your local area? Why not make it at home. It really isn’t hard at all you just need a bit of patience. I know in a world of instant gratification it is hard to wait for things to either ferment or age to enhance the flavor of ingredients. In this case we are specifically talking about duck breast.
Now I talked with local duck farmer in Austin who has been not only farming ducks but making his own charcuterie as well. He provided the pristine moulard ducks which is what you need to make prosciutto because the size of the breast is large enough to withstand the curing and drying process.
A normal size duck breast is a little too small that gives a lot smaller margin of error than the mallard. The process is really simple, cure the duck, then dry it out, then eat or cold smoke it. Here is the recipe for how to make duck prosciutto at home.
Cure Mix
- 2 each duck breast (moulard)
- 2 cups salt
- 1 1/2 cups sugar
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 sprig thyme
- 1 tbsp peppercorn
How to make duck prosciutto
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Combine salt, sugar, thyme, peppercorns in a bowl and mix well. Place the duck breast either in small container or a cryovac bag. Pour the salt mixture all over the duck breast making sure that the duck breast is completely covered (on all sides) with the cure mix.
Cover the container or seal the cryovac bag and cure for 24 hours. There is debate on how long to cure for, some say you need longer to cure but the longer you cure the more dried out your duck breast will become resulting in more of a jerky than a prosciutto.
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Approximately when the 24 hours are up rinse the cure off of the duck breast and pat dry. Wrap the duck breast in cheese cloth and tie a string around it. if you are able to hang the wrapped duck breast in your refrigerator, use the string and tie it to a wire rack or a door. If you aren’t able to hang it, that’s okay place the duck breast in the refrigerator and just flip over once everyday for the next two weeks.
Let the duck age for the next two weeks. Check periodically throughout to see if there isn’t any mold starting to form. White mold is okay and you can cut that away but black mold is not good and you would need to throw the meat out. Once the two weeks are up I would suggest lightly cold smoking the duck prosciutto to give another layer of flavor to the duck (think bacon).
Unwrap the duck breast from the cheese cloth, if there is any white mold you can trim away with a knife. You can eat it at this point or smoke it.
If you have a stove top smoker or even a smoking a gun. Place a bag full of ice in your stove top smoker and place the duck breast on top of the bag of ice. Place wood chips in the bottom of the pan.
Place your rack or perforated pan on top and cover with a lid or foil. Turn on medium heat and smoke for 5-7 minutes. Then turn off the heat and allow to cool inside the smoker for another 20 minutes. Take out and then refrigerate. Now you are ready to eat your duck prosciutto. Serve and enjoy!