If Sussex Smokehouse ever grows to a size that enables us to start producing and selling our own smoked meats and charcuterie, this smoked duck prosciutto will be one of the first items for sale.
Cured, smoked and aged duck breast one of the simplest charcuterie items to make. You can even make it at home- I do!
Ingredients
- Duck breast (weigh it/them and note the weight)
- Salt (Table salt is fine, curing salts are better) no more than 5% of the weight of the duck breast
- Sugar (up to you how much- I’d go for around 2-3% of the weight of the duck breast. Demerara gives more flavour than white sugar)
- Aromatics (garlic goes well with duck, as does citrus and bay leaf but even just a twist of black pepper works)
Equipment
- Vacuum sealing machine (you can get one for less than £20, this is not a big ask)
- Vacuum sealer bags
- Clean cheesecloth/muslin cloth
- Butchers’ twine
Method
- Remove your duck breast(s) from the packaging and pat them dry with a piece of kitchen roll.
- Weigh it and set it aside for a moment.
- Weigh the salt and sugar then mix and add in any herbs or spices.
- Coat the duck breast in the curing mix ensuring that every nook and cranny of the piece of meat is covered.
- Place the duck breast into a vacuum sealer bag and use your vacuum sealing machine to draw the air out of the bag and seal it.
- Pop your sealed bag into the fridge for a week (or at least five days), making sure to turn it over each day.
- After a week, remove your now cured duck breast from the fridge (it will have firmed up, shrunk a bit and be surrounded with the liquid drawn out by the salt cure), take it out of the bag and wash off any remaining cure mix under a running cold tap.
- Pat it dry with kitchen roll then leave it for an hour or so on a plate on the side (or in the fridge on a warm day) so a pellicle can form.
- Choose which wood you are going to use and get your smoker lit.
- Pop your duck breast into the smoker. Let the smoke do it’s thing. The longer you leave it, the stronger the smoke flavour.
- When sufficiently smoked, remove the duck breast from the smoker and wrap in a clean cheesecloth, secured with butchers’ twine.
- Hang it somewhere with some airflow that’s ideally under 50% humidity. At a pinch, your fridge will do. Leave it for a week.
- After seven days, unwrap, slice and enjoy your air dried, smoked duck prosciutto.
This beautiful piece of charcuterie works wonderfully on a cheeseboard and is particularly good when paired with a fruity preserve, like a blackberry cheese or hedgerow jelly. Smoked duck prosciutto is one of the easiest cured meats to produce at home and is very rewarding when you pull it off.
Give it a go. Even if you cut out the smoking part.
