Remember that one time I made salt-cured egg yolks and they turned out to be an amazing addition to my super rich spaghetti alla carbonara? Well, today I’ve got something that might just be even better: super jammy confit egg yolks! No need for fancy equipment: you’ve got an ovenproof dish, a small saucepan, some oil and about 40 minutes? Then you can easily make these confit egg yolks at home. These little bright orange balls of goodness are creamy and soft and amazingly good served on top of pasta, salads, or stirred into sauces. Not only do they taste good, they instantly make any dish look and sound pretty cool and impressive.
What does confit mean anyway?
To confit generally refers to a cooking method where ingredients such as meat, fish, root vegetables, or in this case egg yolks are very slowly cooked in fat on a relatively low temperature (between 62°C and 65°C for egg yolks).
I like to use a simple olive oil for my confit eggs since it gives them a nice flavor and olive oil is so commonly available (and quite cheap) here in Greece, but you can use any kind of flavored, or non-flavored fat. You can use a flavorless vegetable oil, or try to be more adventurous: think rosemary flavored oil, chili oil, or even some butter, or fancy goose-, or duck fat.
How to do a confit yolk at home without any equipment except for an oven?
Trust me when I say that making confit egg yolks is really not as difficult as it may sound (I know. It scared me too in the beginning). Most recipes for confit egg yolks ask for fancy equipment such as vacuum bag sealers, candy thermometers and self-heating water baths. But while many cooks choose to cook the yolks sous vide sealed tightly in a vacuum sealed bag to create a that perfect jammy texture, it’s quite easy to make confit egg yolks in your oven given that your oven can go as low as 65°C and can maintain a relatively stable temperature.
I’ve found that placing a small ovenproof saucepan filled with a layer of oil set inside a larger ovenproof dish filled with water and heating them in a preheated oven on 65°C works just fine for creating perfect confit egg yolks. When the oil has reached the same temperature as the oven, you simply separate the yolks from the whites and gently slide them into the warm oil. Then you leave the yolks in the oven for 30 to 40 minutes (depending on how firm you want them to be) and voila; a deliciously jammy confit egg yolk.
Tip: Don’t want to waste the egg whites? Use them to make this delicious meringue.
**Recipe below was slightly edited on 22-08-2019. Previously I placed the pan of oil in large dish filled with water to make sure the pan was heated evenly, but I figured this might be unnecessary.**
