Sous Vide Spiced Honey Duck Breast

Here in the Anova Test Kitchen, I decided to put a few popular cooking times and temperatures for boneless duck breasts to the test for textural variations. This also gave me a chance to compare some textural variations for a salad recipe I'd been dreaming up–Spiced Honey Duck Breast over Seasonal Spinach Salad. With sweet, smoky and spicy notes, I personally like to think of it as the “crazy-sexy-cool” of the duck breast world. It also happens to be perfect for the holidays, when we are trying to balance healthy eating with seasonal indulgence!

Author

Nicole Poirier

Chef Nicole is our Content Development Chef at Anova Culinary, devoted to help making your sous vide recipe dreams come true and writing informative blog posts to aid you along the way. She attended culinary school at Ecole Ritz-Escoffier at the Ritz Hotel in Paris, France and worked as a restaurant chef in Rhode Island before becoming an award-winning international yacht chef. Chef Nicole has worked alongside Anova Culinary since our Kickstarter in 2014 and officially joined the team in November, 2016. She has a specialty private event and catering business and and enjoys teaching cooking to clients throughout the Bay Area.

Prep Time: 00:15

Recipe Time: 01:00

Temperature : 135F / 57.2C

Ingredients

• 2 6 - 8oz boneless duck breasts
• ¼ tsp cinnamon
• ¼ tsp smoked paprika
• ¼ tsp chipotle chile pepper or cayenne pepper
• 1 tsp honey
• Salt & pepper to taste

Directions

1. Set your Precision Cooker to 57.2C/135F. Remove duck from package and pat dry with paper towels. Gently score the skin in a crosshatch pattern without cutting into the actual flesh. Sprinkle with salt.
2. Heat up a frying pan over high heat until a drop of water immediately sizzles upon it. Place the duck skin-side-down into the hot pan and let sit until it turns a gentle golden brown, approximately 3 - 4 minutes. Remove from pan and set on surface for further seasoning.
3. In a small bowl, mix the cinnamon, smoked paprika, and chipotle chili powder until well-blended. Equally divide mixture across the two duck breasts, making sure to season both sides. Additionally season with a pinch more salt and freshly ground pepper.
4. Place the duck breasts into a ziplock bag and add the teaspoon of honey. Squeeze as much air out as possible and/or vacuum seal, and submerge the duck into the prepared bath for 1 - 3.5 hours.

Finishing Steps - Stovetop

1. Remove from the bath and take breasts out of the bag. Gently pat dry again and prepare your frying pan for the finishing sear.
2. Once a drop of water sizzles in the pan, add the duck breast to the pan to sear. Place skin-side-down for an 1 - 2 minutes. Flip to also sear the meaty side, and leave for 30 seconds. Remove from pan and let rest for 10 minutes. Slice, serve, and enjoy!