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.**
Confit Egg Yolks
- V
- GF
- DF
Nutrition per portion
Ingredients
- Egg yolks, as many as you need, but don't overcrowd the pan (I do 4 at a time)
- Oil of any kind, enough to just submerge the yolks in a small oven-proof saucepan, or dish
Method
- Preheat your oven to 65°C.
- Heat the oil: Add the olive oil to a small oven-proof dish, or saucepan. Let the oil heat up in the pre-heated oven for about 15 - 20 minutes.
- Separating the yolks: Separate the egg yolks from the whites. To achieve a perfectly shiny orange yolk, make sure to carefully remove as much of the white and the chalazae (that ropey dangly thing that always sticks to the yolk) with your fingers without breaking the yolk.
- Cooking the yolks: When the oil in the saucepan is at a stable temperature of 65°C (check with a food thermometer if you have one, or just trust your oven), gently lower the yolks into the warm oil with a spoon. If a yolk accidentally breaks, immediately try to remove it from the oil to avoid the broken yolk from sticking to the others. Cook the egg yolks in the warm oil in the oven for 30 minutes for a soft texture, up to 40 minutes for a slightly firmer yolk with a nice jammy texture.
zo, leuk, om al die recepten te delen……….ik hou zelf niet van koken en bakken, maar vriendinnen van mij wel……leuk joh….
goed bezig !!!!!
liefs van Debbie Jumelet
Dankjewel voor je lieve comment Debbie! Misschien dat vriendinnen dan iets voor je kunnen koken van mijn site ;)?
How long can confit yolks be stored for
To be honest, I’ve not tried to keep them for any longer than two days, so I am not sure, but I think they should keep for a few days longer when refrigerated and submerged in oil in an airtight container or bag.
Can the oil be kept afterwards and used for cooking?
I suppose you can reuse it to fry other things in after, but I wouldn’t keep it for too long before reusing it.
Righto. I’m gonna try to find out. Thank you very much.
Thank you for the recipe. Tried this twice. First 50 minutes, then 120 minutes on 70C in fan driven oven. Preheated oil in 20 minutes, but no luck. Yolk is just hot, but not creamy at all. It is still raw. Does the type of olive oil affect this? The thermoter might be off, be i tought at least two hours should do it. No oven is that off, right?
Hello and thank you for leaving a comment. I am very sorry to hear that my recipe has not been working for you.
I don’t think it’s the type of olive oil that’s the problem, but, sadly, an oven can indeed be off by a (in this case) significant amount. Have you checked the oil’s temperature with a thermometer, or are you going by what’s written on the oven itself? I’ve noticed that with my new (fan-assisted) oven, that I need to set it on 70 degrees Celsius as written on the oven dial for the oil itself to reach a temperature of around 65 degrees Celsius (measured with a thermometer that, I admit, may not be as precise as I would like it to be…) – It also takes at least 30 minutes or so for the oil to reach that temperature after placing it in the pre-heated oven.
I’ve re-tested the recipe today according to what you wrote (preheated oven on 70 degrees Celsius, preheated the oil for 30 minutes (after which it was slightly warmer than 65 degrees) and cooked the yolk for 50 minutes) and it came out fine. The yolk had actually already set before the 50 minutes were over, so I am not exactly sure what happened for your yolks not to set at all despite extending the cooking time. I can only guess that your oven is indeed slightly off and the oil never reached the correct temperature or somehow dropped during the cooking process? While it may take slightly longer than the time I’ve written in my recipe (30 min), the yolks definitely shouldn’t need 2 hours to get ready…
I am not sure what to suggest, but since your yolks never set at all, I suppose you do need to raise the temperature slightly. Try using room temperature eggs if you haven’t already done so and raising the temperature on the oven by another 5 to 10 degrees just in case either your oven or thermometer is indeed slightly off (oil temp of 65 – 70C should really work, though).
I am sorry I couldn’t be of more help, but I hope the recipe will work for you if you decide to try again (and please let me know if it did work out?). Good luck 🙂