# Please identify these organ meats! (Giblets)



## nosferatu22 (Aug 29, 2016)

I got an organic chicken that came with some organ meats. I'm having trouble identifying some of them, and some of them look bad.

Here they are:







Top left looks like a kidney maybe, next to it looks like a gizzard, right to that looks like a liver. I'm just really not sure tbo. ;(


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## Katie H (Aug 29, 2016)

Hi, Billybob.  First, welcome to DC.

As for your organ meats.  I think they're all just fine.

Let's take them clockwise:

At 7, you have a neck.
11 is what appears to be heart, perhaps a gizzard.  Hard to tell without it being turned over.  There's usually a gristle-like division between the sections with a gizzard, which is definitely obvious in the gizzard.

Noon is definitely a gizzard.
1 and 5 are pieces of liver, which can vary in color.

In my house, I'm the odd person out because I love all the pictured items.  Usually I boil them, leaving the liver for last because it only takes a few minutes for it to be fully cooked.

After cooking, I drain them, lightly salt them and have, for me, a mini-feast.

Many times, the heart, gizzard and liver are cooked and chopped and added to gravy, as in Thanksgiving turkey gravy, etc.  There are more ways of serving them.

We'll see what other members offer for their opinions.


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## LizStreithorst (Aug 29, 2016)

neck, heart, gizzard, liver, liver.


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## medtran49 (Aug 30, 2016)

LizStreithorst said:


> neck, heart, gizzard, liver, liver.


 
+1. 

If you use them, don't cook the liver too long, as it can impart a bitter taste.  Certainly no more than 10 minutes at a low simmer, probably not even that long.  Sometimes, the liver is that funky color, doesn't mean it is bad.  I don't usually use the gizzard, simply because it takes so long to cook to be tender, but I will throw it in with the neck and heart to make some stock for gravy or dressing (or both), then add the liver the last few minutes of cooking.  Before DH, I used to use the liver and heart and pick the neck meat and use it in my gravy as Katie H suggested, but he doesn't like that, so the dogs and/or cats usually get the picked neck meat and the chopped up organ meat as treats (or I'll eat them if I'm being greedy).


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## PrincessFiona60 (Aug 30, 2016)

yep, neck, heart, gizzard, liver, liver.  The paler liver is likely fattier than the other.  Looks like a feast to me, too!


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## Andy M. (Aug 30, 2016)

As kids, my sister and I used to fight over the organ meats that came with a turkey or chicken.


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## RPCookin (Aug 30, 2016)

I use neck, heart and gizzard for a nice flavor addition to stock or gravy (sorry, but liver goes in the trash in this house).  It's too bad that it's only on rare occasions that the giblets actually come with the bird these days.  That used to be standard, but now I guess they all get turned into pet food.  I guess they can make a couple of pennies more profit that way than they can by keeping them with the chicken.  I'd pay the extra two cents to be able to have them.


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## Andy M. (Aug 30, 2016)

We still get giblets with our whole chickens.  I've also seen tubs of chicken livers and giblets for sale (separately).


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## di reston (Aug 30, 2016)

Apart from the livers and heart, I can only identify the neck! But I'v got a lovely recipe for chicken liver canapès:

Make a stock with the neck.

500g chicken livers
150g chicken hearts
2 tsp fresh chopped
1/2 tsp flour to thicken
3 anchovy fillets (in oil, not the kind in salt)
1 1/2 tsp capers
1/2 fresh lemon squozen
2 tbsp white wine

Chop the livers and hearts, make a stock with the chicken neck and add to the pan, add the parsley and stir. Add the wine
Add the flour to get a loose mix
Add the anchovy fillets
Add the squozen lemon juice
Add the capers.
Pile the mix onto triangular croutons and serve

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast    Oscar Wilde


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## GotGarlic (Aug 30, 2016)

Andy M. said:


> We still get giblets with our whole chickens.  I've also seen tubs of chicken livers and giblets for sale (separately).



Same here. I saute the giblets, chop them up and give them to the cats.


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## Dawgluver (Aug 30, 2016)

A few eons ago, in one of my college towns, there was a tiny mom and pop place that specialized in gizzards on Tuesdays.  Some friends never missed Tuesdays there, real gizzard freaks.

Not a fan of organ meats, though I did eat a chicken liver on a camping trip just to gross out my boyfriend at the time.  It worked.


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## medtran49 (Aug 30, 2016)

Andy M. said:


> We still get giblets with our whole chickens. I've also seen tubs of chicken livers and giblets for sale (separately).


 
THird here.  In fact, the chicken Craig grilled over the weekend had all of the above, even had an extra heart, and I ate that one, the dogs got the other heart and the livers.  

We always get one of the chicken liver tubs to make dirty rice because I don't like using the gizzards so I double the livers.


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## Katie H (Aug 30, 2016)

Hmmm.  Now everyone's got me thinking.  I used to dredge the livers in seasoned flour (salt and pepper) and brown lightly in butter.  Once browned, I'd add some chicken stock, a little white wine and some tarragon.  The flour on the livers caused the liquid to thicken up a bit.  Served it either over rice or noodles.  Yummy...at least to me.


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## Addie (Sep 3, 2016)

My MIL loved chicken livers. Any time I had her to dinner, she got chicken livers, I got beef or calf livers.


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## Chief Longwind Of The North (Sep 4, 2016)

I buy tubs of chicken livers and turn them into chicken pate' for the holidays.  I'm the only one in my home that likes the giblets, though one of our friends loves the pate'.

Seeeeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


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## Aunt Bea (Sep 4, 2016)

This thread inspired me to pick up a package of chicken gizzards and hearts at the store this morning.  I've got them simmering in some chicken stock with Bell's poultry seasoning, red pepper flakes, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, a bay leaf and a splash of apple cider vinegar.  I'll let them simmer for a couple of hours and then drain and chop them.  Some of the chopped gizzards will go into a sort of loose meat sandwich with a splash of hot sauce and maybe a slice of melted cheese, some will go into a tomato sauce and the broth will eventually become a pot of soup.


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