Chicken Gizzards

[skilletlicker]

I have never cooked or eaten chicken gizzards. I bought some a couple days ago and plan to slow simmer for 1 1/2 hrs then batter and deep fry. I have read as much as I could find online but still have a few questions.

1. I understand the gizzard contains small rocks or sand to help break up the food. It would seem essential that the thing be cut be cut in half and thoroughly rinsed out but only a few articles even hint at this and none state it outright. Looking at the gizzards carefully they seem like they might have been split and opened up, butterfly fashion. If that is the case, and it is a common preparation before sale, then that might explain why "washing out the rocks" isn't mentioned. Any clarification would be greatly appreciated.

2. A few of these "butterflied" organs have a softer textured, browner, tip of the pinky sized piece loosely attached to the bottom (top?). Is this the heart?

3. Some sites emphasize trimming excess fat or gristle. A couple sites talk about removing the membrane. Can anyone shed anymore light on this?

4. After a long slow simmer followed by cooling, drying, and battering, can they be frozen and then deep fried still frozen or only partially thawed?

As a new poster I hope I've done this correctly and welcome any and all advice.

[DerekW]

Welcome to eGullet!

I've never seen gizzards for sale which had not previously been split and cleaned. Not to say that it doesn't happen, but the odds are that yours have been "de-rocked" already.

The gizzard muscle [which is what you'll be eating] has 'silverskin' on the outside You probably want to remove the denser part of that at least, since it can be pretty chewy.

These ones are out of a duck, so they're a bit different, but hopefully give the idea. That's two half gizzards to the left and a duck heart to the right. At the top of the image, the half-gizzard has its cut face to camera, exposing the muscle grain. The 'silverskin is seen on the exterior face of the lower half-gizzard [cut face down]; the stuffalong the ridge is soft & fatty. I can't remember the plumbing layout of the chicken, but the softer stuff you describe as adhering sounds more like a bit of the liver than the [relatively dense muscular] heart.

cheers

Derek

[SheenaGreena]

never had rocks in my gizzards. I would trim the silver skin if you don't like to chew a lot, but I always leave mine in because I love chewy meats. I just stir fry them in sesame oil and add salt and pepper and eat with a bowl of rice.

[skilletlicker]

Thanks for the excellent replies.

[rlibkind]

Gizzards are the primary component of Jerusalem Grill, which can also include lamb scraps. Daniel Rogov, an eGullet regular and an Israeli newspaper dining columnist, provides the basics on how to make it at home here:

Daniel Rogov's Jerusalem Grill pointers

[skilletlicker]

Well, I'm a little surprised! After trimming the "silverskin" and stuff I expected to end with pieces of meat an inch or inch and a half long. Instead I have bits of meats varying from pea size to the size of large marbles. Maybe I was too aggressive cutting the silverskin and maybe I shouldn't have cut off the lighter colored meat covering some of surfaces. I've decided to parboil only the largest pieces to later coat with bater and deep fry. The smaller pieces I'll have to think about.

As always, advice, suggestions, and criticisms are welcome.

[hummingbirdkiss]

hmmmm I dont prepare them often but when I do my husband loves them left whole, soaked overnight in buttermilk and sliced onions (the same way I do chicken I am going to fry...then dipped in seasoned flour and flash fried until crispy ..that is all I never trim/parboil or do anything else special ..just the soaking and I am not sure that is important but my husband swears they are great! ..I have nothing to compare it to as I am not out of my mind over them...

[Pontormo]

Never bought them separately, but you may know it's common to use them to make gravy when they arrive inside a bird you intend to roast; just simmer them w the usual aromatics until you get a flavorful broth. Concentrated, the cooled liquid could be used for lots of other things instead of stock.

There are also plenty of ways to use gizzards to top pasta, especially when chopped up into bits and combined with chicken livers and other bits of meat such as diced pancetta. Get your hands on Lynne Rossetto Kasper's The Splendid Table or check out her web site to see if recipes are online.

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Question: anyone know how long they last in a fairly aggressive freezer? I have some scraps, including half a pound of chicken livers leftover from making a ragu fairly early in the spring. Toss?

[stephle]

I love gizzards! Used to be a chain here in SoCal called Pioneer Chicken which had the best gizzard basket and fried liver basket (or IIRC you could get half and half). Lovely rrispy batter, never greasy, always really tender.

The closest approximation I've ever been able to make is by putting the gizzards into my pressure cooker, cook for 30 mins or so, let cool then deep fry in beer batter recipe. Yummy!

If you're looking for beautifully prepared gizzards, go to your local Japanese market. Mitsuwa has them perfectly ready for cooking -- their chicken livers are also beautifully prepared, all deveined, etc.

[Henry dV]

Excellent topic, I only ever used them in stocks etc. but now I`m intrigued. Will a grazing bird have a better gizzard than a cereal eater.........hmmmmm.

Great stuff everyone, keep it up

[skilletlicker]

Wow!

These are pretty darn good. I chilled them and then hit with flour, egg, and flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and home made chile powder. I cooked a few in a deep fryer and they were pretty good. Then I shallow fried a few in a very small cast iron skillet and they were even better. I put some in the freezer and will move into a bag after they are individually frozen. In case anybody cares I'll report back on how they compare to the previous batches.

Thanks again for all the replies.

Suggestions and corrections are welcomed.

[infernooo]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

[rlibkind]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

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See Daniel Rogov's Jerusalem Grill recipe referenced in my earlier post.

[srhcb]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

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Do not, I repeat, do not, try to cook them, or livers and hearts, in a microwave!

To misappropriate an Emeril quote: BAM!

Edited June 2, 2007 by srhcb (log)

[stephle]

I joke not, gizzard confit! (can you tell I like these suckers?) - proper french name is confit de gesiers I believe

Basically you do the same dry rub drill that you'd do for duck leg confit (thyme, garlic, cracked pepper coarse salt), let sit for a few hours or overnight then poach them slowly in chicken fat. You need enough chix fat to completely cover them while cooking.

When finished, you can put them in a pot the same way you would duck confit (make sure you pour enough fat over them to completely cover them before sticking them in the fridge) and pull them out as needed.

I like to take the finished gizzards, gently warm them, give them a little chop and put on top of a nice mesclun salad--sometimes with roasted beets added for a twist. I make a dijon vinagrette with the melted fat instead of oil. Delicious. Almost as good as the pressure cooked deep fried babies.

BTW -- I have frozen the deep fried ones before. They definitely don't reheat the same. Tend to be soggy and unfortunately a little greasy.

It's better to freeze the gizzards right after you've cooked them but before the batter, defrost then batter and fry before eating. I do this quite often to good result.

Edited June 2, 2007 by stephle (log)

[ChefCrash]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

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We mince ours and sautee them in a little oil and let them gently simmer in their own juices about 15 minutes or til all juices evaporate, season with salt and pepper, add butter and let them brown.

Here they're served with Babaganouj.

[Pan]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

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Of course! They can be roasted with the chicken.

They could also be sauteed. I'm thinking of gizzards sauteed in a frying pan with finely chopped onions, parsley, black pepper, and sherry. Or you could flambee them with brandy, rum, or some other spirit.

[MarkinHouston]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

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As stephle mentioned, try making confit. I ordinarily use duck gizzards from our Asian market, but warmed gesiers atop a salad is a French classic.

[Sony]

Could anyone please describe the flavor of gizzards for me? Are they liverish? Bland? Strong-tasting?

[stephle]

Rather bland but (and I hate to say this) chickeney -- not liverish *at all*. It's more of a textural thing I think -- kind of chewy, a little crunchy if you don't cook them too long. Extremely tender if you parboil or pressure cook them for a good while. Very lean, IMHO good protein. A wonder food in itself.

What I'm surprised at is why they haven't caught on more -- tasty versatile and cheap. Oh well, leaves more for me

[skilletlicker]

Could anyone please describe the flavor of gizzards for me? Are they liverish? Bland? Strong-tasting?

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Well, they kinda taste like chicken. The water in which I slowly simmered one and half pound of them, with a few garlic cloves and onion, became a terrific chicken broth worth the time and trouble of the process on it's own.

Liverish? NO

Strong-tasting? NO

Bland? Well mine were slowly simmered one and a half hours with salt, onion, and garlic then fried in a batter seasoned with three kinds of chiles and various other spices.

In a few words, I'd say these were spicy, crunchy, chicken bits.

[Sony]

Thanks stephle and skilletlicker.

I might just pick some up, though I feel like I often see gizzards and hearts packaged together. I'm hoping they would be easy to distinguish from each other, as I might want to prepare them differently (?)

[stephle]

Actually the hearts are almost as nice as the gizzards -- same texture without the whiteskin. For frying, they'd be indistinguishable - I eat them all the same, for confit/sautee, definitely different. That's why if you get them at the asian market you can get all gizzards and no hearts.

[Sony]

Actually the hearts are almost as nice as the gizzards -- same texture without the whiteskin.  For frying, they'd be indistinguishable - I eat them all the same, for confit/sautee, definitely different.  That's why if you get them at the asian market you can get all gizzards and no hearts.

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How would the heart differ from the gizzard in terms of taste and texture if I were choosing to braise/simmer instead of fry?

[WHT]

Does anyone make them any other way than fried?

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Ihave cooked them in the broiler and on the grill as well as pan fry.