Don't toss those giblets
Home cooks can use them to add flavour to gravy, soups and many other recipes
This holiday season, many cooks will be tackling a whole bird. And if you're roasting a turkey or chicken for the first time or if it's something you do only a few times a year, you may be confused about what to do with the giblets, or organs, often found inside the bird. If your first instinct is to throw them in the trash — don't. That's a lot of flavour wasted.
WHAT ARE GIBLETS AND WHAT DO THEY TASTE LIKE?
Technically, giblets are defined as the gizzard (the mechanical stomach of a bird), heart and liver of poultry. But the neck is often included alongside them, so it gets lumped into the term colloquially.
Unless you buy your bird directly from a farm or independent butcher, the giblets aren't necessarily from that animal. You might be missing a component or even get something extra. Your chicken or turkey may not contain any giblets at all.
The neck, gizzard and heart mostly taste like poultry dark meat. The gizzard in particular has a chewy texture, so it's best cooked low and slow to tenderize it. The liver has a characteristically mineral-y flavour that some find polarizing.
HOW TO USE CHICKEN AND TURKEY GIBLETS
Typically giblets are in the cavity of the fowl, although occasionally they're tucked under the flap of skin at the front of the bird near the breasts. Most people will remove them but if you accidentally cook the giblets in the bird, don't worry, they often are packaged in an oven-safe paper bag. n Make stock. My go-to method for dealing with giblets is to first cook the gizzard, heart and neck by making my own giblet broth or stock. Another option is to simmer them with store-bought broth to infuse it with more poultry flavour. (Don't include the liver which becomes bitter when boiled.) If you don't want to bother with the giblets the day you're cooking a whole bird, save them to combine with the leftover carcass to make stock another day. n Add them to dressing, stuffing and gravy. Once cooked, pull the meat from the neck and chop up the remaining giblets (simply sauté the liver), to add to your favourite dressing, stuffing or gravy recipe, adding even more delicious chicken or turkey flavour to these dishes. The one thing to keep in mind with the gizzard is that it has a tough silver skin connecting the two muscles that you'll want to remove at some point before consuming. Other than that, enjoy them however you please.
And, finally, if you're too busy during the holidays to use the giblets, or if you're unsure how you'd like to cook them, simply place them in an airtight container and freeze them for up to three months. You'll have a quick and easy way to add big poultry flavour to stocks, gravies and recipes of all sorts in the new year.