Chicken Gizzards

Chicken Gizzards

In life the gizzard is a thick walled muscular sack full of rocks the chicken uses as a ball mill to grind up everything it eats. . They are "extra dark" meat with a more intense flavor than any other muscle in the chicken. Chicken processors cut the gizzards open, clean them and pack them in trays. Generally they are frozen. The photo shows typical gizzards, inside and outside views.

Gizzards are costly gourmet items in many countries but in the USA few people know what to do with them and others just "don't eat innards" so there's plenty at attractive prices for ethnic markets and adventurous eaters.

Buying: Find them in ethnic markets, particularly those serving Mexican or Central and South American communities. In Southern California they're generally packed in foam plastic trays weighing about 1-1/4 pounds. Rarely they are packed with hearts, not a problem because hearts are similar.

Yield: About as close to 100% as you can get.

Prep: Rinse gizzards, examine them and scrape off anything that's yellowish or stringy. Generally you'll cut them into bite size pieces cutting through the thin parts. Individual gizzards vary widely in size and shape.