If you can forgive the terrible pun in the title, and give this article a few minutes of your time, you may discover something to add to your list of current recipes.
Or at least a new ingredient that is. As the culinary world gets smaller, and home cooks try to adapt foreign cuisines to their kitchens, new recipes and ingredients get discovered.
People today are far more interested in trying different foods and tastes than perhaps they were twenty years ago. As a race, humans are more adventurous gastronomically speaking than in the past. And yet many ingredients that were once used in the past seem to have been dropped.
Chicken gizzards are one such ingredient, and they could be more enjoyable than they sound. Just recently, a healthy cooking competition was launched in Cardiff. If you had any interest in testing your culinary skills against other cooks, you might want to do something unique.
How about trying something with chicken gizzards and your Instant Pot?
What on Earth is an Instant Pot?
If you don’t know what an Instant Pot is, nor chicken gizzards, you could be in for a treat. Or you may wonder if this article is just pulling your leg. Fear not, for the Instant Pot is real.
The Instant Pot is basically a modern version of the pressure cooker, albeit one with multiple extra features. It has turned into something of a cult classic, although millions of sales mean it’s really a mainstream appliance now.
In 2018, the Instant Pot sold out and broke Amazon Prime sales records in 19 hours, reported CNBC news. Despite being around for over ten years, sales of the Instant Pot still attract numerous articles.
Each year there are many posts on the net about where to find the best Instant Pot deals on Black Friday and what Amazon Prime is offering. Such is the continuing popularity of the appliance.
The pot itself is a smallish appliance that can handle a number of cooking methods such as slow, pressure, saute, sous-vide, and boiling. It works by producing steam at high pressure and cooking food quickly without the need for oil.
While you are There, What are Chicken Gizzards?
So now you understand that the Instant Pot is real, time to let you into the big secret of chicken gizzards.
Maybe you have heard of giblets, or you’ve seen them. This is the name given to all the edible offal of a chicken or a turkey for that matter. The giblets are often found in a plastic bag inside a chicken’s cavity. This includes the heart, liver, neck, and the gizzard.
The gizzard itself is a part of the digestive system of the chicken. This muscle is used to grind up the food that chickens swallow so it can be processed and digested properly.
For this organ to work properly, it needs a little help. You may have noticed chickens pecking around small pieces of gravel. They do this on purpose to swallow gravel. This ends up in the gizzard and helps with digestion.
Now, if you are still reading this article after all that, you will be glad to hear that gizzards taste great, and they are actually very good for you.
Are Pressure Cookers Good for Cooking Gizzards?
An Instant Pot or another pressure cooker is really good for cooking gizzards. This is because gizzards need to be treated properly to prevent them from becoming tough. In much the same way that brisket is a tasty but tough cut of meat that needs to be slow-cooked, gizzards are similar.
Boiling gizzards will result in something unappetising and tough. However, cooking gizzards properly can result in a culinary treat, and pressure cookers work well.
For instance, Instant Pot air fryer chicken gizzards can be cooked in just six minutes. This means cutting down the usual oven baking from 30 minutes to a fraction of that time. It also means you can have an alternative to your usual fried chicken pieces, and be healthier.
What can you do With Chicken Gizzards?
Although gizzards sound unappetising to some, consuming them is a good way to make sure less of the chicken is wasted. They also form part of different cuisines around the world.
You can find them in Southeast Asia, Haiti, Portugal, Africa, Korea, and Japan. They are used in soups, stews, grilled for street food, and even as taco fillings in Mexico.
They can be used in curry recipes or turned into savoury pates. Gizzards are very versatile, and also very tasty. Not to mention, surprisingly good for you.
Why Would you Want to Eat Chicken Gizzards?
More people than ever are concerned with eating and living healthier today. Cooking appliances such as the Instant Pot and air fryer can help anyone to reduce the amount of fat and calories in their diet.
The Instant Pot in particular lends itself towards a healthier diet by virtue of not needing oil to cook. The method of using steam to cook means more nutrients are kept locked inside the appliance with the food, instead of evaporating.
However, this only really helps if healthy ingredients are used. Fatty meat is obviously not as healthy as lean cuts. This is where gizzards come in.
What are the Health Benefits of Eating Chicken Gizzards?
Obviously, you don’t want to eat gravel, so be assured that gizzards are perfectly clean and edible. Chicken gizzards also contain a lot of nutrients and other minerals.
According to LiveStrong, gizzards only contain around 2.1 grams of fat per 100 grams. They also have a whopping 18 percent protein but only 96 calories per 100 grams.
Chicken gizzards also have zinc, vitamin B12, niacin, potassium, iron, and selenium, plus other minerals. They also make a very tasty gravy when used with the other organs that make up the giblets.
Other Benefits of Using Gizzards and Instant Pots
The strange thing is that Instant Pots are just modern versions of pressure cookers. Pressure cooking went out of style mostly last century but has now made a comeback.
Gizzards too are an ingredient that is not much used by the younger generation in the UK. However, many people now are far more aware of waste, especially when it comes to meat products.
Pressure cookers are better for the environment than other cooking methods because they use less energy. Using all the parts of an animal if you eat meat, reduces the amount of waste generated, and could be considered more ethical.
Summary
It has been shown that healthy eating makes you happier and improves your quality of life. If this is the case, then any ingredient that is packed with protein, low in fat, and has lots of minerals should be a must-buy.
Gizzards are not only healthy and easily available, but they are also cheap. Gizzards cost very little to buy and are available from butchers all over Wales and the UK.
If you have an Instant Pot or a similar cooker, then you could try cooking up something different. Chinese stir-fried gizzards or yakitori could be done in the pot, or perhaps a broth or Portuguese gizzard stew on a cold winter’s night.
