Yes, (here in NYC many stores) you can buy chicken hearts, livers and chicken gizzards separate. Same taste as turkey giblets.

dcarch

i really think giblets make bitter broth. You can find turkey wings in most stores to make stock/broth.

I don't even know what the giblets and heart and liver look like in the little pouch. I know one of them we're not supposed to cook, so I throw out the whole package, and roast the neck along with the bird for flavour.

I know one of them we're not supposed to cook

Why not? I've always used all of them, so I'm interested to know.

But yeah, dedtired, you should be able to get something from the butcher at your store.

Thanks, morz8. Interesting. I can't remember anyone ever complaining about bitter gravy, though.

Oh great, I just ran down to the store and bought chicken livers. So that will be bitter? I took a second look at the wrapper from the turkey. Here it is on the front in large letters

And on the back in small letters, in the center.

Thanks Morz! You're right, I do recognize the liver now that you mentioned it. I tend to try to feed the innards to the cats, to entice them to eat more raw. So far it hasn't worked, even though they do get commercial raw food.

Turkey is 16.5 pounds. I specifically got a big one to get enough drippings but I always use broth instead of water for the gravy. My mom did that, so I do it! This is the first year she is letting me cook Thanksgiving. At my age I should be very experienced in turkey prep but she has always done it until now.

Thank you all for your help!

Nonsense!! Chicken livers are not bitter unless they have been improperly processed and have been contaminated with the gall from the gall bladder. Look for a greenish spot on the liver.
But...when I boil the heart, gizzard and neck for broth, I don't use the liver, because it gives a "liver" taste to the broth. I roast the liver with the turkey and we fight over it!
Buying wings or a leg to simmer is a good idea...or if you can't find turkey parts, a pot of chicken wings and a few vegetables and aromatics, simmered for a few hours will make a great gravy base.
Throw out the whole package because you heard you were not supposed to one component? Oh my!!

Dedtired, if you have the time next week, you might call the company and complain about their packaging. They'll probably send you some coupons at the least.

I've been told that chicken livers also get bitter when they're overcooked.

The thing you're not supposed to use is the kidney, because it tastes like kidney. :) With supermarket chickens you might not have to check the gizzards (they might be precleaned) but they can have little stones in them which should be removed.

The Kitchn has a good post about identifying giblets (I used it once when I had a bunch of frozen ones and was having trouble distinguishing the kidneys).

I also do not add the liver to the broth, as it does add a "liver" flavor. I've used homecanned chicken stock to make more gravy, when I'm a big light on pan drippings and the turkey flavor from the drippings was enough to make it taste like turkey instead of chicken.

So, if you can't find turkey parts like wings or legs, use some chicken stock for the broth and the pan drippings for the rest. It'll work fine.

Happy thanksgiving! As for those chicken livers, well, pate is nice as an appetizer and there's always that appetizer with the chicken livers and bacon.....

Annie

My markets sell all the parts that are in the bag...but i like a cleaner less livery gravy. I made my stock a couple weeks ago for the gravy and dressing, will use the pan drippings and our added stock. I did use some duck paws and some beef bones and like how it came out. The pups usually get the bag stuff. They would be very disappointed if it was left out.

I just read through a few top google hits about gravy. Surprised Alton used red wine and Ina used white wine and cognac. Martha makes a simple one. (probably a dozen). I don't use alcohol in Thanksgiving gravy. Ours is rich and not white and floury, and not at all thick. Just right, lol. We also started resting the bird on two big onions, cut in half like four feet. (We misplaced the insert rack for the big roasting pan). I had read to just use onion. That added lots of flavor to the pan drippings.

Some make their gravy as a do-ahead. Great idea as it is often a last minute stress. We just have that pint or two of 'done-ahead' stock thawed and ready to add to the pan drippings. Too thick?...i've got more stock.

DH makes the gravy. I would mess that up.

I can usually find turkey broth this time of year at the grocery for emergencies....the years we eat at my brothers I will plan for emergencies in the kitchen ;0) And travel with turkey broth since I'm expected to make the gravy. Pacific brand is one.

Does anyone else use a little of the cooking water from the mashed potatoes if they need to thin gravy a little? I save some when the potatoes are drained just in case.

I have never seen the kidneys packed with the giblets, if they are not tossed with the rest of the offal, they will still be inside the bird. I have found quite a

few chickens with the kidney still in place.....and I'll bet you have eaten a chicken kidney more than once in a fried chicken and never known it.

Never use the liver in broth because I don't want my gravy to taste like liver. I saute the liver for the dogs because they won't eat it raw. The Sheltie is a picky eater but the Lab is not and he won't eat raw liver either.

I already made my turkey stock with turkey wings (dirt cheap last week). I usually feed the gizzards and heart to the cats, but they won't eat the liver. I never did like any type of "organ" meat although we ate it growing up and I'm not a picky eater.

I don't think I've ever seen a kidney in the giblets package, either. Of course, I often buy Murray's chickens which have an odd tendency to come with only a heart and two necks, or three hearts and nothing else, etc.

We like the depth the liver gives to the turkey broth since it's going into gravy. Wouldn't care for it so much in stock for soups and such, I suppose.

You did look under the neck skin didn't you, not just in the cavity. The Butterball I buy, puts the neck in the main cavity and the giblets in neck. I always helped my grandmother and she always had the turkey going. The first Thanksgiving after she died, my Dad and I were cooking and could not find the giblets. They were under the skin in the neck cavity. We found them in the little paper bag when he was carving the turkey.

I love giblet gravy with all the giblets, but my family doesn't. I cook them just for me and they are my special treat for cooking.

ETA: Ok, went back and looked at your pictures, no giblets or neck. Bummer.

It's the neck that makes the broth good. If there's a farmer's market near you, brave the crowds and get some necks. Otherwise, buy some wings at a supermarket.

The giblets plus the neck are what we used growing up for gravy. You can find hearts and gizzards (sometimes with the livers) in many larger supermarkets. The livers we reserved in the freezer for future liver pate, but the hearts and giblets add a wonderful touch. (Although sometimes we also used the liver, too - not bitter at all!)

(Although I have to admit as a kid, I always wanted to nab the heart for me. Share it with the cats????? No way -- but they can have all the breast meat they want!!!)

Sometimes, especially during liver season, the chickens I buy don't have giblets. Sometimes the butcher will have some for those who ask, sometimes he just shrugs. Most of the time, however, they're there and freeze them for later use. They almost always have the kidneys in the bag, though sometimes there are the wrong number. ;) I do occasionally find them in the chicken, as well as pieces of liver. Mostly the inside of the cavity is pretty clean. I'm pretty sure they just pull out the organs and sort them into bags later to be placed in random chickens. :)

I can't remember about the turkeys. Different grower. Neck and heart, for sure. Can't imagine without the liver, but I don't think they include the kidneys.

What is "liver season"?
I am absolutely amazed, with all the hundreds and hundreds of turkeys and chickens I have cooked, I have never EVER seen the kidneys packaged with the giblets. Occasionally overlooked and still wedged in the cavity, but never removed and packaged.

Liver season is around Jewish holidays when people buy a lot of chicken livers, I think. :)

With all your experience, you've never heard of a single grower that does something differently? I didn't say that ALL chickens came with kidneys among the giblets. Far from it. Lots don't have any giblets at all, or a random variety like Writersblock's. I said the chickens I buy do, and my mother taught me not to put them in the stock and also to consider the number of livers before dumping them all in lest it be liver stock. :)

AAh....Chopped liver...I get it!!
I have sure seen birds with "assorted" stuff in the giblet bag, 3 livers and 2 hearts no gizzard, 2 gizzards and 3 hearts, no liver....etc. But I have never ever seen the kidneys packed in with the giblets.
I had a chicken, bought still warm, butchered an hour before and still soaking in ice water....that had the heart still tucked up in the breast...but the lungs were gone!
Have you ever cleaned a chicken? Just as a learning experience? If you had you would know that the liver and the gizzard are part of the digestive system and come out fairly easily. The kidneys are sort of tucked away and easy to mill or just scrape out with the digestive and reproductive stuff.
I remember when a roasting hen would have the partially formed eggs in the oviduct. And my grandmother would roast them with the chicken.....and they were like little roasted eggs.

chicken internal organs are removed by automated machines. The kidneys are not always removed by the machines.

dcarch

Unwrapped my turk a couple of hours ago and I just about didn't have any giblets...heart, about 1/4 of a gizzard and 1/4 of a liver. Fortunately, the neck was there. I don't really care about the giblets...just boil them with the neck for broth for gravy. And feed the cooked giblets to the dogs. Poor pooches are going to get shorted this Tday.

I've never done more than look on. My aunt used to always put the eyerlekh (unlaid eggs) in the chicken soup. Thanks for bringing up that memory!

So, I think I've figured it out. I like the organic free range chickens from the butcher case--or if I can get them the heritage ones. They have fully developed pelvises and don't have the pouter pigeon breasts, or at least not to an extreme, and I can usually find one that isn't too large. And they taste better. They come from a small grower. It's possible that they're cleaned with more human attention than Dcarch's machine. Maybe it's someone's job to pull the kidneys out. ;)

Considering your opinion of expensive turkeys, Linda, perhaps you've never seen it because you wouldn't pay for it!

Give them a little turkey to make up for the lack of giblets....poor puppies!

Late to this, but wondering: no neck? I use the neck, wingtips & other giblets (no liver, that's the cook's treat) for my gravy stock.

& yes, I find the taste of turkey liver too strong for stock when boiled. I bake it for short time alongside the turkey, then snack on it.

Just following up to say that Mom reports that she does not use the giblets for the gravy broth, just the neck and the tail (?). She also suggested using the wings but we didn't. The turkey is in the oven now. She wondered where I got the idea of using the giblets. I think I saw her cooking them in the past but most likely they went to the dog. Ha ha, I did not need to panic. My mom is 99, by the way. I took the prepped turkey to her house to roast since she does not like going out and is more comfortable there. I asked her all sorts of questions about making T-day dinner and recorded it all for posterity. We still have to bake the unstuffed stuffing (some went in the bird), the sweet potatoes and gravy. y son has vegetable and cranberry sauce duty. Hope you all are having a nice day and much success with your cooking!

And thank you all for your help and suggestions. It's nice to see some familiar names since I don't hang out here as much as I did when their was a conversations side. I will add all of you to my list of things to be grateful for today.

Linda, I think their tongues are about to fall off from all the pre-wash duties cleaning up pots & pans & bowls & plates & tupperware. They're still hanging in the kitchen watching 'Dad' deconstruct the turkey carcass as I speak.

Doggie wishes.....hopeful thinking!