Beef Liver/ Chicken Liver?

Mittir

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Feb 20, 2013
Messages
2,033
narouz said:
See...i love chicken livers and beef liver not so much.

Maybe I'm wrong
but I tend to think of the liver as an oily organ.
I guess because it stores the oily vitamins, notably.

And so, if it is a fatty gland, and it's in a regular industrialized chicken, fed on soy and corn...
I think of chicken livers as full of PUFA.
It isn't ruminant, of course.
Maybe ordering online some perfect grassfed chicken livers?

I really hope you will talk me out of beef livers and into chicken livers. :D

I think freshness is more important than if it's ruminant or non-ruminant liver.
Taste is the king here. Nutritiondata shows very little PUFA in chicken liver and
i would not worry if there is no visible fat deposits inside the liver.
I have read studies that found frozen animal meats had higher oxidation of fat and
cholesterol if those were fed PUFA instead of saturated fat.

I think there is uncertainty how those organic frozen livers were stored and for how long.
Are those sold in vacuum pack?
Kummerow puts a lot of emphasis on oxidized cholesterol.
Cholesterol in ground meats get oxidized even when it is stored
at freezing temperature. Exposure of air increases oxidation.
I used to make liver pate and ate it for 3-4 days. Traditionally
people makes an oil seal on top of liver pate to prevent oxidation.
The only reason i chose beef liver is that RP measured the amount
of total vitamin K in beef liver. There is at least 200 mcg per 100 grams.
They showed about 15 mcg in 100 mg of chicken liver. It is also possible
they made a mistake in measuring total K like they did with beef liver.
Goose liver pate has more than 300 mcg per 100 grams.
 

tara

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Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
YuraCZ said:
Taste is also dry like a skinless chicken or turkey breast.
My experience is that liver tastes dry if it's overcooked (and tastes bad if it's too old). Fresh (or fresh frozen and thawed before frying), lightly cooked, it's sweet and juicy. :)
 

YuraCZ

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674
tara said:
YuraCZ said:
Taste is also dry like a skinless chicken or turkey breast.
My experience is that liver tastes dry if it's overcooked (and tastes bad if it's too old). Fresh (or fresh frozen and thawed before frying), lightly cooked, it's sweet and juicy. :)
I cook without adding fat so it's always dry. But I agree. If it's overcooked it becomes super dry..
 

tara

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Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
YuraCZ said:
tara said:
YuraCZ said:
Taste is also dry like a skinless chicken or turkey breast.
My experience is that liver tastes dry if it's overcooked (and tastes bad if it's too old). Fresh (or fresh frozen and thawed before frying), lightly cooked, it's sweet and juicy. :)
I cook without adding fat so it's always dry. But I agree. If it's overcooked it become super dry..
Yeah, I guess that makes a difference. I use just a little coconut oil to reduce sticking/burning to the pan. But it's the inside that is sweet and juicy. :)
 

YuraCZ

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Joined
Apr 24, 2015
Messages
674
tara said:
YuraCZ said:
tara said:
YuraCZ said:
Taste is also dry like a skinless chicken or turkey breast.
My experience is that liver tastes dry if it's overcooked (and tastes bad if it's too old). Fresh (or fresh frozen and thawed before frying), lightly cooked, it's sweet and juicy. :)
I cook without adding fat so it's always dry. But I agree. If it's overcooked it become super dry..
Yeah, I guess that makes a difference. I use just a little coconut oil to reduce sticking/burning to the pan. But it's the inside that is sweet and juicy. :)
I use water for this purpose and then when it's cooked I add collagen with coconut oil and salt..
 

tara

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Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
YuraCZ said:
tara said:
YuraCZ said:
tara said:
YuraCZ said:
Taste is also dry like a skinless chicken or turkey breast.
My experience is that liver tastes dry if it's overcooked (and tastes bad if it's too old). Fresh (or fresh frozen and thawed before frying), lightly cooked, it's sweet and juicy. :)
I cook without adding fat so it's always dry. But I agree. If it's overcooked it become super dry..
Yeah, I guess that makes a difference. I use just a little coconut oil to reduce sticking/burning to the pan. But it's the inside that is sweet and juicy. :)
I use water for this purpose and then when it's cooked I add collagen with coconut oil and salt..
I'm not sure, not having tried your method, but I suspect frying in oil seals more of the juiciness in than cooking in water would?
 

YuraCZ

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Apr 24, 2015
Messages
674
tara said:
I'm not sure, not having tried your method, but I suspect frying in oil seals more of the juiciness in than cooking in water would?
Maybe but I don't care about the taste so much. I want to avoid too much frying. I think it's not good for health at all. I fry the eggs every day. It's enough.
 

tara

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Mar 29, 2014
Messages
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YuraCZ said:
tara said:
I'm not sure, not having tried your method, but I suspect frying in oil seals more of the juiciness in than cooking in water would?
Maybe but I don't care about the taste so much. I want to avoid too much frying. I think it's not good for health at all. I fry the eggs every day. It's enough.
I expect that you are right about fried food having some down sides, so if you like it your way, that's great. My guess is the liver is a nutritional net benefit either way. For people who don't like liver enough to be able to eat it at all, finding a way that tastes good might make a difference.
 

narouz

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Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
4,429
Mittir said:
narouz said:
See...i love chicken livers and beef liver not so much.

Maybe I'm wrong
but I tend to think of the liver as an oily organ.
I guess because it stores the oily vitamins, notably.

And so, if it is a fatty gland, and it's in a regular industrialized chicken, fed on soy and corn...
I think of chicken livers as full of PUFA.
It isn't ruminant, of course.
Maybe ordering online some perfect grassfed chicken livers?

I really hope you will talk me out of beef livers and into chicken livers. :D

I think freshness is more important than if it's ruminant or non-ruminant liver.
Taste is the king here. Nutritiondata shows very little PUFA in chicken liver and
i would not worry if there is no visible fat deposits inside the liver.
I have read studies that found frozen animal meats had higher oxidation of fat and
cholesterol if those were fed PUFA instead of saturated fat.

I think there is uncertainty how those organic frozen livers were stored and for how long.
Are those sold in vacuum pack?
Kummerow puts a lot of emphasis on oxidized cholesterol.
Cholesterol in ground meats get oxidized even when it is stored
at freezing temperature. Exposure of air increases oxidation.
I used to make liver pate and ate it for 3-4 days. Traditionally
people makes an oil seal on top of liver pate to prevent oxidation.
The only reason i chose beef liver is that RP measured the amount
of total vitamin K in beef liver. There is at least 200 mcg per 100 grams.
They showed about 15 mcg in 100 mg of chicken liver. It is also possible
they made a mistake in measuring total K like they did with beef liver.
Goose liver pate has more than 300 mcg per 100 grams.

You know, Mittir,
if I could find a halfway decent source for chicken livers I would eat them.
But at the "healthfood stores,"
they have healthy chicken,
but not chicken livers.

Thing is, with beef liver,
while I can regularly find high quality grassfed beef liver,
I tend to buy it,
bring it home,
let it set in the frig...procrastinate...don't eat it.
I'm obviously avoiding it because I don't much like it.
Probably better if I actually Eat a lesser quality liver!

I see you've looked into Kummerow.
I heard Peat and the Herb Doctors talking about him, briefly.
Funny how about the only starch in his diet
seemed to be the "small piece of baked potato."
I guess he avoids starch, pretty much.
 

tara

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
narouz said:
Thing is, with beef liver,
while I can regularly find high quality grassfed beef liver,
I tend to buy it,
bring it home,
let it set in the frig...procrastinate...don't eat it.
I like liver, so not quite the same situation, but I wonder if this method, separating the prep and storage from the eating, would help not have your reluctance to eat lots of liver cause such waste?

I try not to leave the fresh liver in the fridge till the next day, but get it out, chop it into bite sized pieces with scissors, freeze the bits in ice cube trays, then when frozen tip them all into a container in the freezer. Doesn't require eating any until you are ready, but keeps it fresh when for when you are.

I don't enjoy a large serving, so I just get out a few bites at a time, usually the day before, leave them to thaw in a bit of milk or water (improves the taste a little). Then fry them up for breakfast. Or you can thaw them quickly in a microwave if you want to be more spontaneous. And then if you don't get round to eating those few pieces, you haven't wasted the whole lot (and your cat will be happy - you have a cat, right?).
 

narouz

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Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
4,429
tara said:
narouz said:
Thing is, with beef liver,
while I can regularly find high quality grassfed beef liver,
I tend to buy it,
bring it home,
let it set in the frig...procrastinate...don't eat it.
I like liver, so not quite the same situation, but I wonder if this method, separating the prep and storage from the eating, would help not have your reluctance to eat lots of liver cause such waste?

I try not to leave the fresh liver in the fridge till the next day, but get it out, chop it into bite sized pieces with scissors, freeze the bits in ice cube trays, then when frozen tip them all into a container in the freezer. Doesn't require eating any until you are ready, but keeps it fresh when for when you are.

I don't enjoy a large serving, so I just get out a few bites at a time, usually the day before, leave them to thaw in a bit of milk or water (improves the taste a little). Then fry them up for breakfast. Or you can thaw them quickly in a microwave if you want to be more spontaneous. And then if you don't get round to eating those few pieces, you haven't wasted the whole lot (and your cat will be happy - you have a cat, right?).

That sounds like a wonderful approach, tara. :D

I was, actually, being quite successful with eating beef liver
when I was making it into pate with a food processor.
But...I confess...I really needed some crackers.
 

tara

Member
Joined
Mar 29, 2014
Messages
10,368
narouz said:
I was, actually, being quite successful with eating beef liver
when I was making it into pate with a food processor.
But...I confess...I really needed some crackers.

Yeah, I had a go at making pate a couple of times, and I liked it best on rice wafers with lots of butter. :)
 
OP
R

rachelmc

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Apr 2, 2015
Messages
2
Thank you everyone! I will try chicken liver first as I can get it easier than beef liver :)
 

narouz

Member
Joined
Jul 22, 2012
Messages
4,429
Mittir said:
narouz said:
See...i love chicken livers and beef liver not so much.

Maybe I'm wrong
but I tend to think of the liver as an oily organ.
I guess because it stores the oily vitamins, notably.

And so, if it is a fatty gland, and it's in a regular industrialized chicken, fed on soy and corn...
I think of chicken livers as full of PUFA.
It isn't ruminant, of course.
Maybe ordering online some perfect grassfed chicken livers?

I really hope you will talk me out of beef livers and into chicken livers. :D

I think freshness is more important than if it's ruminant or non-ruminant liver.
Taste is the king here. Nutritiondata shows very little PUFA in chicken liver and
i would not worry if there is no visible fat deposits inside the liver.
I have read studies that found frozen animal meats had higher oxidation of fat and
cholesterol if those were fed PUFA instead of saturated fat.

I think there is uncertainty how those organic frozen livers were stored and for how long.
Are those sold in vacuum pack?
Kummerow puts a lot of emphasis on oxidized cholesterol.
Cholesterol in ground meats get oxidized even when it is stored
at freezing temperature. Exposure of air increases oxidation.
I used to make liver pate and ate it for 3-4 days. Traditionally
people makes an oil seal on top of liver pate to prevent oxidation.
The only reason i chose beef liver is that RP measured the amount
of total vitamin K in beef liver. There is at least 200 mcg per 100 grams.
They showed about 15 mcg in 100 mg of chicken liver. It is also possible
they made a mistake in measuring total K like they did with beef liver.
Goose liver pate has more than 300 mcg per 100 grams.[/quoteMittir"]-

I've been eating a tub of organic chicken livers per 2 weeks.
I'm loving it.
For some reason, I love chicken livers,
but I...I can get beef liver down...I don't like barf or anything...
but it is not wonderful.
Chicken liver is wonderful.
I hope it doesn't kill me with PUFA. :)
 

tomisonbottom

Member
Joined
Apr 17, 2013
Messages
920
I've been eating a tub of organic chicken livers per 2 weeks.
I'm loving it.
For some reason, I love chicken livers,
but I...I can get beef liver down...I don't like barf or anything...
but it is not wonderful.
Chicken liver is wonderful.
I hope it doesn't kill me with PUFA. :)

How do you prepare chicken liver?
 

burtlancast

Member
Joined
Jan 1, 2013
Messages
3,263
If one freezes liver, the Vit K is destroyed.
 

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