[FiB]

Grrr, struggling to attach image (how do I make a file size smaller on an iPad).




Anyway kidney was very hard and about 7cm across..  any ideas what can cause this and whether meat might be unsafe to eaT? Many thanks

[fsmnutter]

Sounds like the gizzard?

[Womble]

^ Agree. Slice it open. If it's full of sand / grit / grass, that's the gizzard.

[Steph Hen]

How many were there?
I remember my first gizzard, mum cooked the first cock we'd reared in a stew. Heart, liver, meat, kidneys. my brother cut open this new weird and surely wonderful organ, to find it full of stones! Was very off putting!

[Clansman]

Does indeed sound like the gizzard, I wouldn't think your young cockerels kidneys would be much of a size at all.

Cut the gizzard through the centre and remove the hard inner lining (and contents if it has any) before cooking them.

[Devon Boy]

I'm never gong to look at a red onion the same again 

[FiB]

Yes gizzard thanks! How come I've never noticed one of these before? ! Now going to have to find out what a gizzard does! So normal then? Many thanks

[Clansman]

The gizzard is just a strong muscle where they grind down their feed, this is where they store the grit/stones to aid  the grinding job.

When you go in the back entrance its the first thing you'll find 

[HesterF]

Certainly not sure how you've missed it before - they are the biggest organ aren't they? I was lucky to have a vet show me how to dress a chicken the first time so she gave me a run through of all the organs - and which you could eat. Personally I don't normally bother with the gizzard because of the hassle of extracting the middle but apparently it's the best bit!

[FiB]

Thanks all, I think in previous plucks it has all been out in a big blob and been a bit disguised by intestines.  I have even given son a guided tour of the innards and missed it on previous ovpccasions!..... And then went on to just whipping breasts and legs off, so this is first dressed bird for a while.

[Izzy]

When you go in the back entrance its the first thing you'll find
 
?Is this correct?
 
The gizzard is at the start of the alimentary canal where grains etc are ground down by stones/muscley gizzard wall. When u go in the back entrance you find the oviduct and caecum.

[Clansman]

You are of course correct 

But as we were talking organs, I meant it was the first organ you would find, as opposed to the kidneys etc.

With the bird on its back i usually put my hand in first up along the inside of the breastbone and pull out the gizzard and all its attachments.

[Izzy]

Sorry to be a pedant.

[Clansman]

Not at all, its well worth pointing it out in case anyone who hasn't done it before is reading this and gets misled