Which liver is best to buy? Of course, fresh will be healthier, but this offal spoils very quickly. There is always a risk of buying something stale. As for frozen liver, it can be stored for up to three months. But during freezing, some of the vitamins (group B) are destroyed, and animal fats in the liver are oxidized and it begins to taste bitter. Therefore, you will not get a tender and tasty dish from frozen liver.

In addition, very often under the thickness of the ice it is impossible to discern what color the liver is. But this is the main indicator of quality. But if you still decide to buy frozen, you need to remember:

• The cut of a high-quality frozen liver is smooth, with a thin layer of ice, which should melt within 15 seconds when pressed with a finger.
• A sign of re-freezing is pink ice crystals on the liver. Don't buy this one.
• Pieces of ice in the packaging indicate that the manufacturer pumped the product with water before freezing to increase its weight. Refuse to purchase.

Let's start with chicken

First of all, evaluate its color. High-quality chicken liver should be brown with a burgundy tint. Do not buy chicken livers that are light, yellowish, or very dark. This is the liver of a sick bird. It may be infected with salmonella or campylobacter - infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animal to person and cause weakness, headaches, fever up to 38 degrees, and diarrhea.

Never buy chicken livers that have greenish spots on the surface. They remain if the bird’s gall bladder was damaged during its removal. Such liver will be bitter. The danger of chicken liver is that it may contain substances such as tetrocycline and chloramphenicol. In humans, these antibiotics cause allergies in the form of skin rashes. Unfortunately, only a laboratory can check for the presence of antibiotics.

Fresh chicken liver has a pleasant, slightly sweet smell. If it is sour, the liver is expired.

About beef

Nutritionists consider it the healthiest and safest. After all, it is believed that antibiotics are used much less frequently to treat cows than to treat pigs and chickens.

The weight of a healthy beef liver reaches five kg.

High-quality beef liver has the color of ripe cherry. The older the cow, the darker the color and the more likely it is that the liver is diseased. The brick shade also indicates this. Do not forget that the liver, like a sponge, absorbs all toxins and infections. In addition, the liver of an old animal will be rubbery after cooking.

Do not take weathered liver with a gray coating. It's not fresh.

The peculiarity of beef liver is its white film. If the product is fresh it will separate easily. When cut into a beef liver, openings are visible - the bile ducts. On a healthy product, their edges are no different from the structure of the liver itself. When an animal is sick, the bile ducts are compacted and look like gray rings that crunch when cut.

Pork

The large one weighs about two kilograms. If the liver is suspiciously small, do not take it. Apparently, it came from a sick animal.

The liver should be shiny and moist, not dull and sticky. This applies to all types.

In color, just like chicken, fresh pork liver has a burgundy color. If it's too light, it's not fresh.

What should you do before you buy?

When buying fresh pork liver in bulk, ask the seller for a knife, pierce the liver and look at the color of the blood that flows out. If it is scarlet, you can take it - the product is fresh! If it's dark brown or dark red, don't buy it.

And the smell?.. Fresh liver has a sweetish smell. If the smell is sour, the liver is expired.

How to cook properly?

Even the highest quality liver, if cooked incorrectly, becomes hard, rubbery, and tastes bitter! But there are four ways to avoid this.

To make beef liver melt in your mouth, brush it with mustard and leave for 30-40 minutes.

To make it soft, any liver can be soaked for an hour in a soda solution (0.5 liters of water per 2 tablespoons of soda).

To prevent the liver from becoming rubbery, salt it at the end of cooking.

Nutritionists are categorical: if you want to get benefits from the liver, boil, stew or bake it. Fried liver will not bring any benefit, but on the contrary, the oil in which it is fried forms carcinogens when heated.

What to cook?

Classic pate from Jamie Oliver

Jamie, a world-famous chef for his 15- and 30-minute lunches, has four children. Therefore, he tries to adapt all homemade recipes to children’s tastes and needs.

Prepare a delicate and healthy pate that everyone will love! And if you add mushrooms, you get an even richer taste.

Rinse the liver well under running water. Place on a paper towel and let dry. Place a baking dish with a cup of butter (200 g) in an oven or microwave preheated to 100 degrees. After 10-15 minutes, when the oil has separated, remove the container. You only need the clear creamy part. Pour it into a bowl. Place the liver, chopped onion and garlic into the pan, sprinkle with thyme, cover with a lid or foil and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Then blend with a blender until smooth, add butter, salt and pepper. Place the pate in a container, pour in the clear oil that was simmering in the oven, and place in the refrigerator. Deliver in 2-3 hours!

Which liver is best to buy? Of course, fresh will be healthier, but this offal spoils very quickly. There is always a risk of buying something stale. As for frozen liver, it can be stored for up to three months. But during freezing, some of the vitamins (group B) are destroyed, and animal fats in the liver are oxidized and it begins to taste bitter. Therefore, you will not get a tender and tasty dish from frozen liver.

In addition, very often under the thickness of the ice it is impossible to discern what color the liver is. But this is the main indicator of quality. But if you still decide to buy frozen, you need to remember:

• The cut of a high-quality frozen liver is smooth, with a thin layer of ice, which should melt within 15 seconds when pressed with a finger.
• A sign of re-freezing is pink ice crystals on the liver. Don't buy this one.
• Pieces of ice in the packaging indicate that the manufacturer pumped the product with water before freezing to increase its weight. Refuse to purchase.

Let's start with chicken

First of all, evaluate its color. High-quality chicken liver should be brown with a burgundy tint. Do not buy chicken livers that are light, yellowish, or very dark. This is the liver of a sick bird. It may be infected with salmonella or campylobacter - infectious diseases that can be transmitted from animal to person and cause weakness, headaches, fever up to 38 degrees, and diarrhea.

Never buy chicken livers that have greenish spots on the surface. They remain if the bird’s gall bladder was damaged during its removal. Such liver will be bitter. The danger of chicken liver is that it may contain substances such as tetrocycline and chloramphenicol. In humans, these antibiotics cause allergies in the form of skin rashes. Unfortunately, only a laboratory can check for the presence of antibiotics.

Fresh chicken liver has a pleasant, slightly sweet smell. If it is sour, the liver is expired.

About beef

Nutritionists consider it the healthiest and safest. After all, it is believed that antibiotics are used much less frequently to treat cows than to treat pigs and chickens.

The weight of a healthy beef liver reaches five kg.

High-quality beef liver has the color of ripe cherry. The older the cow, the darker the color and the more likely it is that the liver is diseased. The brick shade also indicates this. Do not forget that the liver, like a sponge, absorbs all toxins and infections. In addition, the liver of an old animal will be rubbery after cooking.

Do not take weathered liver with a gray coating. It's not fresh.

The peculiarity of beef liver is its white film. If the product is fresh it will separate easily. When cut into a beef liver, openings are visible - the bile ducts. On a healthy product, their edges are no different from the structure of the liver itself. When an animal is sick, the bile ducts are compacted and look like gray rings that crunch when cut.

Pork

The large one weighs about two kilograms. If the liver is suspiciously small, do not take it. Apparently, it came from a sick animal.

The liver should be shiny and moist, not dull and sticky. This applies to all types.

In color, just like chicken, fresh pork liver has a burgundy color. If it's too light, it's not fresh.

What should you do before you buy?

When buying fresh pork liver in bulk, ask the seller for a knife, pierce the liver and look at the color of the blood that flows out. If it is scarlet, you can take it - the product is fresh! If it's dark brown or dark red, don't buy it.

And the smell?.. Fresh liver has a sweetish smell. If the smell is sour, the liver is expired.

How to cook properly?

Even the highest quality liver, if cooked incorrectly, becomes hard, rubbery, and tastes bitter! But there are four ways to avoid this.

To make beef liver melt in your mouth, brush it with mustard and leave for 30-40 minutes.

To make it soft, any liver can be soaked for an hour in a soda solution (0.5 liters of water per 2 tablespoons of soda).

To prevent the liver from becoming rubbery, salt it at the end of cooking.

Nutritionists are categorical: if you want to get benefits from the liver, boil, stew or bake it. Fried liver will not bring any benefit, but on the contrary, the oil in which it is fried forms carcinogens when heated.

What to cook?

Classic pate from Jamie Oliver

Jamie, a world-famous chef for his 15- and 30-minute lunches, has four children. Therefore, he tries to adapt all homemade recipes to children’s tastes and needs.

Prepare a delicate and healthy pate that everyone will love! And if you add mushrooms, you get an even richer taste.

Rinse the liver well under running water. Place on a paper towel and let dry. Place a baking dish with a cup of butter (200 g) in an oven or microwave preheated to 100 degrees. After 10-15 minutes, when the oil has separated, remove the container. You only need the clear creamy part. Pour it into a bowl. Place the liver, chopped onion and garlic into the pan, sprinkle with thyme, cover with a lid or foil and place in the oven for 10-15 minutes. Then blend with a blender until smooth, add butter, salt and pepper. Place the pate in a container, pour in the clear oil that was simmering in the oven, and place in the refrigerator. Deliver in 2-3 hours!

Beef liver is an offal that is distinguished by a red-brown color (see photo). Many people do not like this product because of its bitter taste, but there are secrets that will help you cope with this. Today, there is a lot of controversy about the benefits of beef liver. The reason is that the liver is essentially a filter for toxins and other harmful substances. Therefore, it is important to buy the product from trusted places where there is confirmation that the animals were raised in environmentally friendly conditions.

Beef liver has been a popular product for a long period of time. They loved her back in Ancient Egypt. It is best to buy the liver of young animals; this will be indicated by a light shade, and the weight of the product will not exceed 2 kg. A mature product can reach up to 5 kg. Before hitting store shelves, unnecessary parts, for example, gall, are removed from the oven.

How to select and store?

To make beef liver tasty and healthy, you need to choose a high-quality option. To do this, follow these recommendations:

Store beef liver in the refrigerator for a couple of days. If you are not going to use the product during this period, then put it in the freezer. In this case, the time increases to 3 months.

Benefits of beef liver

The benefits of the liver are due to the presence of easily digestible vitamins, minerals and other substances necessary for normal life. This product contains iron, which increases blood hemoglobin, which is especially important for people who suffer from anemia. At the same time, thanks to ascorbic acid and copper, iron is quickly and fully absorbed in the body. Beef liver contains vitamin A, which is important for strengthening vision and improving the functioning of the nervous system and kidneys. This substance is also involved in the production of collagen, which is important for the beauty of the skin.

Given the presence of thiamine, liver is recommended for use by people who smoke. This is due to the fact that this substance acts as an antioxidant and protects the body from tobacco. Liver contains chromium and heparin in large quantities, which are involved in blood clotting, so dishes prepared on its basis are recommended for use in the presence of heart and vascular diseases. It is recommended to consume beef liver for osteoporosis. Thanks to the combined action of vitamin C, D and calcium, the condition of bone and connective tissue improves.

People who are regularly exposed to heavy physical activity should include beef liver dishes in their diet. This is due to the content of keratin, which improves metabolism and helps to recover faster.

Use in cooking

Beef liver is widely used in cooking. It can be subjected to various heat treatments, for example, boiled, stewed, fried, etc. Hot dishes are prepared from it and served with various side dishes. They make pates from it and also use it as a filling for baked goods. Most often, beef liver is stewed in sour cream; a similar dish is served with porridge and pasta.

How to cook delicious beef liver?

To make the beef liver dish tasty, you should follow some recommendations:

Damage to beef liver and contraindications

Beef liver can be harmful if you have an individual intolerance to the product. It should be used with caution by elderly people, as it contains extraactive substances that are harmful to the body. It is also worth considering that you should not eat liver dishes if your cholesterol level is high, as this can cause problems with the heart and blood vessels. The product will cause harm if the animal was fed harmful substances.

Perhaps the most delicious of all meat by-products is liver. How to distinguish, despite the external similarity, beef liver from pork?

Beef and pork liver

The easiest way to distinguish is veal liver. First of all, in size, since the weight of a single piece of veal liver rarely exceeds 2 kg.

It is loose in appearance, colored light brown with light reddish tints, has a delicate taste and sweet aroma.

The weight of beef liver is more impressive - about 5 kg. It is characterized by a darker red-brown color than calf liver.

Its internal structure is coarser and tougher, and has a pronounced taste with a slight bitterness. The outside is covered with a thin protective film, which is recommended to be removed before cooking.

Pork liver is very similar in color to beef liver, but is smaller in size. The weight of a single piece is approximately 3 kg.

You can visually distinguish pork liver from beef liver by a thin, almost imperceptible outer film, a characteristic diamond-shaped pattern on the surface and large pores clearly visible on the cut. The taste of pork liver is sharp and bitter.

Liver selection

When buying liver in a supermarket or market, pay attention to its color.

Avoid buying offal with brown or yellowish tints. This is evidence that the animal was sick.

The color of the “correct” liver is dark red or red-brown. Another sign of the quality and freshness of the liver is its characteristic sweetish (sometimes slightly bitter) smell.

The liver should be elastic, with a smooth and clean surface, and the film surrounding it should be intact, without tears or damage.

You can identify stale goods by pressing on the liver with your finger. If clots mixed with dark liquid are released from the offal, it is better not to buy such a liver.

Usually offal is sold chilled. Their implementation period is no more than 2 days. If the liver is frozen, it is suitable for cooking for 3 months.

Check the deep-frozen offal by feeling the liver through the packaging. Violation of its integrity and separation into pieces will indicate that during transportation the liver was defrosted more than once, after which it was frozen again.