How can I tell when liver is cooked (to avoid food poisoning)?

cashferret

Hope this is the right place to post this.

I just tried to cook liver, for the first time ever. I have health problems and I'm not well enough to stand at a stove so I put it in a casserole dish in the oven. I'd read that you have to make sure with a meat thermometer that it has reached 160 degrees.

I baked it at 180 degrees for 25 minutes (single person's portion) then took it out and stuck the thermometer probe into it but it went up in temperature fairly slowly and only reached 130 or so. I kept putting it back into the oven for 5 more minutes at a time but it never read over 140 degrees, even though I ran boiling water over the thermometer first to speed up the measurement (I was wondering if the meat was cooling while the thermometer was taking ages to take the temperature). Eventually I gave up and threw it away.

I've read that you can get campylobacter poisoning from liver. I'm not bothered about it being all pink inside and delicious (as people claim!) - I want to make sure it's properly cooked so that I don't get sick.

Could the problem be that the liver isn't deep enough for the probe to go in all that far? The pieces are less than half an inch thick.

Should I just assume they're done if they're brown inside? Does that mean they've been cooked to 160 degrees?

I've got loads more left so I'd like to try again!

meg72

When liver is brown all through its cooked.

comeandgo

When I cook liver in the oven I put it in for an hour at 180.

cashferret

comeandgo wrote: »

When I cook liver in the oven I put it in for an hour at 180.

Are you putting in just enough for one person or several?

maman

Liver cooks very quickly and easily.


What I do is put the amount of liver I want in a bowl and pour boiling water over it. I've heard of people soaking it in milk but I use lambs' liver and I think it's mild enough.




Effectively, soaking it in the boiling water cooks it enough for most tastes and then all it needs is browning up. So next I fry it with softened onions so that they're both brown and crispy and then serve with mash, veg and gravy.


That's just one recipe. I have put it in a casserole with tomatoes, fried with bacon etc. but the soaking in boiling water seems to both ensure it's cooked and prevent it getting tough which can happen with frying.


Try it.:)

SeaLion_2

Liver is best safely cooked to ensure no bugs.
Build a large bonfire.
Throw the liver in the middle.
Leave for 24 hours.
Sweep up the ashes and throw away.

That's the perfect liver dish.....

~Chameleon~

comeandgo wrote: »

When I cook liver in the oven I put it in for an hour at 180.

An hour?? :eek:

I cook it for about 5 minutes in a frying pan with a little oil in after I've softened and browned my onions. The onions actually take much longer. It's so soft and tender, melts in the mouth. I'm sure it would turn into a piece of leather if cooked for much longer!

torbrex

I do liver under the grill for about 7/8 minutes each side on a medium heat, sometimes lightly coated in breadcrumbs but usually not

comeandgo

Hi my liver is in dish with onions and gravy and that's for four people but I would still use the same time for one portion.

maman

~Chameleon~ wrote: »

An hour?? :eek:

I cook it for about 5 minutes in a frying pan with a little oil in after I've softened and browned my onions. The onions actually take much longer. It's so soft and tender, melts in the mouth. I'm sure it would turn into a piece of leather if cooked for much longer!

To get round that, I soften my chopped/sliced onions in the microwave with a splash of water for a couple of minutes. I keep the 'onion water' for adding to the gravy. It's one of the few dishes I use granule gravy for. Remove the fried onions and liver from the pan when cooked then pour in the gravy (made in jug) and stir to pick up all the brown crunchy bits from the bottom of pan. Mmmm!

Raksha

http://www.hpa.org.uk/NewsCentre/NationalPressReleases/2011PressReleases/111202Campylobacterinchickenlivers/

Cook food thoroughly, especially meat, so that it is steaming hot all the way through reaching a core temperature of 70°C for two minutes, as this will destroy any Campylobacter

I wonder if your confusing C and F