Does soaking liver in milk prior to cooking really help with the flavor?

I wouldn't have thought this would be very Jewish as you are mixing meat with dairy?

Soaking beef liver in milk tenderizes the meat to the point it melts in your mouth. In addition, some people say they dislike the "smell" of liver cooking and the milk helps to counteract that. Quite frankly I have never experienced a foul odor and can only think perhaps it was old liver. I also soak chicken in buttermilk overnight. It adds to tenderizing the chicken breast and the flavor is wonderful.
As for the meat and dairy controversy...my Step dad and his family are all kosher and NEVER mix milk and meat at the same time. They have two sets of everything from glasses to pots and pans and some even have a second pair of appliances to keep dairy in one and meat in another. However, I do have to laugh about the ones who claim to be Kosher. When we go to a Chinese Restaurant, the majority all order Shrimp in Lobster Sauce!!! Both thyose items are shellfish and considered taboo but in their minds they figure as long as they don't cook it in their house, it is just fine. Double standards with a huge sprinkle of hipocrasy added in.

This was recently popularized by Raymond Blanc (French born UK chef). The general consensus is that it normalizes the flavor. Many cooks object to this "dumbing down" of liver, but for sure, Raymond Blanc is a very successful restaurateur.

Soak em up! God cares not what you eat, if you want to avoid damnation accept Jesus as your Saviour, repent and live according to His Holy Spirit that dwells within you after baptism.
I could eat cats liver soaked in rats milk for all God cares, its what dwells in your heart, mind and the words you speak that matter.
Religion is man made legalism, God made man, the Holy Bible is His Word inspired by The Holy Spirit and it says "kill and eat"!
Not sure which Bible you are quoting from Monita??
Which chapter and verse is it?

Thank you Bob for asking. I am going to soak mine. I will not disclose my religion.

many thanks. all I wanted to find out is whether soaking liver in milk is a good idea without all the theological baggage. this is like waldorf and stadler on the muppet show.

Same here amysarah. Also, ya'll... Sometimes you can be Jewish that keeps Kosher but isnt Orthodox.

Only something like 15% of Jews in America are kosher. I grew up in a pretty typical reform Jewish home, and pig in practically all its forms, as well as shellfish, cheeseburgers, etc. were all common.There was certainly no suggestion that eating anything was a 'sin' (other than maybe in a Hannibal Lechter type scenario.) Having said that, certain traditional Jewish dishes tended to stay close to their original roots...i.e., my mother would cook pork chops, but ground pork in her classic Jewish stuffed cabbage? Milk in her Passover chopped liver? Would never occur to her - but this was about received culinary tradition, a cultural sensibility, not religious proscription.

Always great to learn about someone's else's traditions. Thanks for sharing yours and glad I could provide insight to mine

To respond to Pierino about the kashrut rules: the statement from the bible about "not to "boil a kid in its mother's milk," is interpreted to mean not to eat meat and dairy products together. This includes not only beef and veal but chicken as well. It also extends to not cooking meat and dairy together. That's why people who keep kosher jave separate dishes for meat and dairy. If you'd like to learn more about kosher laws, check out:
http://www.chabad.org/generic_cdo/aid/113424/jewish/Kosher.htm

one last chopped liver thought .... chopped liver (aka gehakte leber) was not traditionally a pate -- commercial chopped liver usually is, since it's processed (if not overprocessed) by machine. my grandmother used a wooden bowl and a chopping blade. the celery and eggs were still visible when she was done, and the texture was sort of fluffy-ish. you can still use a food processor, if you're careful not to go overboard, and just pulse -- but the bowl and chopping blade are better. once again, a happy holiday to you and yours.

ps - i am a he, though often called a she by close friends.

Milk degorges the "funk" from livers (and sweatbreads, and foie gras, and any other organ meat). You will often see this as a step in making pates, terrines, etc. Whether it's a necessary step in chopped liver depends on your preference.

blackstrap -- don't even begin to think anything negative about yourself -- particularly because of the way you do or do not prepare chopped liver. i hope you will enjoy your chopped liver trials -- and wish you a splendid thanksgiving.

you dont need milk for chicken livers. use salt water. biggest things to keep them from getting too bitter though are 1. using good livers, 2.cleaning them well/trying to remove all the veins and nasty bits and 3. not over cooking them. for some reason, Im not exactly sure why chicken livers are best cooked medium. soak your livers in a brine for at least 3 hours. I usually use a 4% solution. Dry your livers thoroughly before sauteing them and cook them in batches until you see the blood starting to come out of the meat. you want them still blushing in the middle. if you're going the pate route rather than chopping them try making a reduction with port and madeira and mixing that in. you will die from awesome.

thank you so much for your phenomnal answers! i am most certainly a terrible jew but this might explain why milk was never mentioned on the recipe card. i am going to make this a few different times before thanksgiving and report in on the results - thank you for your replies!

thank you so much for your phenomnal answers! i am most certainly a terrible jew but this might explain why milk was never mentioned on the recipe card. i am going to make this a few different times before thanksgiving and report in on the results - thank you for your replies!

I have definitely had chopped chicken liver that was bitter. So I would say "go for it" even though it is not traditional--because it is not kosher. Your grandmother's recipe may be good, but Michel Richard's faux gras is guaranteed to be better. He blends a pound of raw chicken livers with half a pound of butter and sauteed shallots, pours it into ramekins and bakes in a waterbath. It's unbelievably good.

Was responding to someone else who said it was ok to soak chicken liver in milk accroding to kosher laws

Absolutely right, Monita. Even if you don't keep kosher, though, I've never heard of anyone soaking chicken livers in milk before making chopped liver. It's not necessary. I learned to make chopped liver from my grandmother, who learned from her mother.... She did add a splash of sherry when cooking the livers, though.

Not all Jews keep Kosher. She mentioned her Jewish Grandmother - thats all and didnt specify kosher in tags or question.

Chicken livers soaked in milk definitely violates rules of kashrut

I always soak pork, beef or calves liver in milk, but only do it with chicken livers if they have a strong smell. As long as you aren't keeping kosher... Like they say about chicken soup: it might not help, but it couldn't hurt.

Never heard of doing that with chicken livers.

I've read far and wide that yes, it helps to remove any bitterness from the taste of the liver, but I don't have much experience with it -- I bet someone in our community does!