# Soaking Chicken Liver in Milk - Bye-Bye Toxins?



## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

A little searching on the net has brought up numerous recipes in which chicken livers are soaked in milk and then the milk is discarded. I have a vague recollection of hearing someone say that the soaking helps rid the liver of impurities and toxins. IMO, that's a very good thing. Is this true? I never heard of it before this week.

If it's true, does anyone have an idea of the science behind it - how does the milk remove the toxins?

Shel


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## suzanne (May 26, 2001)

It doesn't. It removes any residual blood, and some possible off-smells. 

The only way to rid a liver of toxins is to not put any into it in the first place, imo. That's why I prefer birds raised without antibiotics, etc. (themselves or in their feed).


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## cacook (Jan 18, 2006)

I've heard of people soaking fish in milk as well to remove the fishy smell. If you're using good quality fish or poultry though you shouldn't have to do anything like this.


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

I have soaked items that may have a gamey taste in milk as long as I can remember. fresh killed duck, pheasant, boar, (livers), fish with a blood strap(striper, cod, bluefish).etc.
I don't mind this flavor but my family likes the flavor toned down.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

The only chicken livers I get are from organically raised chickens. I'll have to see what soaking does to their flavor amd taste.

I don't eat chicken liver but I do supplement my cats' diet with them, and I'm very careful about what they are fed.

Thanks all,
Shel


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## panini (Jul 28, 2001)

Shel,
Your cats! Chicken liver, egg yolks? are they on some sort of maintanance or are you mending something?
The vet told me yesterday that our beagles are getting close to obese. We don't think we over feed and they usually fatten up in the winter but it does concern me.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I feed them a raw food diet - have been doing so for years - and am always looking for ways to improve things for them and make the food they eat better and healthier. You can find out a little about their diet and why they're fed the way they are at this site: http://www.felinefuture.com/

Although I don't buy the Feline mix too often, preferring to make my own food for the furries, the information on the site is very good. If you're interested, I'd be glad to discuss it further. There are similar sites for dogs as well.

Shel


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I've heard of this being done with anchovies. Supposedly it helps to reduce the saltiness and mellow the flavor. I've not tried it yet, but maybe I will later today.

Shel


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## deltadoc (Aug 15, 2004)

Concerning liver in general, in the medical business, a liver is considered "a cesspool of organic compounds". It's job, besides creating bile, is to break down toxins in the body.

So, I basically never eat it because of that, and I've never been fond of the taste of liver anyway. (maybe cause my mother used to serve liver and onions, and the smell alone turned me off my food!).

doc


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## blueicus (Mar 16, 2005)

I've heard that the tamale of the lobster contains a lot of toxins (since its function is basically like that of the liver) and of course foie gras is liver, but it's so good that I won't be able to stop eating it .


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## muscat (Nov 28, 2006)

I have to counter this comment with the other side of the story. Very few veterinarians recommend raw diets, and unless you are raising your own livestock to make that raw diet, on your own land, there are plenty of organisms that are likely to be dangerous to your cat or dog.


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

I won't even bother to rebut this argument ... let's just say that cats have been eating raw food for thousands of years, and it's only recently that they have been fed prepared cooked diets made by pet food companies, and thise foods are full of chemicals and crap that offer little or no nutritive value for the cat, although they are very convenient for the owners and the quite profitable for the companies that make the food, which often includes garbage and waste from meat packing plants run by companies that are also selling us crap meat and poultry.

BTW, I am in the animal care business and have been seriously studying feline (and to a lesser extent, canine) nutrition and health for more than fifteen years, working with veterinarians in various parts of the world and at times with the veterinary department at UC Davis.

Let's just agree to disagree, as this is not the forum for an argument about feline nutrition, and it may not be the best place to discuss the poor quality of food that many people are buying and eating for themselves

Kind regards,

Shel


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## muscat (Nov 28, 2006)

Fine- we can agree to disagree, and we certainly do, but I'm qualified by my DVM degree to have an informed opinion too. Granted, cats are carnivores, and eating whole raw foods would more closely simulate what your pet's ancestors ate. But packaged raw meat at the grocery store is not the same as fresh game killed in its natural environment. While it is possible for people to feed healthy raw diets to their pets, most people are not going to take the care needed for it to be healthy for themselves and their furred friends. I looked at the web page you referred, and found a number of errors and small misinformations, and I'd hate others to be mislead.

If nothing else, our clear disagreement will hopefully at least encourage others to thoroughly research before jumping on what to me is the latest pet food fad.

I appologize for the thread hijack, but I felt that your first post needed, as I said, the other side of the story.


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

I've always soaked livers in ice water to remove blood.

Sweetbreads in milk, live mudbugs in milk too so they poop.


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## muskyhopeful (Jun 16, 2006)

Cool. How long? They don't start dying?

Anchovies on pizza tomorrow. My dough is rising in the fridge. I've never soaked them before but I'm going to try it.

Kevin

Muskies anyone?


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## shel (Dec 20, 2006)

Actually, I pretty much agree with you on these points. I don't feed my cats packaged raw meat from the grocery store, and when I eat meat, I don't eat grocery store meat either. I suspect that my cats get better quality, safer meat than most humans in the US eat. And I fully agree with you that most people - including those that are supportive of raw food feeding - are not going to take the time to search out the safe and quality meat and high quality amendments needed to do it right. Even if they want to, most people don't have the time, and while I can argue a case for cost effectiveness on some levels, it's still not as cheap and easy as popping open a can of Friskies or pouring out some dry kibble. And it's more time consuming than grabbing a Tyson chicken thigh from the local Safeway and plopping it on a plate. It takes some effort and dedication, and sometimes a good and sympathetic meat purveyor

Of course, it's quite possible that fresh game hunted and killed in the wild can be contaimated by pesticide use, chemicals in the water, parasites, and other nasties. Catching and devouring a field mouse, and these days, even a bird, can be a dangerous and unhealthy meal for a cat in some instances. I heard recently that one or two cats in Europe have contracted that avian flu.

Yes, while I suggest Feline Future as a good starting point (it provides a lot of _good_ information too, more so than most other sites that promote a raw foods diet), it is not the only place one should use for research. That's why I've worked with vets and UC Davis, as well as developing my own anectodal sources. I did not transition my cats from canned, commercial pet food quickly or lightly. The results from so doing were startling, and all very positive. After almost two decades my results have been 100% positive - for me and my cats it's far from the "latest fad."

Cheers,

Shel


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## robinrocks (Jul 19, 2011)

Shel,

Do you have a website that you can recommend explaining how to feed my indoor cat a raw diet?  Her coat is no longer shiny and her tail has lost its bushiness.  Even though I buy an expensive dry food, I don't think its best for her.  Especially after having an outdoor hunting cat who brought home rabbits and devoured them.

Thanks,

Robin


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

Shel was banned as a member here a number of years ago.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

It has nothing to do with removing toxens  (milk soaked liver) In fact it started when home made pate's were in vogue, duck livers.)

Re Cats

  I am not a vet but have been involved with cats and their mannerisms and behavior for years. I foster mother cats and kittens every 8 weeks and study them. I volunteer at one of the biggest NO KILL animal shelters in Florida 2 to 3 times a week as a behaviorist   and try and match people to cats.

Cats are really not domesticated, they permit you to share their enviorment not the other way around.  In the wild they ate fresh kill and if any left over would bury it. Its unlike the meat we eat. We would not even be able to chew it.  They should be fed a good quality wet  and a good quality dry food. The dry food is just for our convienence not theirs, They never ate cereal in the wild . Read  the label of the food, try and eleminate corn flour and or corn gluten, better with brown rice or barley  as a filler. Make sure meats contained  or poultry are listed first.  Let the cat eat wheat or rye grass which grows in 3 days in a small pot, it aids their insides, digestion  and helps eliminate hair balls. Science Diet, Blue, Purina Pro Plan , Nutro are some good foods.   Iams has changed slightly over the years. People know very little about these fantastic animals , they are true survivors and can love you and show you  affection to  the death.


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## robinrocks (Jul 19, 2011)

Thanks so much Chef Ed B to take the time and answer my question.  Very kind of you.

Robin


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## mikelm (Dec 23, 2000)

Ed said

*"Cats are really not domesticated, they permit you to share their enviorment not the other way around. "*

Giving rise to the old saying...

"Dogs have owners, Cats have...staff" /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lol.gif

Mike


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## gourmette (Aug 9, 2011)

LOL panini! =D "Overweight" is a Beagle characteristic! "Working" dogs have to *work*. Otherwise they get fat and neurotic (like tearing up the house when nobody's looking!). Do you have any "play" groups in your area that offer agility or (especially) flyball? Beagles love that stuff. Then you could use chicken livers as treats afterwards ;-)

good luck!


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## gourmette (Aug 9, 2011)

I agree with you about cats Chef Ed. Most of the commercial diets contain w-a-a-y too much cereal for cats. They're obligate carnivores and need meat as their primary dietary ingredient. That's tough to accomplish in commercial form, though. I'm on the fence about raw diets. Raw meats can be unsafe for animals too, due to the way we process it. The other downside is that homemade or -prepared diets don't usually address the supplemental nutritional requirements for pets. There are supplements available to correct this, though. One manufacturer that makes a powder to be added to homemade diets for cats or dogs in various life stages and health is called "BalanceIt". I used it for a while, but it got to be sort of a pain making diets for numerous individuals! (me, SO, pets ...). For those with the motivation and desire to provide "the right" nutrition, it's a better alternative than commercially available forms ... especially for cats. Worth looking at anyway.


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## luc_h (Jun 6, 2007)

Hey Shel,

Milk proteins have the ability to bind iron (some of it as lactoferrin).  I have always thought that soaking liver in milk reduced the metallic taste of the liver by removing unbound iron.

other metals also bind to milk like copper and zinc so it is not a stretch to think that toxic heavy metals could also be bound by milk proteins hence the notion of detoxifying the liver.

Luc H.


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## someday (Aug 15, 2003)

Guys this thread is like 4 and a half years old. Shel has been banned. I always find it interesting when old threads like this are somehow resurrected.


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