Pork Liver, insight to processing please

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Pork Liver, insight to processing please

Postby Reeder » Sat Dec 08, 2012 3:51 pm

I didn't know which area of the forum to post these questions but I think this is the most appropriate.
1. I have read to soak the liver for X amount of time (30 minutes to an hour) and then clean the liver. It seems this will make them nice and soft and easier to work with, is it the best method? I will be making pates out of them so scraping the knife along the connective tissue doesn't matter, there is no presentation required.

2. Poach then grind/Grind then poach. It seems that for Braunschweiger the liver is always soaked, trimmed, poached, chilled, pureed and processed with the meat/bacon.
For other applications ie. country pate the liver is soaked, trimmed, pureed, then mixed with the meat.
In a German Liverwurst recipe a member gave me the meat is cooked through, liver is ground, then emulsified together with spices. Then cased and cooked further.
Is there any explanation to the different methods? Or is it simply different styles of using the liver?

3. I make a chicken mousse with onion, carrot, garlic, capers cooked in the same pan i sear the chicken liver in. Then cook down some brandy and marsala or port wine and chill. Mix this with = parts by weight soft butter in a food processor. Does anyone have a good recipe for a pork mousse or is this unherd of?

4. Any good recipes are appreciated! Pork/Chicken/foie gras being the main things I use and have access to.
Reeder
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Postby BriCan » Sun Dec 09, 2012 8:06 am

Each time I come down for a quick break I take a look see as to what is going on in the world. I have purposely refrained from getting into things as per the nature of the beast at this time of year when every one wants it now or yesterday

This to me seems a simple thing but again I am long in the tooth, so long in fact ......

Chicken livers are probably the hardest so are not done but all others should be skin and deveined liver before processing, leaving the skin on makes for a tough product be it fried in the pan or process into other items and leaving any of the veins in is down right @$#%^&# awful :(

Running sliced liver under running cold water pulls out the blood (and any impurities) and makes for a better tasting product

Processing further is a matter of choice as to what is being made -- blanching as with liver sausage/paté because the final product is going to be cooked when all the ingredients are brought together

As for a 'pork mousse' I can check my books (there maybe others who might know), as for being unheard off is another question just because there is no recipe :?: dose not mean it cannot be done just that no one has done it yet :wink:
But what do I know
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Postby Reeder » Sun Dec 09, 2012 1:33 pm

Yeah, it's much easier to pull the veins out after it has soaked. I processed them yesterday. I didn't see any membrane around the liver to peel off so I soaked them and with a very sharp knife scraped and cut out the connective tissues and I noticed the veins are much easier to find and pull out at that point. I then sliced them and resoaked for another 30 minutes before further processing.
They looked nice and clean, and while mincing they look rich and smell good. I'll know how my pâté turns out on Tuesday.
But not without one more question. When i make a pâté, even pone with raw chicken liver I cook it to 145 and cool it quickly. Some pâté calls for pork to be cooked to 165, is this A bacterial issue or is there another underlying factor? I have noticed when liver is over cooked( I feel like over 150F is over cooked) the liver gets grainy or mealy.

As for immediate answers... I am not worried about the time it takes
For a response, I'm thankful there's a place I can get answers to questions I can't find from other places.
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Postby BriCan » Mon Dec 10, 2012 4:12 am

Reeder wrote:I didn't see any membrane around the liver to peel off


On the reverse side to where the veins are take a sharp pairing knife and make a small (2 inches long) cut but just do a surface cut (nick :?: ) push thumb or index finger under the skin/membrane peel back like pulling clear tape off
But what do I know
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