Halacha for Thursday 26 Sivan 5783 June 15 2023

Question: May liver be cooked, fried, or sautéed after it has been grilled?

Answer: When liver is grilled, the blood contained inside it is removed, as we have discussed in the previous Halacha. It is therefore permissible to cook liver in water or fry it in oil after it has been grilled and this is not problematic whatsoever. According to the Rama, however, which is indeed the prevalent Ashkenazi custom, one should act stringently and wash off the liver after grilling it and before cooking it. Nevertheless, even if one has not washed off the liver after grilling it and immediately cooks it, the liver is still permitted for consumption.

What Kind of Liver May be Cooked or Fried
The only kind of liver which may be cooked after having been grilled is only one which was grilled within three days of the animal’s slaughter. However, if three days or more have elapsed from the time of the animal’s slaughter, the liver may only be eaten after being grilled and it may not be subjected to any other method of cooking after it has been grilled, for after three days have passed, its blood congeals within it and it does not exit completely by means of grilling. Thus, when the liver is cooked after having been grilled, the blood still congealed within it is released into the food and it turns out that this dish has blood mixed into it. Nevertheless, it is permissible to eat the liver after having been grilled alone, for although there is some congealed blood remaining in the liver, this blood is not forbidden for consumption while it is still absorbed inside the liver and only becomes forbidden when it is released from the liver (by means of cooking and the like).

One must be aware that many livers sold in stores today have already had three days elapse from the animal’s slaughter and may only be eaten grilled but may not be cooked after having been grilled. Only if the date of the animal’s slaughter is clearly indicated may one cook the liver after having grilled it if this is being done within three days of the date and time of slaughter.

There are several fine and reliable Kashrut supervisions which have begun printing on the labels attached to the liver when the animal was slaughtered and until what date and time one may cook or fry the liver after having been grilled. In this way one may cook or fry the liver without any concern.

Frozen Liver
Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef zt”l writes that liver which was placed into a deep freeze within three days of the animal’s slaughter does not have the same law as liver which three days have elapsed; even if this liver stays frozen for an extended amount of time, it may be cooked after having been grilled as long as three days have not yet elapsed since its thawing.

8 Halachot Most Popular

Parashat Naso in the Diaspora

(From the teachings of Maran Rabbeinu Ovadia Yosef ztvk”l) (written by his grandson HaRav Yaakov Sasson Shlit”a) (translated by our dear friend Rav Daniel Levy Shlit”a, Leeds UK) Trading Places! The Parashah states, “The sacred offerings of each individual remain his ......

Read Halacha

Taking Haircuts and Shaving During the Omer Period- 5786

Abstaining from Taking Haircuts During the Omer It has become customary among the Jewish nation to refrain from taking haircuts during the Omer counting period: According to the Ashkenazi custom, until the 33rd day of the Omer and according to the Sephardic custom, until the morning of the 34th day......

Read Halacha

The Omer Counting Period

The period of the counting of the Omer is exalted indeed and filled with sanctity, as the Ramban writes in his commentary on Parashat Emor that the days between the holidays of Pesach and Shavuot, i.e. the Omer counting period, retain the sanctity of Chol Ha’Moed and are not days of national t......

Read Halacha

The Holiday of Pesach- The Zodiac of Aries

The Torah (Shemot 12) states: “Speak to the community leadership of Israel and say that on the tenth of this month each of them shall take a lamb to a family, a lamb to a household. But if the household is too small for a lamb, let it share one with a neighbor who dwells nearby, in proportion ......

Read Halacha


Arriving Late to or Skipping Some Portions of the Megillah Reading

Every member of the Jewish nation is obligated to read the Megillah on the day of Purim. One must read it during the night and once again the next day, as the verse states, “My G-d, I call out to you during the day, and you do not answer; during the night I have no rest.” This verse is w......

Read Halacha

Leaning During the Seder

The Mitzvah of Leaning The Gemara (Pesachim 108a among other places) states that there are several things during the Seder that must be eaten or drunk while leaning, i.e. while leaning to one’s left side. Indeed, the Midrash states on the verse “And Hashem led the nation in a roundabout......

Read Halacha

Food Products for Pesach Use Nowadays

Beginning from thirty days before Pesach, the Mitzvah of eliminating Chametz takes effect. This includes all of the Pesach cleaning and all measures taken to ensure one does not transgress the prohibition of consuming or owning Chametz on Pesach. It is therefore incumbent on each of us to begin t......

Read Halacha

The Custom of the “Commemoration of the Half-Shekel”- 5786

In the beginning of Parashat Ki-Tisa, which we read again not long ago for Parashat Shekalim, the Torah commands the Jewish nation to donate a Half-Shekel during the times when the Bet Hamikdash stood. This Mitzvah was auspicious in that it protected the Jewish nation from all plague; indeed, the......

Read Halacha