This Milk Trick Makes A Big Difference For Lamb Chops

If you eat meat, you might sometimes find yourself getting tired of the same old options of beef, chicken, pork, and ... did we already mention beef? In times of palate fatigue like these, it's always good to remember good ol' lamb. We love lamb for many reasons, such as the fact that in most cases, it's grass-fed (via The Spruce Eats) and is often free-range, per The Independent. We love that it's a healthy protein, rich in bioavailable iron, vitamin B12, and selenium (via Healthline). 

Lamb also boasts a distinctly different flavor profile than beef; it can be quite a bit gamier, for instance. While we love lamb's gamey taste – to a point – we wouldn't want to serve anything too funky to our guests. Luckily, there's a simple trick to toning down lamb's gaminess and ensuring a mild, delicious result. You might even end up with the most delicious lamb chops you've ever tasted.

According to Cook's Illustrated, the reason lamb can taste gamey is its diet. Grass-fed lambs have a gamier flavor than grain-fed ones, writer Molly Birbaum explains. Many of us may welcome that flavor – it's part of what makes lamb a nice change of pace from beef – but when our lamb chops smell a little too funky coming out of the package, what we should do is soak them in a little bit of milk.

According to Livestrong, soaking lamb in milk for several hours or overnight helps draw out some of the blood and cuts down on that gamey smell and taste that can be off-putting. After its milk bath, all you have to do is rinse your lamb chops and proceed with cooking.

This milk trick is an old standby and can be used to temper the gamey taste of other kinds of meat; it's used to soften the flavor of venison and beef liver, for example (via Butter Cream Bakeshop). So now you know: if your lamb smells a bit strong, there's no problem; just let it relax in some milk before cooking it to perfection.