Deer Heart

BBD280

God, Guns, and Guts
2A Bourbon Hound 2024
Supporting Member
Multi-Factor Enabled
Joined
Dec 18, 2016
Messages
6,732
Location
Lumberton, NC
Rating - 100%
34   0   0
A buddy of mine got the heart out of the deer my daughter killed Saturday and cooked it last night. I wasn't there to try it but he says he thinks it's the best piece of meat on the deer now that he's had some.
imagejpeg_0.jpgWho else cooks the heart? I wanna batter and fry some and try it in gravy. He said it reminded him of super tender beef tips. How do you cook yours?
 
Liver and hearts I'll eat but not lamb fries. ;)

Watched an episode on sportsman channel, one guest showed how he cooks up
the hearts from a large white migratory bird, nothing is wasted.
 
Last edited:
@BBD280

I tagged you in another thread, but yes, I eat the hearts. Livers, too.

It's good eats.
 
I'll try it...as long as you dont tell me what it is first lol.
Ive eaten many different things, but Ive always had a mental hangup over gizzards, livers, and hearts.
Oh, yeah....and a snail.
Eff that slimy s.o.b.

I tried the snail on a cruise and it wasn't bad. But was in a little souffle cup with eggs and cheese. The chef was french and said as a kid in winter they would eat snails because it keeps you warm. I tried it not bad but the warm part was true because your stomach is churning like crazy the rest of the day/night.
 
I'll try it...as long as you dont tell me what it is first lol.
Ive eaten many different things, but Ive always had a mental hangup over gizzards, livers, and hearts.
Oh, yeah....and a snail.
Eff that slimy s.o.b.
I know how you feel. If you cover meat in gravy I'll just say No Thanks. My wife made steak and gravy one night for dinner after we married. I didn't touch it. She got pretty pissed at me until I explained to her that I want to see what I'm fixing to eat. I ate too much mystery meat as a child.

Sent from my SM-J320V using Tapatalk
 
Hearts get fried in bacon grease. You can tell they're good if you can feel your arteries harden.

Liver is fed to the cat. She likes it raw. She can tell when I'm cutting up liver and starts purring and rubbing against my legs.

I don't eat it for two reasons. #1-I'm not a big fan of liver unless it's liverwurst. I like a good liverwurst sandwich.

#2 is most of my hunting has been NH and MI. In NH, it is strongly advised not to eat deer liver. The reason is that the high sulfur coal from industry in the Rust Belt is taken by prevailing westerly winds toward the Northeast. Particulates return to Earth with the rain which is acidic. This leeches trace heavy metals from the ground and is absorbed into plants eaten by animals and accumulates in their liver. NH Fish and Game advises that if you must eat deer liver, only one per year per person should be safe as long as it comes from a yearling. Cadmium poisoning is a real thing boys and girls. And it will accumulate in your liver too. Remember, your liver is your oil filter and it isn't easily replaceable. I want to be shot by a jealous husband, not die a slow, painful death by heavy metal poisoning.

When hunting in Michigan, as my BIL explained, "We don't have acid rain here. We send it out east to you." Liver there is safe. Enough so that my late, ex-Father-in-Law (he was ex by that time), who absolutely loved deer liver, would be delighted when I came back every year with 3 or 6 deer livers. I would get trout in return.

Except for the year he lost his license. :confused:
 
Last edited:
I’ve never ate deer heart but wouldn’t be against trying it. This year isn’t looking to great to get one in the freezer but hoping that changes soon.
 
Your next test - deer testicles
 
Done right it's as good as the inner loins, sweet loins. I didn't start until a couple years back. Glad I corrected that mistake.

But make sure you trim it out good. The valves and other tough stuff is not good.
 
Last edited:
I tried the snail on a cruise and it wasn't bad. But was in a little souffle cup with eggs and cheese. The chef was french and said as a kid in winter they would eat snails because it keeps you warm. I tried it not bad but the warm part was true because your stomach is churning like crazy the rest of the day/night.
Yeah, Ive tried em, too.
 
I always save the heart when I butcher unless it has a hole in it. Easiest way I like to do it is skewered and grilled with just a little salt and pepper. I agree it is one of the best pieces on a deer. I usually keep the liver out of the first deer of the season and after eating that is enough liver for me for a year!
 
I always save the heart when I butcher unless it has a hole in it. Easiest way I like to do it is skewered and grilled with just a little salt and pepper. I agree it is one of the best pieces on a deer. I usually keep the liver out of the first deer of the season and after eating that is enough liver for me for a year!

Yeah. It does take a while to eat a whole liver.

After one or two, I find myself making dog treats from them.
 
The heart is amazingly tender and tasty fried. Thats the only way ive eaten it, but over cooking to me makes it taste like liver. I dont do liver of ANY kind, just dont taste right to me
235c7a8461ea653afcf0040941a41681.jpg


Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk
 
Can the heart be cooked to a medium temp or does it need to be cooked completely through.
 
I’ll let ya know how it is after I figure out how to get all this crap off of it. I’m sure Rinella has a video somewhere.
 
So I sliced mine up into thin slices like stir fry and marinated it in adobo spices and lime juice for about an hour. Put it in a taco with some quick-pickled sweet onions and your favorite Mexican-style hot sauce.

You can pick up on the fact that it’s a heart because it does have a little bit of that iron-y taste you can get in liver on the back end. If that bothers you, then I’m sure a saltwater bath overnight would purge that out.
 
Last edited:
Had a heart off the doe my step daughter killed Sunday evening. Just sliced up, salt and peppered and browned in olive oil. Already had a pot of chili, so it was a nice topping to a bowl.
 
Last edited:
I'll try it...as long as you dont tell me what it is first lol.
Ive eaten many different things, but Ive always had a mental hangup over gizzards, livers, and hearts.
Oh, yeah....and a snail.
Eff that slimy s.o.b.


Oh man in Brasil we would have chicken hearts over a pit. Damn good. Taste like beef chicken

churrasco-traditional-brazilian-barbecue-chicken-hearts-grilled-kebabs-GPR6M9.jpg
 
Back
Top Bottom