Hearts and livers and other organ meats

[hwilliam01]

Here in Maine, many (not all), will eat deer liver and heart if they like cow liver and heart. Heart from Moose and black bear are good too, but liver is different. Bear liver is ok but can have a high concentration of vitamin A and can make you temporarily sick from Vitamin A toxicity. That's the reason you should not eat Polar Bear liver (although other than a few Inuit friends, I don't think that is very likely). Black bears are more omnivores so the concentration of Vitamin A should be a lot less than Polar Bear and is ok in moderation and spread out over a period of time...personally I do not eat it, but love bear heart. I will not eat Moose liver due to cadmiun (a heavy metal) concentration. It will not likely kill you but will make you wish you were dead if you overdose and takes a long time to get rid of it in the body. Cadmium comes from Copper and Nickel industries and the burning of fossil fuels in northern US and parts of Canada. Maine, much of Canada and Scandinavian countries recommend against eating Moose liver.

Bill

[georgerkahn]

Bion, my most favourite part of the deer is its tongue! Wash it well, and put it in a glass bowl with a 50-50 solution of 5% cider vinegar and water for a couple of days -- kept in 'fridge. Some add a bay leaf or two and pickling spices, while I do not. After a couple of days, drop the tongue in a pot of boiling water, and when water returns to a boil, turn it down, and let it simmer for -- dependent upon size of the tongue -- anywhere from one to three hours. Upon removing it, it is quite easy to skin -- remove outer coating. Then... ENJOY! Re the heart, that's generally diced up and added to the ground venison -- albeit I've eaten many a cow-heart, I've yet to try that from a deer. (cold, thin sliced deer tongue on rye bread, a wee bit of spicy brown mustard, and a dill pickle complementing it -- make a sandwich which I do not believe could be improved upon.)
Reading stories/posts above -- gets me hungry .
geo

[Petander]

Oh,tongue like that is great,deer or moose.

I like liver & heart stew very much,too. I've never minced them into minced meat.

Liver is abosutely great by itself,a hot cast iron pan,butter,a dash of Dijon just before serving.


Hungry...

[rking22]

I love hearts, and tongue. I treat the deer organ meat just like beef or pork. Slice the heart, I like it thicker and sear it on a iron with spices. The liver, it is catfish bait. I would not grind the heart, it is a delicacy, and the liver, well, catfish bait and ground venison is not appealing. I like my ground venison straight, I never add any fat. Cooks great as burgers seared on an iron skillet, rare to med rare. This thread is making me hungry, the pickled tongue is great. Oh, I like fried chittlins, pig feet ect, but gotta agree chicken feet are too dang much work!! I actually considered frying up some mountain oysters the other day, but only had the one squirrel.

[MaryB]

Heart yes, my favorite is chili... I detest liver, I was forced to eat to much of it as a kid because it was cheap to free from people who hated it.

[CastingFool]

Although I seldom eat liver nowadays, I enjoyed the taste, so much that I would eat it cold. Figured how to cook it thinly sliced, in a microwave, and make sandwiches with it. My oldest son would eat it cold, too, and he's kind of a finicky eater

[Tripplebeards]

I just cut both my hearts up. I watched a meat eater video showing me a new way of how to cut it along the three valve folds instead of just cutting it in circles leaving the valves and strings inside making it chewy. I Filleted off the outside skin and then the inside as well that has a thin layer of valves on it. They look like perfect little steaks! I’m now soaking them in vinegar and salt water to remove the blood and soften the meat. Never tried them this way I normally fry them up the way they sit in there a little chewy. I would assume the vinegar will make them nice and soft I’ll let them soak for a day or two till all the bloods out throw them in milk for a few hours to a day and chicken fried deer steak heart here I come! I almost wrecked one too. I tried the same Brian soak in my liver last year and it made it almost as tender as chicken liver and took away some of the strong taste that would have me sitting on the toilet. I’ve never had a strong taste ever with the heart but it’s just they’re chewy. I might’ve overcooked them in the past but I know the vinegar will soften them up to melt in my mouth from past experience with other venison cuts.

[trapper9260]

I eat heart and liver .Slice it up and roll in flour and salt and pepper. Add some onions in the frying pan. As for kidneys ,I slice them up and feed to my coydog.He love the liver and heart that he get the trimmings of it.I just cook it like cow and pork.

[gbrown]

I've eaten a lot of liver and heart in my life, as well as a lot of beef tongue. Problem with organ meat, if you are prone to gout, stay away from it. Growing up, mom stuffed beef hearts with dressing, just like you use in turkey or chicken. Slow roasted them, they were delicious. I've made chili out of chopped up deer heart. Plenty of times after a kill, I would make liver and onions at the camp. Again, delicious, with no real gamy taste. I've eaten tons of beef liver, but not in recent years. Everybody around here, except for me. complains of the smell and won't touch it. My wife suffers from gout, so it's not for her. If I want some, I can cook a small batch for me, or, Luby's Cafeteria serves it daily.

[Geezer in NH]

I used to eat deer liver until warnings from the F&G said not to do to high cadmium rates in it from the acid rains from industrial pollution in the mid-west electric plants and industrial manufactures.

They definitely said no on Moose livers same thing and also to limit the eating of landlocked salmon or bass to once a month from the same pollution.

[AZ Pete]

I've been working at the deer processors for probably 12 years now tonight was the first time someone requested that the heart and liver and kidney meat be ground up with the rest of the meat . He had them in a bag inside the carcass . Was a neck shot so all was still in good shape . I know lots of folk eat the organ meats from cow but like I said first time hearing anyone want to eat deer organ meat . Ok so who here eats it ? As is or in with the ground meat ? Taste any different ? Thinking about grinding it up in mine if I get one this year

I do, and have since I began hunting big game in 1968. Everyone I hunted with did as well.

[MT Gianni]

I have stopped eating liver as a cholesterol issue. I eat heart, usually baked with stuffing or added as a side. I eat elk tongue and occasionally deer but deer is small enough I don't mess with it as often as I do. I also eat beef heart, tongue and tail when we buy a half.

[Lloyd Smale]

dad takes some of the livers. I don't eat them but I usually take the heart if its in one piece and add it to the scrap pile for burger and sausage.

[wch]

It was a tradition at the camp that I hunted from that the livers of the deer were cooked for sandwiches at lunchtime and the hearts were stuffed and eaten for dinner.

[RU shooter]

Wow lot more folk eat it than I expected . I guess I was raised in a bubble as we never ate it even though pap loved beef liver . Thanks all it was week two of our rifle season and still no deer for me ihave one more Saturday and then late flintlock season fingers crossed. I'm sorta limited on hunting to flat areas close to my brothers place due to my medical issues

[JWFilips]

Heart And Liver Are my favorite Parts! Actually ask every hunter I know If they well save it for me ! Eat very good for the next year!

[Lloyd Smale]

ill take backstraps on the grill thankyou

Heart And Liver Are my favorite Parts! Actually ask every hunter I know If they well save it for me ! Eat very good for the next year!

[upr45]

I give the hearts to my Ma, liver no, there has been a few cases of flukes from deer liver here. I learned to eat liver at sea when the choice was liver or spam. Liver with onions and ketchup was my preference over spam.
Like Lloyd said, "backstraps"!

[rking22]

Liver or spam?? , no contest pop the can open. Now there is a good thread with heart recipes, gonna have to try a couple new ideas.

[Tripplebeards]

I just tried the biggest piece of my heart tonight. I first marinated it in vinegar and salt for two days and I didn’t have any milk so I marinated it in almond milk for a day. I can still taste vinegar which almost tasted like Worcestershire sauce so I gave it a good bite. Gonna soak the rest another 24 hours to hopefully drown the rest of the vinegar out. It was very tender. I cooked it about a minute and a half on each side in virgin olive oil till the temp was 180°. I had some cornmeal short lunch that I used and maybe that was the zing I was tasting? I rolled it in an egg and then cornmeal about three times and then into the frying pan.