Traditional Muzzleloading Association

The Center of Camp => Camping Gear and Campfire Cooking => Topic started by: vthompson on November 23, 2010, 10:16:35 PM

Title: Deer Heart
Post by: vthompson on November 23, 2010, 10:16:35 PM: My son got himself a nice buck the other evening with his bow and he came and got me and my 4 wheeler to bring it home for him. Whenever we got to the kill site I got the heart from the gut pile where he had field dressed it at and put it into a baggie.
When we got home, I washed it real good and then I cubed it up along with some potatoes and onions. After I got everything cut up, I put it in a cast iron skillet and set it over a fire that I had made outside. I kept stirring it until I knew that everything was done and then I scooped him some up and put it into a bowl for him.
I could tell that he was a little optomistic but he tried it anyway. After he took a bite you couldn't smack the smile off of his face. He fell in love with it and said that from now on he would make sure that he got the heart whenever he dressed out a deer.
If you have never eaten a deer heart, you are missing out on a great treat.
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Post by: Breakfast Boy on November 23, 2010, 11:37:52 PM: I had it once. My dad cooked some up years ago for part of a Thanksgiving dinner. If remember right, he simply sliced it think and boiled it with onions. It was alright, but awfully soft and "mushy" for meat. Might have to try it the way you mentioned.
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Post by: PJC on November 24, 2010, 12:11:20 AM: Heart is 100% muscle.
The grain is very fine but make no mistake about it.
The best steak on the whole deer.
It should be cooked so it is just barely completely cooked.
A little bit of pink once is a while is OK as well.

PJC
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Post by: Gordon H.Kemp on November 24, 2010, 09:17:00 AM: The only parts I was not fond of , are the kidneys . The liver , tongue , heart and lungs , prepared properly can be very good . There are those that claim thease parts may carry desease , but properly cooked there is no more chance of contamination then the rest of the animal . This is also true os domestic animals , goats , sheep , cattle , pigs etc. Folks that throw this away are missing some good eating .
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Post by: sse on November 24, 2010, 09:45:51 AM: I've been wanting to try this for a long time, just need to tag a "donor".
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Post by: Buzzard on November 24, 2010, 05:13:52 PM: I boil mine until just done, still barely pink inside. Let cool completely. Then slice thin and use for sandwich's. A touch of BBQ sauce and a sweet pickle. OH MY!!!
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Post by: snake eyes on November 25, 2010, 10:10:25 AM: Buzzard,
I to boil mine,in chicken broth,with garlic,onion and some
tyme and celery seed.I will also add some rosemary if on hand.
No pink in mine,totally grey.Cooled,even chilled and sliced as thin as possible.Put it between two slices of your favorite bread,with
some sliced onion & a bit of your favorite condiment.This works,at
least for me, on deer and beef heart.
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Post by: Roaddog on November 25, 2010, 10:33:28 AM: Yep what Snake Eyes said.
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Post by: Shadow Hawk on November 25, 2010, 10:52:40 AM: yep yep yep heart is great. fried,baked.broiled. it all good.
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Post by: Sir Michael on November 25, 2010, 11:49:25 AM: My father taught me to soak it and the liver overnight in a large pot of heavily salted water before using. I'm not sure exactly what this does but it doesn't hurt. It may give the water time to get into all the blood vessels etc. dissolve wash out the blood.
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Post by: Puffer on November 25, 2010, 02:44:04 PM: Quote from: "Sir Michael"
My father taught me to soak it and the liver overnight in a large pot of heavily salted water before using. I'm not sure exactly what this does but it doesn't hurt. It may give the water time to get into all the blood vessels etc. dissolve wash out the blood.

Micheal, In my family the same pre prep. ( as well as the liver )

Then in the morn.= Breakfast

The Heart & liver were sliced & fried on our big wood range along with
plenty of onions,&bacon. Plus spuds & eggs = AMBROSIA

As to what the soaking does, besides what you mentioned, it seemed to tenderize & remove some of the "wild taste" What ever we still do it, but now cook on a large cast iron griddle.

Puffer
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Post by: No Deer on November 26, 2010, 11:37:23 AM: Went out a few years ago with some friends, we were all dressed primitive and using trade guns. I shot a small (I think when the round ball hit it, the spots fell off) doe, the first deer I had taken with my trade gun. We built a small fire using flint and steel, spread some tobacco to the winds, and sliced the heart into small pieces and cooked them on the end of sticks over the fire. Tasted really good, and was a very nice way to celebrate taking the deer.
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Post by: rickevans on January 03, 2011, 04:27:51 PM: You guys are making me hungry.
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Post by: 2 Locks on January 03, 2011, 08:27:52 PM: Quote from: "sse"
I've been wanting to try this for a long time, just need to tag a "donor".
I guess I hit my donor a little to well this year - where the heart should have been there was only jelly.
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Post by: Loyalist Dave on January 04, 2011, 08:52:20 AM: I have had the heart from Friday's doe sitting in the fridge, and today I will be pressure cooking it. btw I was astounded that the pressure cooker was known, not widely, but known in the 18th century? Cool!

LD
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Post by: rickevans on January 04, 2011, 10:11:38 AM: LD...why the pressure cooker? I remember when I first moved to Georgia, a neighbor had shot his very first deer ever (with a TC Renegade) and called me to help him track, clean and drag it out.

He was a bit shocked when I tossed the liver and heart into a baggie. Even more so when I told him that was my fee for instructing him on how to find a deer bleeding from two big holes in his side.

When we got home, I sliced and fried it with some mushrooms and onions. Uhm-Uhm Good! He always take a baggie with him now, and never asks me to clean his deer.

Rick
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Post by: Loyalist Dave on January 04, 2011, 02:13:14 PM: Well the pressure cooker is one way to keep the calories down, while frying in olive oil or peanut oil (or any other oil) isn't. Plus I like to keep up my practise with the thing, as it's also a most excellent way of taking a tough piece of meat (this wasn't a tough piece) and quickly getting it tender. Slow cookers also work for making tough meat tender..., but in the word of Inigo Montoya "I hate waiting", [Princess Bride 1987].

Came out wonderful btw!

2 oz. of water, 1 tsp of Adobo seasoning, 1/2 onion, and 2 oz. of red wine, 1 large deer heart with fat and arterial structures removed. Cook for 6 minutes.

LD
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Post by: rickevans on January 04, 2011, 02:56:47 PM: Well that does make health sense. Thanks for the new lesson Dave!
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Post by: Longhunter on January 04, 2011, 07:50:49 PM: I love deer heart, been eatin it for many many years. Sliced, floured and fried along with the liver it's hard to beat. I like to save one or two hearts to dice up and add to the turkey dressing on Thanksgiving.

I too soak it and the liver overnight in salt water...must be an old time method. I split the heart down the middle and cut out the membranes before soaking.

It really upsets me when I accidentally hit the heart with my big .62 rifle...doesn't leave much to eat...

(http://www.shrewbows.com/rons_linkpics/Deer%20Heart%20.62cal%20%281%29.jpg)
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Post by: snake eyes on January 05, 2011, 08:04:31 AM: Quote from: "Loyalist Dave"
I have had the heart from Friday's doe sitting in the fridge, and today I will be pressure cooking it. btw I was astounded that the pressure cooker was known, not widely, but known in the 18th century? Cool!
LD
LD,
Boy,I don't know about the 18th century,but I do know my
mother used one when I was growing up.They are much more
reliable and sofisticated today.As a youngster I can remember
not being allowed in the kitchen when the preassure cooker was
being used on the stove.
As to soaking game in salt water,when young,I was told it would
make wild game less gamey tasting.Whatever,I have always done it.....
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Post by: Longhunter on January 05, 2011, 08:22:44 AM: Quote
LD,
Boy,I don't know about the 18th century,but I do know my
mother used one when I was growing up.They are much more
reliable and sophisticated today.As a youngster I can remember
not being allowed in the kitchen when the pressure cooker was
being used on the stove.
As to soaking game in salt water,when young,I was told it would
make wild game less gamey tasting.Whatever,I have always done it...

Cooking with a pressure cooker has been around a long time. We've used one for many years. They're great for canning, in fact I just bought a new one on line, an "All American" 21.5 quart. Last weekend I canned the last doe that I got and got 20 pints and 10 quarts of meat. Of coarse I took out the back straps first, those are best fried in a cast iron skillet...
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Post by: Loyalist Dave on January 05, 2011, 12:44:08 PM: Actually folks, the pressure cooker goes back to the beginning of the 1700, and were usually refered to as a "bone digester". They were bronze, and although they had a steam vent, they didn't have a safety valve nor a pressure gauge,..., so they could "blow". The biggest problem seems to have been either a poorly cast piece of bronze with an air pocket, or the steam valve was so small it got clogged, and the pressure built up, or it was too small and not enough pressure was released.

It would be pretty easy to make with modern machining tools, and would work to cook food, but probably sorta heavy. Might make for a good demonstration at a historic site.

LD
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Post by: Longhunter on January 05, 2011, 01:26:08 PM: I shopped around and got the best price on my cooker from Amazon.com

http://www.amazon.com/All-American-921- ... B00004S88Z (http://www.amazon.com/All-American-921-All-American-Pressure/dp/B00004S88Z)
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Post by: sse on January 05, 2011, 04:36:12 PM: Ron - Why would you need a pressure cooker that large? I used to have one that would fit a head of cauliflower with ample room to spare. Pretty handy item for the kitchen, except I don't know what I did with it.
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Post by: Loyalist Dave on January 05, 2011, 08:28:49 PM: Well mine is a Hawkins "classic" 1.5 liter..., good for just me..., but that one is big enough to can meat...., as well as cook for the whole brigade, or so it appears!!

LD
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Post by: Three Hawks on January 21, 2011, 03:42:44 PM: Every once in a while I get a gift of organ meat from friends who connect while hunting. Liver, of course, is always braised with onions and some bacon as a side dish.

My favorite way of preparing heart is to soak it overnight in a salt/sugar brine then stuff it with sage dressing and bake it. Hearts from game animals mostly seem to be much larger than domestic critters, but taste the same. When I was a kid, we were given a buffalo heart, the thing weighed nearly six pounds. My mom stuffed and baked it. All nine of us had it for Sunday Dinner, with enough left for sandwiches for school on Monday. YUMMM!!

I've never been able to develop a taste for kidney, so that gets braised with a little sage to keep the urine smell down in the kitchen, then chopped fine to make it easier to divvy up for the cats. Cats love kidney as much as a dog does cheeseburgers.

Three Hawks
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Post by: rickevans on January 21, 2011, 04:16:37 PM: Hhhuuuummmm....baked stuffed deer heart. I am adding that one to the list.
Title: Re: Deer Heart
Post by: sse on June 19, 2014, 03:30:35 PM: I would be interested in hearing the details/procedure of anyone here who cans venison...never done it.
Title: Re: Deer Heart
Post by: Riley/MN on June 19, 2014, 04:34:30 PM: I have a friend that cans some. I can check with him on the procedure. I might see him in a couple weeks at the Mille Lacs vous....
Title: Re: Deer Heart
Post by: snake eyes on June 20, 2014, 02:18:58 PM: Quote from: "sse"
I would be interested in hearing the details/procedure of anyone here who cans venison...never done it.

Jim,
Check this out: Home Canning and Preserving, Meat, Vegetables, Fruits, Jam or Jelly. (http://www.simplycanning.com) Click on how to can and it will take you
to meat, both domestic and wild.

snake-eyes
Title: Re: Deer Heart
Post by: sse on June 20, 2014, 02:21:16 PM: thanks...

That is a great link...!
Title: Re:
Post by: snake eyes on September 18, 2014, 01:14:37 PM: Quote from: "Longhunter"
I shopped around and got the best price on my cooker from Amazon.com
Ron,
:cry:
snake-eyes
Title: Re: Deer Heart
Post by: Eric Krewson on February 19, 2015, 07:01:07 PM: You can get some deals on pressure cookers at flea markets or on ebay. I have a 4qt one that is at least 60 years old, you can still buy parts for it. I have a larger one I use for canning stuff out of the garden, it never fails, I will have too many beans picked to get canned in my big pressure cooker so I can the overflow in my four qt model, it will can 3 pints.
Title: Re: Deer Heart
Post by: snake eyes on February 19, 2015, 09:12:49 PM: Eric,
Oh, I know there are deals in the wind for about anything you need or want.
Wish I had my mother's PC. As a kid it scared me when that pressure valve released
that it's ready signal.Be great to see it happen again,like 60 years ago. Funny how I can
remember that and not yesterdays lunch. Damn it's a bit-h getting old. :shake [/color]