# Hearts and Livers



## activescrape (Jan 8, 2006)

Do any of ya'll keep the innards of big game to eat? I've read articles where they would wrap the heart and liver to save it, but I never have. I have given them a long look or two, but always blew it off. 
Now, I do frequently keep the gizzard, heart and liver of turkeys for giblet gravy. Even pheasants have good giblets.
I was just wondering what big game giblets would be like.


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## CHARLIE (Jun 2, 2004)

Well scrape Im like you I have thought about it but never did it.

Charlie


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## z-cat (Jul 24, 2007)

we have always kept them, but for a different reason. we boil them, and then chop it up with a cleaver and mix it in with the dogs food. They love it! My grandad would always carry a plastic bread bag with his gear, just for this reason. Our labs would be waiting for their special dinner anytime we had killed a deer. There is bound to be some good recipies for them though.


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## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

Hearts of dove, quail, ducks, geese, cranes, deer etc along with the gizzards out of every critter thats got one go to the house with me! My kids like em too, so they make sure and remind me so that I have plenty of em to snack on while the main course is cookin up.


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## z-cat (Jul 24, 2007)

triple f- how do you fix them?


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## activescrape (Jan 8, 2006)

triple f said:


> Hearts of dove, quail, ducks, geese, cranes, deer etc along with the gizzards out of every critter thats got one go to the house with me! My kids like em too, so they make sure and remind me so that I have plenty of em to snack on while the main course is cookin up.


Really, duck gizzards, that's another one I have eyeballed. I just never heard of it so...How do they taste, and how do you cook the deer heart?


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## Rack Ranch (May 25, 2004)

Well to be honest with you the hearts usually have a hole thru the middle of them from my shot placement.. ; ) I'm not a heart or a liver guy but like ya'll have thought about it..


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## capn (Aug 11, 2005)

If I am breasting birds, I will usually pull atleast the heart since that is my favorite part. The gizzards are pretty good too if it's a big enough to mess with. I don't care for duck or goose livers though.

If it's convenient, I save the hearts and livers out of wild hogs for trotline bait in the spring.


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## fishgravy (Mar 5, 2007)

Heart is good. Slice it 1/4'' and fry it like you would your steaks. Been eating them for years. Liver is not bad either, but I prefer the heart.


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## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

The hearts and gizzards are great floured up and chicken fried or wrapped in foil with bbq sauce, onions and jalepenos and put on the grill. After a bit open up the foil and let some smoke get on em.

Ya gotta be sure and rinse the hearts out good.....kinda squish em a few times in water to get all the blood out. The gizzards are kind of a pain to clean, just be sure and get that lining out of em after you split em open. The smaller hearts I do whole, but the bigger ones (along with the gizzards) I slice em up.


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## z-cat (Jul 24, 2007)

thanks triple f. I'll give it a try this weekend. the more I think about it, my Granny used to put them in her spanish rice. I think she made them with a mushroom gravy too.


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## LBS (Sep 2, 2004)

Deer heart makes a bad arse stew/roast also. My grandma makes it with a regular ol stew or roast recipe and cooks it real slow..."real slow" key words here. I had a hard time eating it the first time, just because of the thought of eating a heart, but now I'm sold and save every one that's not busted up. Still not sold on liver tho. Heart = muscle, Liver = filter. Somehow I think of licking a dirty sock when I think of people eating liver.


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## pevotva (Sep 7, 2005)

Not much on liver but chicken fried deer heart is good. Cant say I keep em every time but if my Dad's around it will not go out with the gutpile.


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## asolde (May 22, 2004)

*Delious*

That's why I always bring an onion and some bacon with me to camp. Nothing like fresh Deer liver cooked with onion and bacon. If you eat beef liver you will love deer liver. I don't think to much of the heart though.


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## capn (Aug 11, 2005)

If you fry them duck hearts up hole, make sure and slice em open first. Otherwise every one of them will pop atleast once in the oil. They always managed to pop right when my hand is over top when I forget.


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## z-cat (Jul 24, 2007)

listening to my stomach growling. too early for all this good food talk.


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## LIONESS-270 (May 19, 2005)

We used too. But we no longer gut our Deer so they go to the yote pile.

On hogs...we keep a few livers in the freezer to make Boudain and Dirty Rice...

niether are the real stuff without Pork liver.


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## redduck (Jul 26, 2006)

I have eaten deer liver and it was not bad (chicken fried). I can't say I am a liver fan but that's what the cook fixed and if you complained you did the next cooking. I have never tried the heart but have thought about it.


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## Captn C (May 21, 2004)

YUCK! Way too many good parts to go around eating the guts!

Eating grinders, pumps and filters! Come-on bring on the back straps and hog ribs!


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## harrisr70 (Mar 4, 2005)

activescrape said:


> Do any of ya'll keep the innards of big game to eat? I've read articles where they would wrap the heart and liver to save it, but I never have. I have given them a long look or two, but always blew it off.
> Now, I do frequently keep the gizzard, heart and liver of turkeys for giblet gravy. Even pheasants have good giblets.
> I was just wondering what big game giblets would be like.


I've got a friend who comes from a hispanic background. They are all hardcore hunters. Going to their house for dinner, you never knew what might hit the table, and honestly you were probably better off not asking. Anyhow, a few years ago we were deer hunting and his dad was with us. We were out back gutting deer and his dad decides he's going to cook up some heart. I thought to my self, NO WAY IN HE77 am I going to eat that. Well, he sliced it pretty thin across the whole heart (where you could basically see all 4 chambers of the heart) and put the slices into a zip lock with some tenderizer and marinade and stuch it in the fridge for about a day. The next night when we fired up the grill, he put those slices on first and cooked them fast to a Medium Rare doneness. Now, I don't know if it was the whiskey that did it or not, but honestly it wasn't too bad. I would say if you like fried chicken livers or gizzards, you'll like heart. I don't think I could make a meal out of something like that, but for a couple of bites as an appetizer and a conversation piece before dinner, I wouldn't be afraid to give it a try.


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## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

The main thing that you've got to remember with hearts and gizzards is DO NOT OVERCOOK IT! Alot of folks will overcook them and they get really chewy and not nearly as tasty.

Now on the other hand, kidney has got to be cooked really well. As a matter of fact, ya gotta cook the PISZ out of it!:rotfl:


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## reload (Apr 22, 2006)

*Heart*

I have kept and eaten the heart of an elk. It was not my favorite, but it was not bad either. To prepare it, slice it like a tomato, dip in flour, salt, pepper and then deep fry.


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## Redfishr (Jul 26, 2004)

I always eat the deer hearts...


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## bigfishtx (Jul 17, 2007)

Slice the liver into 1/2 thick steaks, salt and pepper it, dip it in milk, then cornmeal. Pan fry it, in a seperate pan, brown some sliced onions, and serve the liver with the onions on top....good stuff.


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## Whiskey7 (Aug 16, 2004)

I've kept the heart and clean it and just throw it in with the rest of the meat in the grinder to make sausage.


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## Ckill (Mar 9, 2007)

Every year 'Deer Camp Stew' is made opening weekend. All the things mentioned are included from last years kill. I have been eating it for 25 years now and look foward to the flavor. I even ate he heck out of it when I was a kid, but probably did not know what it was.


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## Team Binnion (Jun 3, 2004)

*I agree*



Captn C said:


> YUCK! Way too many good parts to go around eating the guts!
> 
> Eating grinders, pumps and filters! Come-on bring on the back straps and hog ribs!


I agree, as long as I have money in my pocket, that JUNK will be the last thing I eat, and yes I have tried it and it does not come close to Backstrap, T-Bones or Ribeyes.


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## flyingfish (Mar 21, 2006)

All my friends out west kept telling me how good the heart was so I finally tried it. It tasted just like liver to me. I hate liver so I didn't think much of the heart. My wife likes liver and said the heart tasted better. I don't keep them any more.

gary


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## John Galt (Aug 6, 2006)

*Kidneys...*

Soak in milk to get rid of the blood. Finely dice and fry in bacon grease with onion and garlic. Add roasted red pepper and paprika, add tomato paste, add enough sherry to loosen the sauce. Tasty on crusty bread.

I've made a good liverwurst wtih 1/2 liver, 1/2 butter, but it's hard to make somethign taste bad with enough butter.

I love sweetbreads on the grill but I can't figure out where on the deer they are.. I like hog brains fried with eggs, but am afraid of CWD.

I like hog guts for sausage casings and tripes in menudo but I'm too lazy to clean them.


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## ETXHNTR (Mar 4, 2007)

Too nasty for this ole *******...........never could aquire a taste for the "innerds"


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## Haute Pursuit (Jun 26, 2006)

I'd rather eat a Hot Pocket... and I hate Hot Pockets...


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## wet dreams (May 21, 2004)

I've never but I've never had to, when we processed deer we would do 6-700 a yr and would get just a few that had the liver and heart packaged for us to cut n wrap. I do have a close friend that saves the heart n told me you couldn't tell from back-strap, the ones that had the liver cut up told us it was for their cat. I put that in the same class as **** n Possum, I've heard there good but I havn't had to eat 1 yet. WW


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## youngfisher25 (Jun 22, 2006)

Me, my brother, and my dad started saving the hearts about three years ago and we cut them into strips and stir fry them with a sauce recipe my dad has and to me it is just as good as the backstrap if not better.......very tender JMO


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## scubaru (Mar 28, 2005)

This thread came up last year too, so I tried it for my self. The heart sliced like fajitas and grilled over mesquite is pretty good, we et that while drinkin beer and waiting on the steaks. We even ate some raw but that had more to do with the whiskey. I'll prolly keep the deer heartichokes from now on.


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## t-dub (Jun 14, 2006)

I was getting ready to go to lunch unitl I read this thread. I'm not really hungry anymore. I'll eat most anything, but I like my innards disguised in the form of vienna sausage or potted meat.

TW


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## scubaru (Mar 28, 2005)

*My first bow kill,*

Put that in your potted meat!


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## BigBuck (Mar 2, 2005)

*Heart*

Back several years ago, before I knew what cholestorol was, I fried the heart every time I fried backstrap. My youngest daughter loved it so much, she would go around collecting hearts from people that did not save them. We have a nice cleaning area and drop deer guts into 5 gal buckets. If someone had dropped the guts without removing the heart, she would roll up her sleeves and go up to her elbows in guts to get the heart out. All the guys in camp got a big kick out of watching her going after hearts. She did learn, though, not to go diving with a gut shot deer. She still loves the heart, I do too, but do not eat it too often anymore.
BB


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## Oceola (Mar 25, 2007)

Well, hate to rain on the parade guys, but check this out....Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Annual, page 19, under "General Law", "Waste of game"..."It is a violation to fail to keep all edible portions of a game bird, game animal, of fish in an edible condition". (Class A midemeanor)
This is normal in most states I've hunted in so for years I've carried a gallon zip lock bag for the heart and liver. Don't know if the game wardens dwell on this much around where you hunt though???
Can't say I like heart very much (will have to try some of these recipes) and never liked liver until I learned how to cook it. In your cast Iron skillet, cook down some onions and a jar of sliced mushrooms in a lot of butter. Take them out of the pan and pour off any remaining butter. Get the skillet HOT, throw in the liver, SEAR it on both sides and your done...I know, "rare liver, you got to be nuts"...Try it, it's a whole new flavor. Liver only tastes like liver because everyone over cooks it!!!

Frank


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

sounds like most of yall never heard of SOB Stew.
elk heart makes a good stew also.
in our parts what we call "mare guts" actually hot mesquite grilled beef tripas(small intestine, rinsed or not) is osogood.
dont forget the mollejas.
the hearts and gizzards from dove and teal along with the picked birds and gravy with dumplins will make ya eat till you pop. 
heart, liver, kidney, gizzard, sweetbread, all good!
and for those of you who swear off "innards", do you skin yer sausage before eating?


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## Captn C (May 21, 2004)

kweber said:


> ......... for those of you who swear off "innards", do you skin yer sausage before eating?


I do!

Everyone thinks I'm nuts, but I do...not because it's innards though. It's frickin tough most of the time.


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## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

kweber said:


> do you skin yer sausage before eating?


Hey Kdubya! The mans askin you a question!!!!!!!!


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## JDM1967 (Oct 16, 2006)

kweber said:


> sounds like most of yall never heard of SOB Stew.
> elk heart makes a good stew also.
> in our parts what we call "mare guts" actually hot mesquite grilled beef tripas(small intestine, rinsed or not) is osogood.
> dont forget the mollejas.
> ...


Tripitas (tripe) rinsed/boiled with bay leaves, salt,pepper and after braid them and throw them in the grill OHHHHHHH YESSSSSSS (to a crispy finish). Heart, Liver, (mollejitas (gizzards) they are sooo good,


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

triple f said:


> Hey Kdubya! The mans askin you a question!!!!!!!!


 peeling the casing off the cooked sausage, in this day and age I guess I should be more specific. nutritional consumtion only, wait that dont work either, for some. eatin deer/hog sausage is what I mean. dang, this new-age poliltical, ever'thang goes bidness gets an' ol' boy kinda' on his heels.


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## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

kweber said:


> peeling the casing off the cooked sausage, in this day and age I guess I should be more specific. nutritional consumtion only, wait that dont work either for some. eatin deer/hog sausage.


oh...................nevermind..............my bad.

Kelly...........as you were.


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## Whitecrow (May 26, 2004)

Man-law 328, subsection 5, paragraph C : When you cut an animal open, you don't eat the parts that fall out. :slimer:


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

guess we skipped that chapter! lol


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## triple f (Aug 23, 2005)

Whitecrow said:


> Man-law 328, subsection 5, paragraph C : When you cut an animal open, you don't eat the parts that fall out. :slimer:


There is, however, a caveot to ML 328-5-C. As it is worded, it applies to those parts that "...fall out.". I carefully remove the delicacies of which we speak with the skill and diligence of a highly trained surgeon, therefore ML 328-5-C does not apply.

In other words........If any inerds just haphazardly flop out of a critter that I'm tearin into, it don't git et!:biggrin:


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

triple F, I gotta big ol' cast iron wash pot jus' itchin' fer a stewin'. with dumplins, gravy and a dutch oven fulla cornbread. lake yu sed, don get th' gud stuff ina dirt!


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## activescrape (Jan 8, 2006)

First thing a Commanche would do upon killing a buffalo is get the warm liver out and as an honor take the first bite. Then, If he was in a good mood, pass it around to the other hunters. Guess they never got the man law book either. Vaguely reminds me of Scubaru. lol


By the way, I wonder if there was CML=cave man law, before MDM=modern day man law.

BTW again. I haven't heard of anything here yet that I wouyld not try, EXCEPT, for the unwashed tripas. eeeuuuuww!


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

I'm so NOT gonna tell a Comanche warrior he's less than a man while he has bloody buffalo liver running down his chin!
Gus an Woodrow didn't either!
I prefer it cooked, but to each....


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

activescrape said:


> First thing a Commanche would do upon killing a buffalo is get the warm liver out and as an honor take the first bite. Then, If he was in a good mood, pass it around to the other hunters. Guess they never got the man law book either. Vaguely reminds me of Scubaru. lol
> 
> By the way, I wonder if there was CML=cave man law, before MDM=modern day man law.
> 
> BTW again. I haven't heard of anything here yet that I wouyld not try, EXCEPT, for the unwashed tripas. eeeuuuuww!


the old Germans and Mexicans said that was the best of veal.


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## straw boss (Sep 27, 2005)

Slice the liver thin, remove the outer lining along the edges, lighty flour and fry in hot grease, drain the liver on some paper towels in the oven while you grill onions to cover it. My sons hated liver (although i cannot remember them ever eating any) until last season in camp. they changed their minds. it was very good.


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## jtburf (May 26, 2004)

Oceola said:


> Well, hate to rain on the parade guys, but check this out....Texas Parks and Wildlife Outdoor Annual, page 19, under "General Law", "Waste of game"..."It is a violation to fail to keep all edible portions of a game bird, game animal, of fish in an edible condition". (Class A midemeanor)
> This is normal in most states I've hunted in so for years I've carried a gallon zip lock bag for the heart and liver. Don't know if the game wardens dwell on this much around where you hunt though???
> Can't say I like heart very much (will have to try some of these recipes) and never liked liver until I learned how to cook it. In your cast Iron skillet, cook down some onions and a jar of sliced mushrooms in a lot of butter. Take them out of the pan and pour off any remaining butter. Get the skillet HOT, throw in the liver, SEAR it on both sides and your done...I know, "rare liver, you got to be nuts"...Try it, it's a whole new flavor. Liver only tastes like liver because everyone over cooks it!!!
> 
> Frank


What they call edible and what I call edible are two different items... write me a ticket....
'

John


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## kweber (Sep 20, 2005)

well here's an old one... 


who's ready for some deer-heart stew?
just a few weeks till a cold north wind is blowing and an iron pot on a mesquite fire...
I like a little garlic mixed in


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## SHURSHOT270 (Dec 28, 2007)

I Keep the livers for catfish bait. Cheap and works great. 


K&R Ranch


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## fredericksburghunter (Dec 26, 2009)

I personally kept and ground up for Blood Sausages/Boudain. Delicious


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## DTRPescador (May 24, 2012)

I keep liver and heart for the catfish at the ranch and to train my dogs.


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## Law Dog (Jul 27, 2010)

They Taste like Chicken.


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## Trouthunter (Dec 18, 1998)

Don't like heart and don't like liver. 

I have kept them and late season fetuses for the local school biology department though.

TH


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