The boning thread brings up an interesting point- I noticed several references to the organs, etc....

How many of you guys eat liver and heart? I've been eating it since I was a kid and I love fresh liver and heart from deer, elk, moose (now that is a BIG heart!). Anyone else enjoy the "organs"?

One of my favorite things is fresh heart preforable on the day of the kill.

I have eaten liver also , kidneys?

I like atleast one meal from the liver, but once it's been frozen it doesn't seem to tast as good though. I like to take the heart and slice it thin about 1/4" or less, then roll in pancake flour and pan fry with a little season salt on it.

It drives my dad nuts but I won't touch either.Hate both.I guess he made me eat it one to many times as a kid on the night of the kill.Liver and onions...Yukkkk.

We now give it to one of our friends who grew up- up
the Salmon river just above 5ive mile bar and Buckskin Billie.She loves it and is really appreciative for the effort.She grew up on it and loved it.But not for me.

Jayco.

I made a huge mistake. For years I got all my friend's deer livers. At deer camp one day he tried it. Now, I get them no more!!!! capt david

Hello;
I use the same argument that I apply to domestic animals. Kineys are the body's sewage treatment facilities. Any toxic waste, heavy metals, etc. gathered over the years are likely to accumulate there. Yukk
Grizz

Liver does the same thing.

Eating the lIVER is like eating the animals OIL FILTER. Sorry,not for me.
I do save the heart,liver and kidneys to cook up for my Huskies though.

FN in MT

I love eating heart and liver, but I haven't in well over twenty years. Seems they and all organ meats are full of cholesterol and great for clogging arteries.

I love the liver and heart but my wife won't cook it for me because it gives me gout.Therefore I only have it once a year in moose camp!
Dave

I've been eatin' heart and liver for about 50yrs maybe more don't remember much them first few yrs, I've been aware of the "hazards" associated with organ meat for about 40 of those years...As little as I eat, just an elk or a few deer livers and hearts a year and shared between more than a couple people, I don't think it's enough to do any harm cholesterol or heavy metals wise. Just how much heavy metal and chemicals will a wild animal pick up, lest they're eatin sprayed agricultural crops. Considering how good heart and liver are, I don't think I'll be passing on any for the rest of my days. My huntin' partner's dad died at 84, been eatin heart and liver his whole life, my dad is 78, same thing, still goin strong....I think we get more "bad" stuff in our normal diets than what you'll get in a few meals of organ meat.

I ate impala tripe stew in South Africa. It was delicious.

In addition to liking liver and heart (I even save and eat dove hearts) I love brains sauted in butter and then scrambled with eggs. Some of my best memories of the deer camps when I was a kid are brains and eggs with my Mother's bisquits.

I'm not a liver lover but I've made some great liver pate. My favorite organ meat is deer heart ; cut into strips, saute onions in olive oil with rosemary and bay leaf ,when the onions are cooked add the heart strips , at the end add a bit of dry white wine. Excellent.

So, what do brains taste like? And do those of different animals taste different?
I can't imagine eating that on purpose.

Best meat for jerky is the heart. Hardly any fat in it and solid muscle. Buffalo heart jeky was the best.

How do you cook kidneys??

First you have to boil the Piss out of them.

sometimes eat fresh liver and heart, if they aren't shot-up. other times, just give it to friends or the kids.

Wonder why no gals are responding to this one?

I consider the heart to be the best part of the animal. It is NEVER wasted. The liver is a bit species dependent, flavorwise. Deer I consider as the worlds best. I'll generally save a liver if it's not to far of a pack, but admit to leaving some elk and moose livers. I can always manage to pack out a deer liver, though. Next best after the heart? The nuts. Another that I never waste. Had to teach 'em how to prepare them in Africa. Tripe is mighty good, but more work than I am generally willing to perform. Tripas are also good, but way too much work. Kidneys I have had mixed experiences with. I've had them that were superb out of an Ibex in Kyrgyzstan, but on other occasions, I found them rather lacking. I generally don't save them. Brains I never was too into; certainly not now because of the prion potential. The tongue is absolutely never wasted! It can even challenge heart for top spot in an animal.

Tongue is one of the best then heart and liver. Could never get up much of an appetite for kidneys though. Couldn't imagine that they would be worse for you than all the processed chemicals they call food you find in packages in the store.

jaycocreek,

I see the only reason you and I to fight at the dinner table is trying to keep the platter of liver away from our plates. Now the heart is a different story. Lawdog

I don't eat organs, but I tried 'em once.. I was hunting elk & camped at the end of the road along with some other folks at the same unit. One old guy & his red haired daughter were my neighbors for the week. Man, the rear view of that girl would make you get religion. One night around sun down I rode into camp and she was picking the fat off a deer heart & invited us over for dinner. Of course being the gentleman I am I couldn't refuse. I enjoyed the company but hated the food.

Once a year I raised Rock Cornish Cross chickens and fed the hearts to the cat.
The cat was so crazy for them, that it would do tricks like a dog to get a slice of a heart.

I bought chicken hearts from the store that smelled and tasted [cooked] exactly the same to me, but the cat would have none of them

We always eat both the heart and the liver. When we are moose hunting up in B.C.,we always use the tongue for sandwiches. It is better than either the heart or liver. My girlfriend likes to eat a certain "organ" once in a while.

I used to but them ivory keys are tough on the choppers.

How do you guys eat the nuts? Fried or something?

There isn't much I won't eat. Heart, lungs, liver, kidneys, pancreas, testicles, tripe and tounge. Brains, I do not like.

My favourite bit of guts is the liver, cut into chunky cubes, rolled in breadcrumbs, salt, pepper, wild fennel seeds then wrapped in the fat the holds the intestines as a bag.

Cook in a pan and you get to keep all the fat which is tasty as hell, but upsets your own liver and cholosterol, otherwise grilled over the fire they are lighter.

Heart is one of my favourites, makes a sauce that will make the angels sing! Needs to cook for a few hours, though.

Liver is what everybody here eats, I eat 2-3 a year, fresh roe liver, yum-yum :-). You may want to put it in milk for a day or so. Thinly sliced, thrown into a frying pan with onion, bit of salt and pepper and a touch of cream towards the end. Served with some sort of potato, mashed or hash browns (the Swiss call it "R�sti"). Very nice.

Kidney is good, I used to think it would be horrible, it turned out very nice - cooked with either the heart or the liver.

Only tried this once, my Alaskan guide (they are all a bit strange up there anyway, must be the northern lights ), insisted we tried "mountain oyster", so we did. Sliced thinly, and fried in the bacon fat from breakfast. It was fine, nothing spectacular, but ok.

- mike

Well, lets see. I have had heart, liver, tongue, and "mountain oysters" and enjoyed them all. The best liver I ever had was from a moose I shot in Canada. It was rolled in egg wash and flour-salt and peppered and fried=delicious. Tongue is boiled and pealed. Balls are cooked in sauce. Heart I do not enjoy much anymore but used to be a favorite. Now tripe was part of my culture and have enjoyed it since a kid till today (cow). Its boiled--then diced into strips--then cooked in a sauce=my favorite....

I save and cook any edible organs from any game I take. After its cooked and cooled I rough chop it in a food processor and store it in the fridge in a ZipLok for catfood. My cat loves it...

The hearts give an excellent "anticucho", peruvian shish kebab, when seasoned in olive oil, some vinegar, chili peppers and some other spices and then just barbequed for some short minutes. They get tough relatively fast so don�t overdo and enjoy with a good pisco sour or some cerveza Cusque�a.

Like already stated here, the heart is pure muscle, free of fat and by many natives considered the source of some magic and vital energies when eaten. At least it doesn�t hurt to do so.

Liver I enjoy from whitetail deer and red stag. Roe deer is for my taste too "gamey", at least when grilled.

Soak the liver and kidneys overnight in salted water. The liver is great with onions.

I like to thin slice the kidneys and heart, bread in a little flour, and panfry for breakfast. I usually have a little "hot" Chinese mustard to just put a tang on the heart and kidney slices.

On a few times in Africa, we have let a fire, and cooked the liver of a kudu or an impala, just for snacks while waiting for the hot midday sun to cool down a bit.

Hard to beat fresh venison heart. Just slice about 1/2" thick, flour, salt & pepper, then fry in vegetable oil.

Good stuff !