Welcome to TheOhioOutdoors
Wanting to join the rest of our members? Login or sign up today!
Login / Join

Deer Heart & Liver

Blan37

Member
1,800
64
SW Ohio
Do you keep them, and if so, what's your favorite recipe?

I like the flavor of the heart, but I'm not a big fan of the texture. After trimming all the junk off, I slice it real thin and just fry it up with salt and pepper and then put it on a sandwich or have it with eggs for breakfast.

I get a craving for liver & onions once or twice a year. No one else in my family will touch it though. It's better than beef liver IMO, but it doesn't quite cook up the same.

What do you all like to do with them? Keep 'em & cook 'em, or leave them for the scavengers?
 

Buckmaster

Senior Member
14,362
191
Portage
The hearts I began saving a couple years ago. I typically add it into my ground meat grindings. I have recently begun to experiment with various heart recipes...I tried pickled deer heart, grilled deer heart, and baked deer heart. I like baking the best stuffed with cheese, onion, and bacon.

Liver, I save a couple for my tracking dog, give some to my buddy Scott (he saves kidneys too), or leave them as they lay. I never could stand to eat liver, still can't.
 

bowhunter1023

Owner/Operator
Staff member
48,879
274
Appalachia
I only save the heart. I marinaded some, then breaded and deep fried it last year and it was awesome. Probably always do it like that since I only end up with 2-3 hearts a year and have a handful of special occasions to cook them for.
 

Redhunter1012

Senior Member
Supporting Member
Me no likey Liver. I love Heart though. I slice the heart and run it through my cuber. Then roll it in flour and brown it. Then add some sliced onions and mushrooms and some water and slow cook it a bit over medium heat. Serve with rice or taters
 

MK111

"Happy Hunting Grounds in the Sky"
Supporting Member
6,551
66
SW Ohio
Try liver this old way. Flour and brown lightly, put in a baking dish with a can of purple plums and bake until done. Awesome non liver flavor, my mom always made it this way.
 
I used to absolutely LOVE deer liver. That was until we found a liver fluke in one as we were slicing it up and frying it. We just used flour to dip them in and butter to fry. The heart I was OK with doing it the same way. It's chewy though compared to the liver. Someone recommended on here to use it in ground burger though and that is what I think I will start doing with it. Some day I may try liver again as I do miss it. Just gotta cut those strips thin to find any foreign critters though.
 

Blan37

Member
1,800
64
SW Ohio
I used to absolutely LOVE deer liver. That was until we found a liver fluke in one as we were slicing it up and frying it. We just used flour to dip them in and butter to fry. The heart I was OK with doing it the same way. It's chewy though compared to the liver. Someone recommended on here to use it in ground burger though and that is what I think I will start doing with it. Some day I may try liver again as I do miss it. Just gotta cut those strips thin to find any foreign critters though.

That's just extra protein brother! :D

Yeah, that would be an appetite killer for me. So far I haven't had that happen.
 

Blan37

Member
1,800
64
SW Ohio
I just had a heart, egg and cheese breakfast burrito.

Sliced the heart thin, beat it with a meat hammer and fried it in a little oil salt, pepper & oil. Scrambled up an egg, melted on a slice of American and combined it all in a whole wheat tortilla.

Good stuff!
 

dante322

*Supporting Member*
5,506
157
Crawford county
Slice the heart in a spiral, like unrolling a Swiss cake roll. Lay it flat. Layer it with bacon, season however you like. Roll it back up, slow cook like a pot roast.

I tried it once, it was pretty tasty, but time consuming. I usually just toss them in grind pile.

Never cared for liver so I never saved it. If I knew someone that liked it, I'd be happy to save them though.
 

Joel

Senior Member
3,049
113
Centerburg, Ohio
Don't y'all have a Pizza Hut or Little little caesars anywhere near you???

Haha. X2!

I can't stand the smell of liver cooking and I stay away from it. Tried deer heart last year and it wasn't horrible but I haven't saved one since. All guts now stay in the gut pile out in the woods.
 

djohn9713

Junior Member
135
41
How long can you keep a heart and/or liver before you cook it? We saved them from the deer my son took tonight and aren't planning on being home until Saturday. They are in a Ziploc in the fridge.