Simple Grilled Venison Heart
The Heart of the Hunt
10 Min
Prep Time
5 Min
Cook Time
5
Servings
Easy
Difficulty
Bear with me, I am going to brag a little. This past weekend was Kentucky's early two-day muzzleloader season. Potroast, the youngest of our brood and a budding mountain man at heart, decided that he was going to leave his modern in-line gun at home this year and hunt with my CVA Hawken. We put in the range time till I was satisfied with his ability to hit where he was aiming with the open sights and he felt comfortable with the firearm.
As we often do with our deer, we prepared the heart for a snack almost immediately. If you aren't making use of your deer's heart, you should be. One of our favorites is to sear the sliced heart on a forevermore-red-scalding-hot grill, but strips dusted in flour and pan fried run a close second. Either way, don't overcook. Treat it like any other muscle from the deer, rare to medium rare is perfect. A minute or so per side is plenty.
Preparing a heart is easy, here is how we do it.
Rinse the heart well and submerge it in ice water for an hour or two.
Open the heart by making a butterfly cut down the center along the artery. Fold the heart out flat.
How about you? Eat the heart? Or leave it in the woods? Let us hear your favorite heart recipe.
Cooking Instructions
For this method, salt and pepper both sides of the meat well. Build a charcoal fire or turn your gas grill on high and allow the temperature to rise to high, 500 degrees or more. If you hold your open palm a couple inches above the grill grates, you should immediately feel the need to jerk it away. Sear the heart over direct heat for 60 seconds per side.
