# Smoked Venison Heart



## doongie (Dec 31, 2019)

A friend of mine likes the heart, so whenever I get a deer I save it for him.  This year he picked up the first one within hours, it was still warm.  He cuts them in to small chunks and pan fries them in butter.  He’s always said they are tough, but that’s why they cut them small.  We got a second deer this year, so I saved the second one for the smoker.
I trimmed it and cooked it to 160 it over a mix of hickory and cherry in my MES30.  That afternoon I met him at the tavern and sampled it, everyone was quite surprised at how tender it was.  I didn’t use any seasoning, wanted to use this as a test.  Next year it will get some dry rub the night before smoking, and I’ll pull the thinner piece much earlier.  I can hardly wait!

I may run a few tests on beef or pork hearts between now and next deer season.


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## tropics (Dec 31, 2019)

What did it look like when you sliced it?
Richie


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## doongie (Dec 31, 2019)

I didn’t take any photos of when we sliced it for eating, but the larger piece was about 3/8” thick, dark from smoke on the outside, deep red color on the inside.


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