Eat your heart out!


 
Geir Widar

Geir Widar

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Now, what do you call this cut? A bit unusual, maybe?
It’s a heart. A moose heart.
Many years ago, a friend of mine gave me a piece of dried and smoked moose heart. The taste and texture of the sample was amazing. I have dreamed of this meat ever since.
Now, almost twenty years later, I’ve been given a heart, and have the equipment I need to make something similar. My friend has lots of experience, and also a big cold smoker dug into the ground with a smoke house, but I will give it my best shot this weekend.
Here’s a couple of shots of the heart before I removed all the fat. Quite different from other muscles.
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My friend says that you can use hearts from cows as well, the “game” part of the taste is not so prominent.
Salt, 2,5%, pepper and into the fridge. The other piece of meat is the most tender part of the brisket, also with 2,5% salt, some granulated union and ground black pepper.
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I will update this thread to show the cold smoking and curing.
I hope some of you will find it interesting, even if it is a bit unusual.
 
I'm curing it whole. I have removed the fat and a couple of membranes. When the heart is fresh, it's full of blood, and needs to be watered out and given "heart compression" til get the blood out of the muscles.

I'll post more pics when it is cured, and after smoking.
 
Not my cup of tea...But i cant wait to se the resault
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I have tryed smoked deer heart. My fater-in-law aka "The Hunter" gave me some. Taste was great but my mind is playing tricks on me.
 
Getting ready for the cold smoke tomorrow. Out of the cure, and rinsed:

The moose heart and the brisket muscle.
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The reason for the red areas of the heart must be the small amount of nitrite salt I added. Looks like it worked better in some places than others. It does not really matter, this meat will be almost black before it is finished.

I ate a small sample to get a picture of the salt content. It tastes like slimy rubber with a prominent nose bleed aftertaste. The brisket is ready to eat as it is.

I'm planning to do a 20 hour smoke on the moose meat, split into two days of smoking.
 
I really wonder how the heart turns out. Cold smoked for about 20 hours.

The brisket meat is very compact, and has lost a lot og weight during curing and smoking. This meat is almost fat free, so they are really not that suited for this kind of treatment.

We'll find out, others has done this before med with great results. My cellar is too hot, so I have hung the pieces in the garage. 38 degrees F, humidity 60%. I have a "Ham bag" to protect the meat from dust and particles. Flies and other flying animals is no problem on this time of the year.

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Here's the "Ham bag". Not very impressive, it's just a cotton bag with a loose weave, and a piece of metal wire inside. It has been used for many years here in Norway to keep flies away from hams. There is a piece of string on the top.

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A picture of the meats, as far as I can see, not much has happened in over ten days:
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Still soft to touch.

Temps a tad up, still 60% moisture.
 
My garage is actually fully isolated, so the temps are quite stable during day and night, but as I don't heat it, it gets colder during wintertime.
The temperature rise is so small that I doubt it will do any difference.
Seems like this meat needs a lot longer drying time than let's say bacon or panchetta.
 
This is going to take some time. Took the heart down to inspect it, and sure enough- it's getting hotter in the cellar. Some mold can be found.

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Wiped it off, brushed on som water/vinegar, and followed a advice from a old friend- if you're getting mold on your meat, hit it with another shot of smoke. Cold smoked for three hours, and ready for another period in the cellar.


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I think it can hang for another four weeks without problems. Daytime temperatures are quite nice, but night temps are still below freezing, so I use a fan to pump cold air into the room during night.

Before anybody asks, yes, the meat is as black as it looks on the pictures. The colour is as expected.
 
Now, both pieces are finished, and as you can see, we have already had a snack.

Both pieces of meat are dry, as expected. This meat is very lean, and really not suitable for curing. Nonetheless, the result is quite different from anything else that I have eaten before. Cut into paper thin slices, the brisket is full of taste, not too salty, and has a nice aroma.

The heart, which I at one stage of the process doubted would be edible, is delicious.
It is impossible to compare the taste with other cured meats, because I have never eaten anything that can compare to this. The closest thing must be cured and smoked goat leg, but I doubt that is very helpful as a reference for most of you
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It has a flavor of its own. It is both dry and soft at the same time, some people say it has sort of like a "nice aftertaste of blood". I've had a couple of people that did not like it at all.



Large view- click on picture.
 
Though I will probably never try to make this myself. I have to say this is the coolest thing I have seen on the boards yet. Hopefully I will come across this one day and taste it.
 
Thank you for the kind reply!
Now, please try this yourself, it's really worth it, and I promise you, it's a taste that compares with nothing else you have tried to eat.
A friend of mine who has written several books on curing and smoking tells me that you can use hearts from cattle, ie cows and bulls, and the taste is very much the same. Cow hearts must be possible to obtain.
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This must be "the ultimate survival food". I've had the heart stored in the fridge, and the taste is still the same.

Now, it's almost hunting season again, and several thousand moose will be turned into food.
I will surely make another heart, or two, if I can get some.
 
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