Deer Liver Recipes?

[Rafter H BBQ]

My son harvested his first deer yesterday! Looking for ideas on recipes for the liver… He’s never tried it but wants too as we don’t waste anything from a harvested animal! We have done liver and onions on animals in the past… but looking for other options!

Just reaching out to ask if you all have any recipes for it?! Thanks!

 

[JLeonard]

You had me at liver…..looking forward to seeing what y’all do with it!

Jim

 

[jcam222]

This would be an interesting use of it to help temper the strong flavor of the game liver. https://foragerchef.com/venison-liver-pate/

 

[Brokenhandle]

Not sure but I want to follow along to see what you decide!

Ryan

 

[Kvgsqtii]

Liver is a traditional ingredient in boudin if you are into sausage making.

 

[DougE]

Maybe look into this:

Venison Liverwurst

I try and use every piece of the animal I can when harvesting them. I've never been very good with using the liver and the heart, but I got that figured out now. I copied German Liverwurst. 1 deer heart and liver, this one equaled 3.45# 2 pounds ground venison 2 # pig fat Here is is all...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

 

[civilsmoker]

Slice it thin then buttermilk brine it over night then in a flour filled salt and pepper ziplock shake bag then shallow fry it!

The buttermilk brine I did on the quail would be perfect….. oh and you can use dry Italian spices vs fresh chopped. Use 3 tbs worth.

Some brown gravy after that with sautéed onions and shrooms……bingo!!!!!

Edit,ps it’s like the hunters version of schnitzel…..

 

[Fueling Around]

Congrats to your son.
My son had no interest whatsoever to try and take the liver from his first. It probably didn't help that his shot went through the liver and turned the gut cavity into a blood bath.
I cannot eat or use deer liver for the fluke.
If your deer are clear then do as civilsmoker recommends or maybe use a whole milk brine. Dairy removes a lot of the gameness. Same for those that love kidney. Dairy helps soak the piss out of it

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Thanks everyone for the replies… this forum is the best hands down! Not sure we will get around to doing this today. So going to vac seal the liver and the heart and put in the freezer. Yesterday was busy as today will be! And we still have 2 cow elk tags and 4 whitetail doe tags to fill before the end of the year. This may be a New Years project!

You all amaze me with the ideas! Again, the best forum hands down… just glad to be a very small part of it!

 

[archeryrob]

Maybe look into this:

Venison Liverwurst

I try and use every piece of the animal I can when harvesting them. I've never been very good with using the liver and the heart, but I got that figured out now. I copied German Liverwurst. 1 deer heart and liver, this one equaled 3.45# 2 pounds ground venison 2 # pig fat Here is is all...

www.smokingmeatforums.com

I updated my recipe here to use ground meat so I can save the hearts for pickling.

Braunschweiger – Liverwurst for 2020

So it was time for the annual making of the Braunschweiger or Liverwurst. I grew up with the first and other people call it the latter. Some say Braunschweiger has to be smoked, but the stuff in th…

archeryrob.wordpress.com

 

[in. pred]

too late to help but next deer try this.

i slice it about 1/2-3/8 thick. season it up with what you like, and cook it in bacon grease and butter on medium high. cook a half red onion sliced in the grease first(slight browning on edges) then remove. then just lightly browning liver on both sides. you dont want to over cook it or it gets tuff. you dont want it raw either just med/rare. if your a hard core liver person you can make gravy out of the rest of the flavor in the pan. im ok with just the sweet onions slathered on top.

pre cook:
dont forget to skin the liver! some dont know that you should. skin is tuff and will make it curl up really bad. i find it easier to skin after slicing myself.
wash off and let slices drain in sink while getting pan and stuff ready. getting the blood out makes it a very mild liver compared to other animals. its very mild and surprisingly good to most people! even kids like it so. lol

seasoning to try. salt, pepper, onion and garlic powder, thyme, and rosemary. the rosemary compliments the liver very well. be careful though its strong!!!

 

[BC Buck]

Coyote need to eat also. For years ate venison liver but dont care for it. Now use for trapping bait. Venison hart is one of the best parts of the deer for eating and also like curing and smoking them. If I get to many I add to grinding pile.

 

[TeeZee]

Slice it thin then buttermilk brine it over night then in a flour filled salt and pepper ziplock shake bag then shallow fry it!

The buttermilk brine I did on the quail would be perfect….. oh and you can use dry Italian spices vs fresh chopped. Use 3 tbs worth.

Some brown gravy after that with sautéed onions and shrooms……bingo!!!!!

Edit,ps it’s like the hunters version of schnitzel…..

Do use an overnight buttermilk brine--it transforms the taste, and many people who would not touch it otherwise enjoy liver after this treatment.

 

[slavikborisov]

grind it up and throw it in your sausage lol

 

[luvcatchingbass]

grind it up and throw it in your sausage lol

I ran some through the grinder once and what a slimy mess that was. I think it was beef liver from a neighbors cow, I was cleaning the freezer out and grinding anything and everything to turn into cat food for the farm cats. It was interesting to see what different meats came out like, granted I didn't worry about keeping things overly cold. that liver was a slimy mess

 

[TeeZee]

I ran some through the grinder once and what a slimy mess that was. I think it was beef liver from a neighbors cow, I was cleaning the freezer out and grinding anything and everything to turn into cat food for the farm cats. It was interesting to see what different meats came out like, granted I didn't worry about keeping things overly cold

Cook first, please.

 

[luvcatchingbass]

Cook first, please.

Yeah it was a slimy mess that came through. Or are you insinuating that I should have eaten it? If that's the case there are people who think I should take all the rib meat and neck meat off my deer too and I will tell anyone the same thing on certain meat items or the way I trim my stuff. Good farm cats need treats too
I should have added in that it was all stuff that was old and freezer burnt or unknown dates, this is why I hate chest freezers. Really pissed me off when I found we had 26 tubes 1.5lbs of burger that never got used and must be 4yrs old now, fricken wife swore we were out of burger and had been buying crappy Walmart garbage just

 

[TeeZee]

Yeah it was a slimy mess that came through. Or are you insinuating that I should have eaten it? If that's the case there are people who think I should take all the rib meat and neck meat off my deer too and I will tell anyone the same thing on certain meat items or the way I trim my stuff. Good farm cats need treats too
I should have added in that it was all stuff that was old and freezer burnt or unknown dates, this is why I hate chest freezers. Really pissed me off when I found we had 26 tubes 1.5lbs of burger that never got used and must be 4yrs old now, fricken wife swore we were out of burger and had been buying crappy Walmart garbage just

Not insinuating anything. (I have given the rib cage to winter birds; they sure looked appreciative.) Every recipe I've seen for liver in sausage says to cook first.

Sorry about the burger loss--39 lbs. is a lot of good meat to have to throw out. About two years ago I found a strange package in our upright--it was the very last of Dad's venison. I couldn't believe it; he's been gone 8 years now, and had stopped hunting at least two years before that (Parkinson's killed him; the first symptom was that suddenly he couldn't figure how how to climb into the deer stand).

So how old, do you figure? I put that meat at 8 years at least. Holy moly.

I called up Mom. We prepared to party, even if the stuff turned out to be inedible, but it fried up absolutely delicious (Dad's favorite recipe: venison floured and fried in bacon grease, with gravy and fried potatoes).

Hoping you can save some of yours.

 

[jcam222]

Yeah it was a slimy mess that came through. Or are you insinuating that I should have eaten it? If that's the case there are people who think I should take all the rib meat and neck meat off my deer too and I will tell anyone the same thing on certain meat items or the way I trim my stuff. Good farm cats need treats too
I should have added in that it was all stuff that was old and freezer burnt or unknown dates, this is why I hate chest freezers. Really pissed me off when I found we had 26 tubes 1.5lbs of burger that never got used and must be 4yrs old now, fricken wife swore we were out of burger and had been buying crappy Walmart garbage just

I could never go back to chest freezers. Have two upright now. I rotate things way better

 

[ajbert]

I brought home an elk liver about 10 years ago, as my wife said she grew up on liver and onions, and so did I. She cooked up about have of it as she recalled how her mom always made. Either she didn't remember correctly or elk live is not to be consumed by humans.

Since then, the livers and hearts get mixed into the scraps, including the neck and rib meat, when grinding up for the dog. He loves it, and supposedly is good for him.

This year we got two big bodied bucks (mule deer). From the meat left over from last added to the take we got this year, he gets meat for dinner every day for at least the next year. I don't waste anything that is edible on an animal. What we don't eat, the dog is next is next in line. What we don't give him, mainly the thick fat on the back and hind quarters, we dump in the National Forest about a mile from the house. That includes the bones, legs, hide and head. What the coyotes don't eat, the ravens, bluejays, and magpies finish off. Come spring that is any is left, the ants will get.