BBQ Bison Heart, good reults!

Hi, All,

I hope the pix post O.K. So far, I've only managed to get a few images up on the new board.



If it worked, above is a shot of the 3.5 lb bison heart I did yesterday.

I've cooked beef heart several times, but this was my firsty bison. Most recipes for heart recommend marinating the meat. This is to soften the large amount of cartiledge surrounding the meat, and add some fat to an otherwise very lean piece of meat. Most suggest cubing it for kabobs, or slicing it into steak-like slabs. The one I had was cut along one side, so I decided to just lay it out, and cook it rather like a small brisket.

I cut away the thick suet fat from the top of the heart, and the veins. I pulled off as much of the muscle sheath from the outside. I cut away as much of the cartiledge strands and sheath from the inside as I could, but most of that remained.

I brined the meat for 24 hours. The beef heart I've had, especially organic raised, has had a rather strong taste. My wife doesn't really like it. I figured that brining would be good as it tends to reduce the "blood" flavor in red meats.

I found some comments on-line from a chef in Rapid City, Dakota, recommending that bison marinades contain sweet fruit, and that the meat be cooked slowly. I made a simple oil & cider vinegar marinade with about half a can of apple juice concentrate added. After 4 hours, I removed the heart from the marinade and put on a fairly sweet Bourbon/Molasses spice rub.

I cooked indirect, with the dome at 250. I didn't use any wood for smoke because I wanted the flavor to be mild. At 2.5 hours, the meat had reached 160, and the temp was plateauing. At 3 hours, the meat looked a little dry, so I began to mop with apple juice. At 4 hours, the meat began to look really dry, and the temp was only 170. Worse, the flavor was rather liver-ish. I foiled it in apple juice. At 5 hours, I took it out. I basted lightly with oil all over, and let it finish cut side down.



If the pic shows, you can see that even without wood, the charcoal formed a little smoke ring on one side.

The meat was pretty good in the end. Not fall apart tender. I'm not sure if it ever could be, given the density of the muscle. The slow cooking and the foiling turned all the cartiledge soft, and so while the meat was still a bit chewy, there was nothing that couldn't be eaten. The flavor ended up something like a sausage, vaguely like Braunschweiger, but with a much firmer texture.