Dried Venison Heart (Katsoubushi Style)
Venison heart is dry-cured with salt, sugar, rosemary, and juniper, then smoked low and dehydrated until hard enough to grate. It is a good way to turn venison heart into a smoky seasoning for soups, chili, mayo-based salads, and other dishes that need more umami.
Equipment
- smoker
- dehydrator
- microplane or fine cheese grater (for grating the heart)
Ingredients
- 1 heart (venison, beef or lamb) ,cleaned and filleted flat
- 3 cups sugar
- 1 1/2 cups kosher salt
- 3 sprigs of rosemary, chopped
- 1 teaspoon juniper berries, crushed
Instructions
- In a large bowl add in all of your ingredients except the heart. Mix to combine.
- Ensure that your heart is thoroughly trimmed and that no fat remains. The heart should be filleted so that it lays in one flat piece.
- In a narrow medium sized container, pour in half of the salt and sugar mixture. Place the heart in the container. Pour the remaining mixture over top. The heart should be fully covered. If not, transfer it into a smaller container or make a half batch of the dry cure.
- Cover and refrigerate for 12-14 hours. Remove the heart from the cure and rinse the heart with cold water. Dry the heart off with paper-towels. Discard the cure.
- Smoke the heart at the lowest temperature that you possibly can while maintaining a good smoke. Ideally you want to smoke it between 150-180 degrees. Smoke until the internal temperature reaches 150 degrees.
- Transfer the smoked heart to a dehydrator set at 150 degrees. Dry the venison heart for 24 hours. It should be very hard to the touch and not pliable at all.
NOTES
- Trim the heart completely. Open it into a single flat piece and remove all the fat before curing, so it dries evenly and grates cleanly.
- Cover it fully in cure. The heart should be completely buried in the salt-and-sugar mixture. If it is not, move it to a smaller container or make more cure.
- Cure it overnight only. Twelve to 14 hours is enough for this step before rinsing and drying.
- Smoke it low and slow. Keep the smoker as low as you can while still getting good smoke, ideally between 150 and 180 F, until the heart reaches 150 F inside.
- Dehydrate until hard. Dry it at 150 F for about 24 hours, until it is very firm and no longer pliable.
- Grate it finely to use. A microplane or fine grater works best for adding it to soups, chili, aioli, deviled eggs, pimento cheese, or potato salad.
Nutrition
Calories: 4357kcal | Carbohydrates: 602g | Protein: 322g | Fat: 74g | Saturated Fat: 25g | Polyunsaturated Fat: 10g | Monounsaturated Fat: 21g | Trans Fat: 3g | Cholesterol: 2249mg | Sodium: 171544mg | Potassium: 5256mg | Fiber: 0.1g | Sugar: 599g | Vitamin A: 9IU | Vitamin C: 36mg | Calcium: 242mg | Iron: 80mg
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation. Nutrition is per serving.
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