Beef heart is a superfood that contains excellent amounts of CoQ10, B vitamins, folic acid, Selenium, Phosphorus, Zinc, and Amino Acids. These nutrients boost our metabolism and help our bodies maintain muscle mass. CoQ10 is essential to heart health, is cancer-protective, and it is present in every cell in the body. Statin drugs deplete CoQ10, which is unfortunate considering that the majority of people on statin drugs already have compromised cardiac health.
We have a very active family and my husband lifts weights (heavy weights) regularly, so I figured we could all use a bit of naturally occurring CoQ10. Plus, the other nutrients are an added bonus. The trick is actually getting my family to eat beef heart. So I whipped up some jerky….beef heart jerky. Tricky, tricky!
Beef Heart Jerky
Beef heart is a superfood that contains excellent amounts of CoQ10 and many other vitamins and nutrients. But it can be tough to get your family to eat it, so whip up a tasty snack where they won't even realize what they're eating. Sneaky, sneaky!
Ingredients
- 1 grass-fed beef heart (got it at my local co-op for cheap!), sliced into 1/4″ strips
- Coconut aminos
- Real maple syrup
- Fresh ground pepper
- Apple cider vinegar
Instructions
- Partially freeze the heart (this makes it WAY easier to slice thin).
- Carve off any fat and discard. Slice the meat into 1/4″ strips, like regular beef jerky.
- Place it into a glass container (important, as glass is non-reactive).
- Mix up all of the ingredients (minus the heart) to make the marinade.
- Mix it to your taste, depending on if you want it sweet, salty, or tangy (I also like to add garlic occasionally).
- Once you achieve the flavor you like, pour it over the heart meat, cover the container, and let it marinate.
- Refrigerate for up to 24 hours.
- Then dehydrate the beef heart in either a dehydrator set to the meat setting or in a low oven (200°F) until dry.
- Store the jerky in a plastic bag in the fridge to be safe.
Recommended Products
As an Amazon Associate and member of other affiliate programs, I earn from qualifying purchases.
CLICK HERE to Pin this Recipe
10 Replies to “Step-by-Step: Beef Heart Jerky”
Hi Kate! You mentioned that beef heart has high levels of CoQ10, but do you know if this is degraded with the dehydration process? I’m actually trying to make a beef heart jerky for a food product project at my university, so thank you for the post! -Aubrey
If I missed the amounts, please excuse me. A starting point for the ingredient amounts would be great. Does your family like it salty? Then what amounts did you start with to get you there and how big was your beef heart? Thank you for this post.
So sorry, I wrote this post a long time ago and apparently wanted people to guess the amounts, lol. It’s basically 1:1, because its a marinade. 1 cup of each liquid, 1 tsp pepper. Whisk. Add meat. Hope you like it!
Sounds great! I’m guessing that I could use venison or elk heart? Have you ever done anything similar with liver? Would love to know how to do that too!
Venison or elk would work too! I haven’t tried liver, it breaks apart too easily and would basically dissolve.
Do you slice across the grain or with the grain
across the grain