# Beef Heart ?



## cliffdweller (Jan 31, 2011)

Curious about various ways of feeding beef heart.


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I cook heart, as Sophy is not keen on it raw. It also makes good training treats, dried and cut small! It's rather rich, so a little to start with is a good idea, and counts as muscle meat rather than offal. It is particularly rich in taurine, which cats need, so I try to include some in their food, although I also use a taurine supplement to be on the safe side.


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## peppersb (Jun 5, 2011)

I buy beef heart from farmers at local farm stands. It comes frozen -- about 3-4 pounds per heart. My dogs get about half a pound of meat a day (1/4 pound each), so one beef heart will last for several days. My routine:

1. Take it out of the freezer and let it thaw for an hour or two. 
2. Slice off about about 2 pounds of meat, leaving a core that is still frozen.
3. Put the frozen core back in the freezer and use it later.
4. My dogs like it either cooked or raw. I usually give it to them raw the first night (and sometimes save some raw for the second night). Any meat that will not be consumed by the following evening, is cooked. 
5. To cook, I slice it into strips and boil it for about 45 min to an hour. I have also sauteed bite-sized pieces in oil and then added a little water to make some nice broth. The cooked meat can be kept for a few days in the refrigerator, or you can freeze cooked meat in meal-sized quantities. Sometimes I skip #3, and cook the whole heart, freezing meal-sized portions of whatever won't be used in a few days.

Heart is a very reasonably priced way of giving your dog some high quality meat that they are sure to love. For sources of pasture raised meat that can be purchased directly from farmers, see eatwild.com. You may need to call the farmers and special order the heart.


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## PoodlePowerBC (Feb 25, 2011)

I dry it and feed it as treats.


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## cliffdweller (Jan 31, 2011)

Thank you all ! These are helpful. I was a bit perplexed, since I didn't think about peppersb's solution, and had 4+ lbs. of red meat thawed. I ended up refrigerating enough for 2 days & making beef-heart jerky (similar to PoodlePowerBC) with the rest. I freeze the jerky & thaw as needed. Rain seems to like beef-heart a great deal so I'll be looking to get more !

Special thanks to peppersb, for the reference to eatwild. There are several farmers in Florida who will ship & I am exploring the possibility.


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