Beef Heart Jerky Recipe

This recipe is from my book, It Takes Guts: A Meat-Eaters Guide to Eating Offal with over 75 Healthy and Delicious Nose-to-Tail Recipes. This was one of my favorites, because I was honestly so surprised that beef heart made such incredible jerky! The beefy, rich flavor is perfect - it's deeply savory and chewy without being tough or gamey tasting. It makes an amazing nutrient dense, high protein snack that's surprisingly easy to make. 

I hope you enjoy it, and if you do, please let me know! Share it and tag me on Instagram @themusclemaven.

Ingredients:

• 2 pounds beef heart
• ¼ cup coconut aminos
• 2 tablespoons maple syrup
• ¼ cup apple cider vinegar
• Juice of ¼ lemon
• ½ teaspoon ground black pepper
• ½ teaspoon garlic powder
• ½ teaspoon onion powder
• ½ teaspoon coarsely ground sea salt
• 1 tablespoon sesame seeds, for garnish (optional)

Special equipment: Food dehydrator (recommended). If you don’t have one, you can turn your oven to its lowest setting (usually 200°F) and place the strips on a wire rack set inside a rimmed baking sheet and bake them for about 10 hours. (Because ovens don’t circulate air as well as dehydrators do, the process of removing moisture from the meat takes a little longer in an oven.) You’ll want to check it every few hours and also crack the oven door every couple of hours to let the moisture being released from the meat escape. The best way to store jerky is in an airtight glass container in the fridge; if it’s nice and dry, it should be fine for a few weeks - but it won't last that long :) 

Instructions:

1. With a sharp knife, slice the heart into ¼-inch-thick strips (think beef jerky!). Place the slices in a glass bowl.
2. To make the marinade, mix together the rest of the ingredients except the sesame seeds. Taste and add more spices or other ingredients to your liking (depending on if you want the end result to be more spicy, salty, sweet, or tangy).
3. Once you achieve the flavor you like, pour the marinade over the heart in the container and mix well with your hands to ensure that all pieces are covered. Cover and place in the fridge to marinate overnight.
4. In the morning, take out the meat strips and pat them dry with a paper towel. At this point, you can sprinkle them with sesame seeds if you like. Place the strips with space between them in a dehydrator. Set to 160°F for about 10 hours. Remove the jerky from the dehydrator when it is fully dried and has the consistency of typical beef jerky.