# elk guts and other things



## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

So with all of the snow I think me and my brother Franklin have a pretty good chance at filling our cow tags. This has me thinking of food. Has anyone here eaten the kidneys from an elk? How about sweet breads. What the heck are sweet breads exactly! How about brains?

What are your thoughts on eating guts. liver,heart,kidneys,lungs, brains, testicles, etc...

How do you cook them that is good. If I hear good things here I will try it and report back on how good it is so lets hear IT.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

10yearquest said:


> So with all of the snow I think me and my brother Franklin have a pretty good chance at filling our cow tags. This has me thinking of food. Has anyone here eaten the kidneys from an elk? How about sweet breads. What the heck are sweet breads exactly! How about brains?
> 
> What are your thoughts on eating guts. liver,heart,kidneys,lungs, brains, testicles, etc...
> 
> How do you cook them that is good. If I hear good things here I will try it and report back on how good it is so lets hear IT.


Sweet breads are glands in the neck, thymus I think, nasty lookin, but taste ok. :?

Elk liver is good, tastes like goose. 

Kidneys are nasty, taste like spruce-flavored goose soaked in urine. 
Geese, I had to eat beef kidneys growing up.

Elk testicles....not since I quit drinking. 

Elk lungs, no way, but I have a recipe.

Brains.....soak them in lye for 48 hours, throw the brains away, and drink the lye. 
Seriously, I don't think I've had elk brains, deer and squirrel brains yes.

Save the tongue, it's very good.


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## lehi (Sep 13, 2007)

I love the heart and liver. Never tried any of the other stuff you listed.


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

lehi said:


> I love the heart and liver. Never tried any of the other stuff you listed.


Same here. I am going to try the tongue. Maybe the kidney. I heard you must cut the urine tract part out and they are edible!? Still looking for info on that. Not yet committed on the brains. not sure how to cook them. If i knew how to find the thymus or pancreus i would try sweetbreads. I dont think my elk will have testicles but if it does.... This is just hoping I dont need a new tag soup recipe!! :evil:


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## Chaser (Sep 28, 2007)

10yearquest said:


> I heard you must cut the urine tract part out and they are edible!? Still looking for info on that.


Technically the whole kidney is part of the UT. Blood flows into the kidney, and the structures within filter out all the components of urine. Nitrogenous waste. :O>>: My thoughts: if it makes urine, its gonna taste like it. Call me crazy, but I won't eat the parts of an animal that filter waste products from its system.


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## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

If you are going to eat kidney, or liver for that matter, I suggest that you skin and slice it, and then soak it in a salty water with a dash of vinegar for 3 or 4 hours. Rinse in cool water before cooking. 

Ah.....bon appetit!


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

I think I may have watched to many episodes of "bizarre foods"


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## duneman101 (Nov 6, 2009)

definetly keep the tounge, simmer on low for an hour and remove the skin and you will have one of the most tender delicious meats on the animal.

liver is great, like wyo said, soak in salty water for a couple hours, through osmosis the more dense salt water will push the blood and most of the ill taste out of it. i prefer liver pan fried in butter. just cut into thin slices, melt a couple table spoons of butter in a pan, preferably a seasoned cast iron skillet, if you like onion saute a couple first, then brown on both side, the edges will usually curl in, so i alway put a little slice in the side to keep it from turning into a bubble.

the heart is great chunked up and deep fried, it is a chewy peice of meat similar to a chicken gizard if you have ever had that. 

I don't really eat the kidney's or any of the other organs though.


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## coyoteslayer (Sep 10, 2007)

My dad always told me ever since I was little that we don't eat what the magpies eat. No offense to anyone if you like that kind of stuff.


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## 10yearquest (Oct 15, 2009)

So I went ahead and tried a few of the things I talked about.

Liver: I just love it. Cant eat a whole lot at a time but I have always enjoyed a couple slices fried in butter.
Heart: I really was suprised at the smoothness of this, not as chewy as expected, good flavor, also too rich to eat alot at a time.
Kidney: this one is a real wierd one. I sliced the kidney in half and cut out the middle white part, chunked it up, soaked it in cold salty milk/water, and fried it just like liver. I really expected it to taste like liver but it was initially more like heart with an even smoother texture. The real kicker is the smell and aroma as your chewing it. Pure essence of elk. My two brothers and my 11 year old and I all tried it but non of us could get past the aftertaste/smell. Oh well. My dog sure liked it.


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## trackerputnam (Dec 21, 2014)

Thanks to my dad, I have eaten tungen(spelling?), hidden in a sandwich he made for me, brains hidden in scrambled eggs,(They had a sandy texture, yuk) and liver next to the fire we had built to keep warm while working on a big bull, it was pretty good. Heart was eatten last time I was on an elk hunt in Wyoming along the Snake River. That was real tasty. I have not been lost in the wilderness long enough yet to consider eatting the other stuff. Not sure I ever would either because by the time I would have eatten all the good stuff, the guts will have rotted relieving me of that burden.


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## catmando (Sep 10, 2007)

*Cooken Kidney*

The Best Way To Cook Kidney is To BOIL THE PISS Out Of EM. ;-)


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