Beef heart

    • Gold Top Dog

    Beef heart

    I got a lot of beef heart today on sale.  This is the first time I ever SAW it, let alone BOUGHT it. Now what do I do with it?  How does it freeze for storage?
    • Gold Top Dog
    When I bought beef heart, I bought 40 lbs. at one time. I cut them in half and put a half in a gallon ziplock bag and froze them. Then as I needed it, I thawed a half and cut it up into half pound amounts and bagged them separately like that.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Don't cook it.  You would loose a lot of the nutrient value that way.
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    • Gold Top Dog
    its one of our staple foods - others might chime in but be aware that it is high in iron
    I feed it raw and my dog loves it
    I cut into 1/2 lb pieces cause that is what i feed him and individually wrap them and freeze them
    we buy about 10lbs at a time
    • Gold Top Dog
    I will feed it raw.
     
    I also got a great deal on beef liver which I never fed before either. 
     
    Which should I feed first? 
    Should I cook the liver?  If I freeze without cooking, will the liver decompose? Which has less propensity for causing stomach upset?
     
    Thanks.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Liver is too rich for some dogs and causes diarrhea. I've found (which my dogs at least) that it's better to just give them a small amount (a couple of teaspoons or tablespoons, according to size) mixed in with their food (I home cook) 2 or 3 times a week. More than a teeny bit at a time, and they get runny butts.
    • Gold Top Dog
    ORIGINAL: spotty

    I will feed it raw.

    I also got a great deal on beef liver which I never fed before either.

    Which should I feed first?
    Should I cook the liver? If I freeze without cooking, will the liver decompose? Which has less propensity for causing stomach upset?

    Thanks.


    Liver should only make up 5% of your the total amount your dog should eat for the day.

    My dog is 60 lbs. She would eat 1 lb. 3 oz. of raw food a day to maintain that weight. 5% of that is .96 oz. daily. That's ALL she would get a day. Not even an ounce. And I used to have to feed it to her daily or every other day because she'd get bad poop if I fed her a lot of liver at once.
    • Gold Top Dog
    Thanks, guys.  When it comes to liver, I'd better get an eye dropper and tweezers!
    • Gold Top Dog
    "they" say, when homecooking, for organ meat to be between 5-10% of diet.  Organ meat would include kidney, but not heart. Heart is considered a muscle meat, but shouldn't be given in large amounts either.  So, maybe do 4% liver, and 3 or 4% kidney.  edited:  I've not done this yet, just read up on it.

    Now, I have not done this yet - still gearing up to do organs, but what I am thinking about doing is getting the liver and kidney and weighing them.  Say I get a pound of each, for a total of two pounds.  I would figure up the percentage per day based on that and figure out how many "portions" or days I would have.

    Then, I think I will blend this together with an immersion blender with added water for blending.  It doesn't matter how much water I add, b/c I already know how many portions, in ounces.  Then I could weigh the entire amount after blending with water, and divide that by the number of portions.  I would then have more in ounce weight due to the water, but the organ meat would work out.   Then I will freeze in portions in ice cube tray (rubbermaid makes one where things slide out easily).    Haven't done it - but that's what I am planning for days when I have not pot cooked a lot.

    If you pot cook a big reciepe, then you can just add in bulk the appropriate amount to your bulk cooking and then you can put it all into baggies and freeze a couple days worth at a time and then you won't have to worry about a "dropperful" per day since you would be bulk cooking.