# Food dehydrator - any ideas



## isabellak (Oct 26, 2010)

I just bought one of these with the intention of preparing raw treats, but I have no idea what to do with it :smile:

Any suggestions?


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## 300roses (Dec 20, 2010)

I also got a dehydrator just for dehydrating raw meat treats for my gal too. I also use it to dehydrate fruits for myself at times. Fresh herbs can also be dehydrated for longer shelf life. Hope I'm understanding & answering your question correctly.


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## DunRingillGSDs (Jan 21, 2011)

HA funny you should ask this question, because I've been thinking about buying a food dehydrator. what the heck, I'm already baking treats for them, might as well dehydrate meat for treats too. Just today Amazon sent me an email with a list of dehydrators. Is it worth buying one?? 

I've been looking at the square Nesco dehydrator, $49.


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## DeltaNDoc (Nov 14, 2010)

I bought the cheap one from Walmart. I haven't made anything for them besides dehydrated sweet potato. I want to make dehydrated meat treats for training... just haven't gotten around to it yet. :-/


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## isabellak (Oct 26, 2010)

This is the one I got from Amazon:
Amazon.com: Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator: Kitchen & Dining
The reviews were really good.

I'm going to try dehydrating some beef tonight. This will save me ALOT of $$ on treats. I usually go to the doggie health food store and go for a bundle.


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## naturalfeddogs (Jan 6, 2011)

We have one, and love it. We originaly got ours for making jerky, but it would be good for dehydrating treats for the dogs to. They come with recipie books also with soooo many different yummy treats. It would be worth it to go ahead and get one. You would really enjoy it, for you and the dogs!eace::thumb:


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

I bought tendons and dried them. Huge hit and nice and cheap.

I made liver jerky and turkey/sweet potato roll up the same way. Place slice or mush on wax paper, dry until top is dry, flip and peel off paper and finish drying. Would love to try lung that way too.

Try making something in the oven before getting the dehydrator. Tendons were done both ways and seemed the same to me. The oven was overnight and the dehydrator took a whole day.


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## 3Musketeers (Nov 4, 2010)

I'm going to make Homemade Food Dehydrator one of these days and will let you guys know how it works :biggrin1:


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## Mia (Oct 4, 2010)

Love it! Use it! I currently have kidney and chicken feet dehydrating right now!!!


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## Hank and Lucy (Feb 1, 2011)

I've always "dehydrated" liver in the over on it's lowest setting. I would love to get an actual dehydrator but I'm ok with the oven for now. I would assume you could do organs, thinly cut steaks or other meats too. Chicken feet sound cool too.


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## Foxy (Jan 21, 2010)

I made dried chicken livers last weekend and the pups go nuts for them.
Beef chunks, I used stew meat, were a big hit.

I did chicken breasts, didn't dry them long enough so I have to try those again.


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## Loki Love (Jan 30, 2011)

We bought our dehyrdator especially for Loki - we've done lots of beef treats, pork as well. We'll probably try some liver soon too. It's saved us a lot of money on treats because he was so fussy about them - 75% of the time, he spit out any of the treats we bought for him. He loves his dehydrated treats though!


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## isabellak (Oct 26, 2010)

I agree this was a great investment. I did chicken this week and will do beef this weekend. I'd like to try liver soon.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Old thread ... (1) How small do you cut up the meats/organs before dehydrating? (2) When do you advise lining with wax paper? And finally (3) did you try anything that didn't work?


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## isabellak (Oct 26, 2010)

I cut them into pretty thin slices. If you freeze the beef/chicken for about an hour, it's much easier to slice. I slice it about 1/8-1/4 thin. I sprinkle the pile of meat with a little garlic powder then lay it out on the dehydrator layers. No, I don't use wax paper, it's not necessary. I have a Nesco unit and it dehydrates quickly. The chicken takes about 4 hours. I use this gadget all the time now - Lily loves the stuff.

The only problem I had was with some beef. I covered it after it was dehydrated and I found that it started to get moldy. I'm not sure if that was because I didn't dehydrate long enough or because I covered it. I have not had that issue with chicken.


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Yes, cut thin uniform slices. Remove fat as it will just drip off and make a mess. Just don't precut into treats as the meats reduce in size so much the bits may fall through the rack's holes. You could try long slices if you like.

Use wax paper for liver, not for meat. It is hard enough to wash the racks without having to scrub off dried liver juice and I suspect it would stick to the rack.

I always store dehydrated stuff in the freezer and keep a few days worth of treats in the refrigerator.


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## SpooOwner (Oct 1, 2010)

Thanks, Isabella and Sassy. How do beef kidney and heart fare? Any tips on salmon?


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## tracydr (Feb 25, 2011)

The other thing that works for treats is boiled beef hearts or boiled and then baked beef liver. I hate the smell of beef hearts so I crock pot it out side.
I'm going to get a dehydrator too since my dogs just arent into organ meats unless they're seared and I need training treats. This way, I can take the smell outside.
During my first marriage, we raised cattle and I had one of those cheap Walmart dehydrators to make jerky out of brisket. It was so good. Course, I didn't carry it with me in the divorce move.


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## Mia (Oct 4, 2010)

isabellak said:


> This is the one I got from Amazon:
> Amazon.com: Nesco FD-75PR 700-Watt Food Dehydrator: Kitchen & Dining
> The reviews were really good.
> 
> I'm going to try dehydrating some beef tonight. This will save me ALOT of $$ on treats. I usually go to the doggie health food store and go for a bundle.



I got the 500 watt one. They are awesome! I have made fish, deer, chicken feet, duck feet, kidney, liver and other stuff with it!!! Awesome dehydrator! Plus I only paid 30 dollars brand new still in box with the 99 dollar sticker on it! Love great deals like that..

My suggestion CHICKEN FEET!


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## jjcj (Nov 26, 2010)

Was thinking of trying some chicken hearts would they be to big to try to dehydrate. and how do you do it on your oven Put it on 100 and then do you leave door open slightly or close the oven door
Thanks everyone once again great thread


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Leave the door open so moisture can get out. Never dried chunks like chicken hearts before, no idea how that would come out. Right or wrong I set my oven to about 130*F and 1x2x18" ostrich tendons were completely dry overnight.


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## bumblegoat (May 12, 2010)

I have dehydrated whole chicken hearts in my oven, and it worked fine. Took a while to get them done though!


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