# getting a dehydrator/jerky maker today



## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

What is good to put in it? Although my dogs eat a raw diet I still give them treats that have other ingredinets. I am hoping to make healthier treats this way. My thought was that chicken gizzards might be good to dehydrate. Any thoughts? What do I use to make jerky treats? Any ideas are much appreciated.


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## Nana52 (Apr 28, 2012)

I've dehydrated gizzards for my dogs. They love them (but then they love most everything). Sometimes I dehydrate thin slices of chicken breast/tenderloins. Sometimes I'll cut a sweet potato (you probably don't feed veggies .... I don't feed much but do use for treats occasionally) into "fries" and dehydrate by themselves or wrap then with a really, really thin slice of chicken. Also make dehydrate livers bits.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I am not totally opposed to giving them some fruits and veggies. I sometimes put berries or bits of banana in their Kongs. So the sweet potato suggestion is a good one.


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## Nana52 (Apr 28, 2012)

Another thing I USED to do but decided it was too much effort (not that I mind "working" for the dogs) ... I would mix ground meat, usually turkey, with finely diced/pulvarized veggies, then use an extruder (is that the right word) to make strips for dehydrating. Like I said, that's a lot of effort, especially cleaning the extruder afterwards, and they're just as happy with the plain meat strips or plain veggie/fruit dehydrated. Or raw. Or cooked. Finicky they are not.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I was wondering if I could use ground meat. What is an extruder? Can I just pound the ground meat into strips to make jerkey?


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## Nana52 (Apr 28, 2012)

kathylcsw said:


> I was wondering if I could use ground meat. What is an extruder? Can I just pound the ground meat into strips to make jerkey?


The extruder is the thingy (technical term) that you put the meat mixture in, and using different tips, you pull a trigger and extrude the meat into flat "ribbons" or thin ropes or whatever. Sorry I'm not doing a good job of describing. Have you ever seen one of those ... oh, wait, what am I thinking?!? Here's a link.

Nesco BJX-5 American Harvest Jumbo Jerky Works Kit: Amazon.com: Kitchen & Dining

You can certainly something similar without the thingy :tongue: You could hand roll it into rope shapes or do meatball and mash them flat. The "flatter" the item, the faster it dehydrates, but really you could do pretty much anything you want.


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## SaharaNight Boxers (Jun 28, 2011)

I've seen a lot of venison jerky for dogs. Maybe that would be an idea?


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## Sprocket (Oct 4, 2011)

I just made lung treats! They turned into the most perfect natural healthy training treats


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

SaharaNight Boxers said:


> I've seen a lot of venison jerky for dogs. Maybe that would be an idea?



They have eaten all the vension I got last year so I have to wait until hunting season again. Then I probably will try vension jerky.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

Sprocket said:


> I just made lung treats! They turned into the most perfect natural healthy training treats



I would LOVE, LOVE, LOVE to make lung treats but I have not been able to find any sources of lung. Hopefully once it is hunting season again I can score some deer lung.

I have some freezer burned fish in my freezer and it is not really the good stuff. Would that make a good source for dehydrated treats??


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

Well I picked up the dehydrator last week and made my first dog treats with it overnight. I got a sweet potato and sliced it inot thin slices and then put thin discs of ground beef on top to make sweet potato hamburger cookies! Then I cut the leftover ground beef into thin strips to make them some beef jerky. I didn't add any seasonings but they really seemed to like the bites I gave them. 

I have a lot of ground meat so I am excited to find another use for it. Alhtough both dogs are raw fed, I give them all kinds of dog treats. I figure it is kind of like people eating potato chips - they taste good and a few now and then do no harm. By making dehydrated meat treats I can cut back on the carbs and sugars in store bought biscuits and cookies. I will still give them those just not as much.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

i stopped buying all pet food products and have been giving cooked chicken as treats but this sounds like a great way to have more variety.

what kind of dehydrator do you have? I'm not sure what to look for in one


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

BearMurphy said:


> i stopped buying all pet food products and have been giving cooked chicken as treats but this sounds like a great way to have more variety.
> 
> what kind of dehydrator do you have? I'm not sure what to look for in one


I think that it is a Snackmaster Pro. I got it off Craigslist for $20. That is about all I can tell you. It says it is a dehydrator/jerky maker. It was simple to use. I just loaded my stuff on the rack, put the lid on, and turned it on. I will only buy treats from a few companies that I trust like Zukes and there are some local places that make homemade snacks. With all the recent recalls I am so leery of what I am feeding my dogs. I want them to be around and healthy for a long, long time.


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## Kikki (Jul 27, 2013)

I dehydrate all kinds of organs I can find. Most recently I made a mixed gift bag with pork liver and heart along with chicken gizzards for a friend I was visiting in New Jersey. Their dog that normally get's store bought treats LOVED it.


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## Celt (Dec 27, 2010)

With store bought biscuits, I sometimes will wrap thin cut meat around them then dehydrate just to give the biscuits an extra yum factor.


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## Dannika (Jul 28, 2013)

I use beef lung and they make a really good treat and they dehydrate quickly, just slice them thin well frozen, my girls love them.


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