Jerky Treats For Dogs (clean, teeth, food, store)

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Yesterday and today are jerky making at home. Lots for the people but also jerky treats for the dogs.

An entire pork loin, trimmed of fat rather casually, not like meat is trimmed for people jerky, then sliced and dried for the dogs. No salt, no spices, no smoke, just plain meat.

It seemed to be a little greasy straight out of the dehydrator but that stopped as soon as it was cooled and the texture turned out to be excellent.

It doesn't need to be said that the dogs are crazy about it. I paid about $18 for the pork loin, a small amount of loss by trimming off the fat cap, but not really a loss since that goes straight into dog food. When dried, it shrinks but still couldn't all be crammed into a gallon zipper bag. Looking at the amount of treats I ended up with, these are cheaper than the better kind of dog treats bought at the store and are much healthier.

I divided the jerky up into sandwich size baggies and then into a zipper bag and then into the freezer. The jerky will be brought out and thawed one little baggie at a time. Keeping it frozen since there is no preservative of any kind except for drying.

[Metlakatla]

I make salmon treats for mine with a little cookie cutter in the shape of Texas.

[BCC_1]

I use chicken breast. No fat, so it keeps for ages when dried, and the dogs like it a lot.

[GiveMeCoffee]

How do you do this? Just place the meat in a dehydrator?

[oregonwoodsmoke]

Originally Posted by GiveMeCoffee

How do you do this? Just place the meat in a dehydrator?

The jerky for the dogs? Basically, yes. I use safe food handling practices. Meat is kept refrigerated, it is sliced while partially frozen, and then the thin little disks of meat are placed on the trays and into the dehydrator. When the meat is dried, it is removed from the dehydrator, cooled for a few minutes and then bagged up and into the refrigerator.

Dehydrator operates above 140 degrees and is out of the danger zone. Meat is so thin it gets up to temperature almost immediately. With no salt, no smoke, and no preservatives, it won't store for more than a few days at room temperature, so I refrigerate and freeze it.

I haven't tried it, but the thin jerky well dried has a texture a bit like rawhide and I wonder if a large sheet of jerky would clean teeth like rawhide does. There is no danger if the dog swallows it whole because it is clean meat and will just be easily digested and not cause any intestinal blockages.