Making dog treats using a dehydrator.

[3Stars]

My parents bought me a dehydrator for Christmas, and this is the first weekend I've had a chance to use it. It's been on all weekend - I'm on batch #3 of treats right now! So far, I've dried hotdogs (into both strips and medallions), and currently I'm drying sweet potatoes into chews. I'm going to try drying turkey kolbassa tomorrow as an experiment.

Does anyone have great dehydrator dog treat ideas?

P.S. - Excalibur dehydrators really are awesome - everything dried evenly without having to switch around the trays.

[dmeyer123]

My good friend and I are doing this. It's great!! Healthy treats that the dogs are nuts for. We use any combo of apples, sweet potatoes, and carrots....with a can of salmon, including the liquid.

Combine those wet ingredients with a cup of brown rice flour, a cup of oatmeal and 1/3 cup of flax seed. I also used egg shells in my last batch to add calcium. Everything gets munched up in a food processor. Add enough water to make like a cookie dough. I made a cookie cutter out of a tomato paste can.... just cut out both ends. Dry them for 8 hours. Keep them in the freezer until you need them.

We have also dried steak in strips. Buy cheap steak and cut in thin strips. It comes out like jerky and the dogs go crazy for it!!

Have fun!!!!

[romeosangiovese]

I dehydrate meats to use as treats all the time too! Also pig ears and tendons and boiled liver (I tried raw ones but that took like forever). Usually I just dry them au naturel. But occasionally I will brush some honey on them. I snip them up once dried into tiny training treats.

The trick I've discovered to having nicely sliced thin slivers of meat for drying is to slice the meat semi frozen.

[Greenepony]

Originally Posted by dmeyer123

We have also dried steak in strips. Buy cheap steak and cut in thin strips. It comes out like jerky and the dogs go crazy for it!!

Have fun!!!!

Oh now there's an idea! My parents buy half a cow each year and pass parts off to the kids. Part of our portion this past year included a London Broil, which I'm not too fond of. I'm sure Olive would love it.

[Chris]

I also use my dehydrator to extract moisture from homemade dog biscuits. It makes them last so much longer!

[roxyllsk]

I've been making chicken jerky in mine for a while, and it's really easy.

I buy boneless breasts in bulk when they are on sale. I think boneless thighs would work just as well.

Trim all the fat and white skin, rinse and pat dry with paper towels. Cut WITH the grain into 1/2 inch thick slices. Cut these in half if you want smaller treats. Cutting with the grain makes the treats chewier for your dog.

Put in the dehydrator at 160 deg for about 12 hours. Mine has the fan in the top, so I rotate trays halfway through to keep things drying evenly. My dehydrator is a cheapie one, so if you have a bigger / better one it may not take as long.

They're done when are an even color throughout and have no soft spots. When you swap the trays halfway, the edges will likely be done; the entire piece of meat should be that way when it's done.

I keep mine in the fridge as they have no preservatives, but they don't last very long as my dogs love them.

I also do apples and sweet potatoes. Dip the slices in a little lemon juice and water so that they do not discolor when dehydrating. These take about 6 hours, I think the temp is 130. I have not tried carrots yet but bet my boys will love these too ! Again, keep them in the fridge.

I make homemade biscuits too but I do them in the oven, not the dehydrator.