Dog treats are expensive and as much as I love supporting small businesses, I can't justify $15-$20 for a bag of dog treats. Especially when I have a dehydrator at home.
This past weekend, I dehydrated pork hearts and green beans. The pork hearts worked out great. I sliced them into thin pieces and chunks and dehydrated them for 20 hours to make crunchy treats. It worked out well.
The green beans were a complete fail, despite the three YouTube videos I watched. My plan was to dehydrate vegetables this week, but I'm going to stick with meat for now.
DIY DOG TREATS FOR LESS
I make dog treats when I get a freezer dump (when someone empties old meat from their freezer). I thaw the meat, slice thinly, and dehydrate. And that was the plan for this week, but another raw feeder scored the freezer dump before me and my friends aren't clearing out their freezers until the end of the month.
So, I went to the grocery store and purchased all of the discounted meat. My grocery store discounts meat by 50% (or more) right before it expires. Today, I picked up $50 of meat for $17.
- 2 packages of thinly sliced, boneless pork chops
- 5 packages of lean (93/7) ground turkey
PORK CHOPS
I trimmed the fat from the pork chops, then sliced them into 1/2 inch (or less) pieces. I had enough for two racks. I'm excited to see how they turn out.
GROUND TURKEY
The following recipe today, which was inspired by Dr. Laurie Coger and a few pet parents who shared their recipes.
INGREDIENTS
TOOLS NEEDED
- mixing bowl
- large cutting board
- wax paper
- rolling pin
- pizza cutter (or a knife)
- spatula
TURKEY JERKY
- mix the ground turkey and sweet potato puree
- transfer the mixture to wax paper (on top of cutting board)
- put a second wax paper on top of mixture, use rolling pin to roll out (thin enough to keep the shape when transferred to the dehydrator)
- lightly add the vegetables on top of the meat; it's not necessary to use all the vegetables - I just add enough to for dots of green
- use the pizza cutter (or knife) to slice jerky strips
- use the spatula to transfer the strips to the dehydrator
- according to Dr. Coger, we should dehydrate for 3 to 4 hours, checking every hour
I'll let you know how it turned out later this week.
PRO TIP: Check your local grocery store, discount grocery stores, and co-ops for discounts on meat. I've been able to buy 10 packages of chicken hearts for $1 each. You can also check Craigslist and Facebook Marketplace for freezer dumps - make sure the meat isn't seasoned.
Excalibur Dehydrator
I use an Excalibur dehydrator (the model is no longer available). There are many on the market but I don't think it's necessary to drop hundreds of dollars on a dehydrator. If one isn't in your budget, you can use your oven - just cook at a low temperature.
I dehydrate treats outside during the summer because Johan complains about the smell of the meat (especially if it's liver). During the rest of the year, I dehydrate meat inside (but never organ meat).
Are you making dog treats yet?
