Mary Allen
As large as the selection in specialist shops is now – sometimes an uneasy feeling remains. Because you never really know what the end result is in the colorful treats that you can buy there. And the quality of the raw materials is often unclear. In order to be sure of what you feed your beloved four-legged friend, it is a good idea to make your own treats. You can find out how here.
Treats, just small treats for training, are very easy to make yourself. There are basically 2 methods for this: oven and dehydrator.
Which meat is particularly suitable for production?
In general, any lean meat is suitable. Chicken (chicken breast), lean beef, horse muscle meat, turkey (turkey breast), but also offal such as liver, heart, or lungs are particularly suitable.
Directions
Before the meat is dried so that it can later end up in the dog’s stomach as a treat, the meat is washed off and dabbed dry with kitchen paper. After that, externally visible areas of fat should definitely be cut off, as too much fat will mean that the jerky will not keep for long later and will quickly go rancid.
The meat of your choice is then cut into small cubes, strips or slices. The thickness should not exceed 0.5 cm, otherwise, the meat may still be “raw” or too moist on the inside, while it looks good on the outside. The remaining moisture inside would then lead to the meat later starting to mold from the inside out. And then the preparation begins.
Method 1: Bake in the oven
Preparation in the oven is more promising if a slatted frame is used instead of a baking tray. A piece of baking paper is simply laid out on this and the pieces of meat are distributed on it. Depending on the size of the pieces, a slatted frame is sufficient for around 250-300g of meat. The finished slatted frame is then placed in the preheated oven at 160°C for a good 30-40 minutes.
As soon as the pieces of meat have gotten some color, the temperature can be reduced to 100°C. At this point, it is important to open the oven door a little bit (e.g. simply stick a wooden spoon in the door gap) so that the moisture that has been extracted from the meat can escape.
With this slightly open oven door, it will take another 1-2 hours until the homemade jerky bites are ready and dry enough. Then let it cool down completely and store in a cookie jar, for example. Depending on the size of the chunks, they are also great as training snacks.
If you have a little more patience, you can carry out the same procedure at low temperatures. For this, the oven should be heated to a maximum of 50°C circulating air. However, the meat then stays in the oven (with the oven door slightly open) for around 9-10 hours!
Method 2: Make in the dehydrator
The principle is actually the same. The meat is heated to remove the water. In the dehydrator, the whole thing has just a little more “style” and dehydrators are a little more “perfect” than the oven. In addition, the dehydrator usually consumes less electricity than the oven, even if they run (much) longer.
Since such a dehydrator is sometimes not a bargain, the purchase should be well considered. But if you want to produce dried meat more often in the long run, maybe for yourself instead of always just for the dog, the investment is definitely worth it. When the meat is ready, it is distributed on the floors of the dehydrator. The temperature should be between 40° and 70°.
If you want to dehydrate more meat directly, you can also buy more floors with most machines. In terms of time, you should expect about 12 hours for the dehydrator. In the end, however, it is still the examining look and the “touch control” that decides whether the meat is really ready. It should be nice and hard and no longer wobbly or soft anywhere. The dried meat from the dehydrator is ready.