Food Dehydrator.

Anneke

Honored Member
So, A few weeks ago I finally ordered a food dehydrator, to start making my own treats.
And I LOVE it!! So do the dogs!


It takes some preperation and a lot of time, but the treats are cheaper than store bought and with no unknown adds.
Just finished drying a wholle bunch of chicken liver and hearts. Part of this will go to my friend who has a dog with epilepsie and she wants to cut down on store bought products. But as she is single and works full time, she doesn't want to leave the dryer on while she is away.
And it takes a minimum of 8 hours to dry. Liver takes double that.
Anyway, I have been experimenting with meat and fish to see what my dogs like or dislike.
Cooper eats anything, we call him our trashcan:D but Jinx is a bit picky.
She wouldn't eat the whitefish, but she loves the salmon(figures she would go for the more expensive:rolleyes:)
Here a pic of some dryed chicken(red stuff) and chicken liver(black)

I have also put my minced meat balls in and it came out much dryer than when I put it in the oven. As that is still a good thing when I need treats quick, I do actually prefer the ones out of the dehydrator, as they are very dry, so no sicky fingers and less smelly:D
I am defrosting a load of chicken stomages right now, so that will go in later today and then my supply of treats is good for another week or so.
I try to do as much as I can in the weekends as the power is cheaper then.
I also tried to dehydrate banana, for myself, but I didn't like it:confused: I do like the store bought banana chips, so I thought these would be better. But nope, not doing that again:cool:
 

Evie

Experienced Member
Ooo! That's a great idea! I'd never even thought about making my own dried dog treats!
 

MaryK

Honored Member
Cool idea:cool: I've never thought either of making my own dried dog treats. Must look into this LOL Leaf will eat anything and Zeus, provided I 'taste' first to make sure it's not poisoned, will eat anything too.
 

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
I have done drying out in the oven but it takes soooo long at such a low temp it does my head in. This sounds great...
 

Anneke

Honored Member
This was the cheapest dehydrator I could find. It was 28 euro's.
It still takes a long time to dehydrate, but now I can use my oven, when I need it. This thing takes a lot less power than the oven too.
Amazon has some that cost around 35 dollars. So affordable.
But the trick is to find a place where you can get cheap meat.
I had to order online, because the butcher and poultryshop were expensive , 5 euro per kilo. Now I payed 2, 50 euro per kilo.
 

Ripleygirl

Experienced Member
That is not a bad price at all - I will be looking into them now! Even more amazing is 2.50 euro a kilo for meat... that is awesome! I am lucky, in that my man is a fisherman so I get lots of fresh fish for free for Ripley which is great dyhydrated but meat here is VERY expensive...
 

MaryK

Honored Member
That sounds like a good idea. The dehydrated food does last longer that's for sure.:)
 
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