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A few days ago, I was catching up with Rod at Natural Instincts Raw Pet Food, the family owned and operated company that makes Miles’ food. I mentioned to Rod that when Miles had surgery the veterinary clinic suggested I cook Miles’ food and I didn’t, because most raw food contains bone. Rod pointed out that some of their varieties don’t contain bone and are safe to be cooked.
Suddenly I had a light bulb moment and a new M&E recipe was born!
To portion Miles’ frozen raw food into meal-sized servings, usually I lightly thaw the patties/logs and use a cleaver to portion his meals. Here’s a video if you are curious. This time instead of cutting meal-sized portions, I sliced the logs into very thin slices! I allowed the logs to thaw just so that it felt about like slicing a raw potato.
Then I placed the slices into my dehydrator.
Dehydrator Info:
- Gardenmaster Dehydrator – This is the best dehydrator for making your own dog treats. It is one of the few highly affordable at-home dehydrators that is powerful enough and rated for safe dehydrating of meats. This dehydrator has saved me thousands of dollars over the years in dog treats!
- Tray screens – I recommend getting 2 extra packs (about $25 in total). They protect your trays from treats sticking and make clean up easier. They can go through the top shelf of a dishwasher.
About 3.5 pounds of meat (in this case, six logs) perfectly filled the 4 trays that came with my dehydrator. You can really see the quality of the meat here, so fresh!
I dehydrated the treats overnight for 12 hours. I used pork which I have always found to have the longest dehydrating time. If you are using beef or chicken you likely can dehydrate for less time. Just a reminder – never dehydrate raw dog food that contains bone!
The end result was perfect circular treats, easy to break into bits, not messy, not greasy, shelf-stable, and wildly delicious (according to Miles)! They are healthy part of Miles’ diet and so easy to use.
This weekend at an agility trial I put these treats to the test and alternated between them and fresh cooked pork chop strips (cooked in butter with a bit of salt). Miles did not have a preference between the two, which is a first with dry treats vs. fresh cooked meat! I am going to be using these treats for a variety of purposes, including as everyday treats, for extra calories for Miles when hiking, and at times as a meal replacement food when traveling/camping.
If you can source high quality raw dog food that does not contain bone, making these treats is so easy. If you live in British Columbia, Natural Instincts’ red meat varieties are my top choice. Can’t find local raw dog food that doesn’t contain bone? You can also get high quality fresh ground meat, wrap it in plastic wrap, tightly roll it into a log, freeze, and follow the recipe.
The 3.5 lb bag of high quality raw dog food (pork muscle/organ meat sourced from a local, ethical farm) cost around $15 and made a POUND of dry treats!
Natural Instincts
Love the look on that pup’s face
Hehe! The look of treat love! 🙂
Excited about the M&E chips! What is the shelf life and how do you store them?
Thanks!
Yay! They have the same shelf life of any dry dog treats really. I like to keep mine in “fido jars” (link here) but you can store them in ziplock bags, too. I would avoid refrigeration because the fridge can add moisture back into the treats. If they sit for ages they will just lose a bit of flavor and get a little stale — which Miles doesn’t seem to care about with my home dehydrated treats. I’ve found my classic recipe in my pockets months later and he’s been perfectly happy to take care of them!