Aimee,
Thank you for opening this discussion topic last year. Your original findings made me very curious to learn more about no-hides dog chews. I decided to do a little research for my own peace-of-mind and wanted to share the results with you.
As a graduate of an extensive culinary program, I naturally wanted to crack the recipe for no-hide dog chews. I decided to purchase all of the ingredients listed on the no-hide salmon chew label.
In the first portion of my research study, I wanted to determine if was possible to create the no-hide chew base using only the ingredients listed on the product label. My first several attempts yielded a dough that very closely resembled the no-hide chew base.
In the second portion of my study, I wanted to know if raw hide and no-hide reacted alike under heat (dehydrateration) in a microwave.
I placed a store-bought 4″ no-hide chicken chew in my 1100 watt household microwave for 1 minute on high. The chew dough base browned slighted and shrank by about 1/3 its original length. The dough smelled like burnt crackers and became even more rigid. The chicken coating puffed up, oozed out and resembled something that smelled like fried chicken.
I microwaved a similarly shaped raw hide chew for 1 minute in the same household microwave as I used with the no-hide. The results were hugely different. The raw hide did not shrink at all, nor did it brown. The raw hide smelled like a leather baseball glove.
My study results lead me to strongly believe the no-hide company is being truthful when they say their no-hide dog chews contain no raw hide material. I truely believe the chews are made solely of the ingredients listed on the label.
I am glad I took the time and effort to study the ingredients in no-hide salmon dog chews. Now, I can fully appreciate all of the effort and expense that goes into making these quality handmade dog chews. I feel very confident about the ingredient list on no-hide dog chews and I will continue to purchase no-hide salmon chews for my dog to enjoy.
-Lisa
