[Albert A]

I’ve been making chicken homemade jerky for my dogs for a few years, mostly very thin which only allows me to dehydrate about 10-15lbs at a time with my Nesco setup and they absolutely love it, which is great as they’re pretty old and picky about what they eat (also feed kibble and a variety of other foods).

I also buy commercial made chicken jerky, and the stuff I buy is thicker than the stuff I make, which I like the idea of because I could make a much larger quantity per batch if I cut it thicker. For my usual thin cut jerky, I just do some low sodium soy sauce and liquid smoke. For the thicker stuff, I’m considering adding some preservatives such as commonly used (and fed to my dogs) vegetable glycerin, potassium sorbate and vitamin e oil…but I have no idea what quantities to add. Assuming I’m good with the sourcing and quality of those ingredients, any ideas of what quantities to use per batch or pound of jerky?

I’m also interested in getting a jerky gun (any recommendations?) and doing a ground beef jerky mixed with brown rice and other vegetables/sources of fiber. Any recipes or general tips for that type of jerky?

• This topic was modified 5 years, 7 months ago by Albert A.

[Susan]

Hi Albert,
are you on facebook?
in “Search bar” put “Canine raw feeding”, or “K-9Kitchen” run by Monica Segal
or “K-9 Nutrition” run by Lew Olson,
alot of people in these groups make Jerky meats & have a dehydrator…
I tried making Sweet Potato in the oven on very low temp, years ago but my dog just gulps it & doesnt chew & enjoy his jerky meat or his dried Sweet potatos, so I stopped cause he has IBD..
Why do you want add the preservaties? I’d leave out the preservatives, especially if you have aging dogs.. For longer storage, use vacuum sealed bags will allow the jerky to last 1-2 months.
Here’s the link

How to Make Beef Jerky in a Dehydrator

[Albert A]

Hi Susan, thank you for the reply, and thank you for the groups to check out on Facebook. I know I can’t be the only one doing this stuff so I’m sure those groups will be helpful.

For the preservatives, I chose the 3 that I did because they are well tolerated by my dogs, and appear to be safe from the research I did. I had some chicken jerky turn rancid quickly once so need to make sure that doesn’t happen again.

[Spy Car]

When I dehydrate dog treats, I freeze them on a flat tray immediately post-dehydration and then (once frozen) I pack them in ziplock bags and keep in the freezer.

Freezing them individually (prior to bagging) keeps the treats from sticking together once bagged and frozen in ziplocks.

Freezing eliminates any need for preservatives. I personally would not use liquid smoke, soy sauce (or rice).

Just pure meat and organs.

Bill

[Author]

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