Chicken jerky treats...BEWARE

[Elizabeth, Bailey & Bruin]

This article was posted by my vets office...Doesn't mention brands but i think it means any treats not from the USA...

 

http://vitals.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/11/21/8885427-chicken-jerky-...

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Well I sent my DH to the grocery the day before Thanksgiving and they had boneless skinless chicken breast on sale. Yesterday I made our first batch of Chicken Jerky (really it's just dehydrated chicken). Daisy LOVES them. I started with 3lbs of chicken and ended up with 1lb of treats. Well worth my efforts. The best thing, DH was up first this morning and he actually cleaned the dehydrator that I left on the counter (the batch wasn't finished until 1AM).

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Sounds like you had a nice TG. The  great thing about the dogs - they will be thankful when every your give them this great treat!!

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Cindy I underestimated my time, Daisy will have to wait until tomorrow. However she still had a Thanksgiving Day treat, DD, SIL, DH me and all 3 of our dogs were at the park for 2-1/2 hours. The dogs all slept through dinner. It was a wonderful day.

 

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Lisa -  Daisy will have something else to be thankful for tomorrow - happy thanksgiving!!!\

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Cindy, you are officially my hero. I didn't think I had to do anything but cut the chicken thin and then dehydrate. You are using it the way I plan to use it.

I won't be attempting liver (yuck) so no worries there.

I think I can actually get a batch in tomorrow sometime, cause everything else is done.

Thank you thank you thank you.

Happy Thanksgiving.

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

Since I am not making jerky for people I am not too concerned about the things that you need to do that make jerky okay for human consumption. So technically it is not jerky but dehydrated chicken, liver or turkey..With the chicken and turkey I just cut them into strips - breast for the chicken and thigh meat for the turkey.  The thicker the strips the longer it will take to dry. Since I use them primarily as training treats and not jerky type treats I keep it thin so I can break into pieces. I tried beef liver and it was a gross mess. Chicken liver worked better but still rather disgusting. For the liver, I sprayed the trays with olive oil type spray release ( the first time I did not do this and I was scraping chicken liver off the trays for hours). I just used whole livers and turned them every few hours to make sure that they cooked on both sides and in middle. The spray is not necessary for the chicken or turkey strips. I also rotated the trays every few hours. Dogs love it. Keeps a very long time in the fridge. I have never tried to store it on the counter.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

I would like to do chicken first.

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Okay Cindy, hand over the recipe, Please! Is it as easy as it seems, I don't want to ruin my first batch?

[Lisa, Daisy & Dexter]

Barb, my dehydrator (NESCO) came with many instructions for many things....is there an easy prep for chicken jerky for the dogs? I would love it if someone could post or tell me where to look? (I hate reading directions).

[Cindy M, Zachary & the Frenchies]

I love my dehydrator. I dehydrate chicken, turkey and liver and the dogs love it and I know exactly what I am feeding them. Need to do the liver in the garage!