Beef Jerky for Dogs
Making beef jerky for your dogs is easy and has some great advantages over commercial treats. Made from very lean ground beef or ground sirloin, your dogs will love it better than typical commercial treats. You don't need to add any preservatives to it, so your home made jerky will be better for your dogs. There are only a few tools you will need. A food dehydrator, a plastic cutting board, a rolling pin, and a long knife.
A food dehydrator is a simple appliance with trays and a heater and fan that does the drying. Below is a link to a Website that lists a number of food dehydrators. I have several of the Nesco American Harvest brand which I obtained from Wal Mart. A four tray typical size dehydrator will process about 2 lbs of ground beef. I prefer to make about 4 lbs at a time, so I have extra trays to nake an 8 tray dehydrator. The Nesco American Harvest has extra trays available.
I used to use a jerky press to make the meat strips, but found that they didn't last long. I switched to using a rolling pin and a plastic cutting board. Simply put a small handful of ground meat on the board and use the rolling pin to flatten it. Then use a long knife to cut into strips which are then placed in a dehydrator tray. Keeping the cutting board and rolling pin wet prevents the meat from sticking.
I use ground sirloin which makes very nice jerky and keeps the fat down. Lean ground beef would probably work, but I think ground sirloin or ground round works best.
I find that 8 trays will hold 4 lbs of ground sirloin. Drying time is generally about 20-24 hours. However, you should follow the instructions that came with your dehydrator. Not all dryers are the same and some may require less time. It is important that the meat be just dried and not cooked. Now even though I don't use any spices for the dog jerky, it is quite good for human consumption.
A food dehydrator is a great kitchen appliance to have. I originally bought 2 to dry apples from the trees we have. I have also dried peaches and tomatoes. And I occasionally make jerky for my wife and I. I use London broil or round steak. I freeze it so it is easier to cut into strips then marinate the strips for 24 hours. I use just salt and pepper and you can marinate it to taste. Again, no preservatives and it keeps quite well without them.
Good luck on your dehydrating adventures and feel free to contact me at: gaska@nilenet.com if you have any questions or suggestions.
