Anybody make their own jerky treats? (sweet potato, chicken, etc?)

[ColDuTourmalet]

My dog loves those Dogswell brand treats. They’re made in China, though, and, after reading some scary stuff recently about dog treats from China, I won’t buy them any more. (I even tossed a bunch that I had here.)

I tried making some sweet potato treats yesterday following the directions here: http://www.dogtreatkitchen.com/sweet-potato-dog-chew.html They came out kind of mushy – not chewy.

Maybe I need to just experiment with temperatures and length of time in the oven. Has anyone here made treats like this? I want to try some with chicken and maybe some liver jerky treats also.

Or, does anyone here use a food dehydrator for human or dog treats? Is it worth it to buy one?

[threedogpack]

yep, I’ve made chicken jerky and beef, I’ve made apple rings (for the horses). I’ve never done sweet potato tho. I also have a dehydrator I use rather than the oven as I either got them too dry (think hockey pucks) or not dry enough.

this is the one I have: http://www.amazon.com/Nesco-American-FD-80-Square-Shaped-Dehydrator/dp/B00179DCCQ/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1323268729&sr=8-2

[ColDuTourmalet]

How long does chicken jerky take in the dehydrator? That one isn’t too expensive, maybe I’ll order one.

[onelanerode]

I do sweet potato chews in the oven, but they take a while. I’ve been thinking about getting a dehydrator.

The oven method works, but I find I have to cook mine a good bit longer than that link (which is the recipe I started with as well).

[Simkie]

We make beef jerky in a dehydrator for people, and it’s always come out great. If you’re serious about making jerky, I’d just pick up a dehydrator–they’re not expensive

[RacetrackReject]

What the others have said. I have a dehydrator and make jerky for myself(venison, beef) and dehydrate fruits (apples, banana). My dogs get probably more than their fair share of the end products and absolutely LOVE the stuff.

[Bicoastal]

I don’t have a dehydrator. I tried sweet potatoes in the oven: end product was not dry enough. I am itching to try again.

I have been given instructions: slice em, lay on a cookie sheet and bake at 250 for 2hrs. flip em over and bake another 2hrs. I lost patience so I ended up with soft ones. Dogs still thought they were yummy but were not chewy enough to occupy them for longer than 30sec.

I sprinkled them with garlic powder. I sprinkle nearly every treat with garlic powder and get to brag I’ve had classmates’ dogs rip my bait pouch off my pants and got the one dog in agility class that everyone said would not eat, to eat!! Garlic chicken :D.

Garlic is slightly controversial. I don’t drench the food in it, but yes it gets a good sprinkling and no dog has suffered from it.

[threedogpack]

[QUOTE=ColDuTourmalet;6008153]
How long does chicken jerky take in the dehydrator? That one isn’t too expensive, maybe I’ll order one.[/QUOTE]

I do mine over night, nice and crispy bendy in the morning.

When I had puppies, I had these in the freezer for them as they were teething.