Rawhide Alternative? Yes! Try this!

in Barks and Blooms / chicken jerky / dog treats / homemade / homemade dog treats / Rawhide / sweet potato  by May 2, 2013

Sweet Potato Dog Chews

A steady diet of rawhides may satisfy your doggie’s desire for chewing, but isn’t great for his tummy.  Many chewy dog treats have been recalled or are just darn expensive.  In my quest for chews for my dogs, I found Sweet Potato Rawhide but it cost me $39.99 for a 24 oz bag.  Ouch!   I’d already had success with Homemade Chicken Jerky, I could find a recipe for sweet potato chews, right?  Right!  And here it is:






Ingredients:

1 Large Sweet Potato, washed & dried


Instructions:

  1. Preheat oven to 250° F
  2. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
  3. Cut off one side of the sweet potato lengthwise, as close to the edge as possible. Cutting the side of the potato first allows you to then turn the potato onto this flat surface that you have just created. Having a stable area to rest the potato will make it easier to cut the potato into slices. Don’t discard that first piece, it comes out just as yummy as the rest!
  4. Cut the rest of the potato into 1/3″ slices, no smaller than 1/4″.
  5. Place them on the prepared baking sheet.
  6. Bake for 3 hours, turning half way through.
  7. Cool completely on a wire rack.

Degree of Chewiness – Baking for 3 hours results in a soft, but chewy dog treat. If your dog prefers more of a crunch, then bake for an additional 20-30 minutes. When you take the sweet potatoes out of the oven, they may at first appear to be too soft. Let them cool completely on a wire rack before you decide whether or not to bake them longer. This is because they will continue to dry or harden while cooling.

Storing – Although these treats are dried, you will want to keep them in the refrigerator for up to 3 weeks. You can freeze them for up to 4 months.

Homemade Chicken Jerky Part Two (Or, Two Thumbs Up ….If Dogs Had Thumbs)

in Barks and Blooms / chicken jerky / homemade / smile  by February 7, 2013
 As promised, I tried out the Homemade Chicken Jerky recipe this weekend.  The ingredients and instructions are in this blog post:  Aren’t We All Tired of These Recalls? 

 I started with these:
  
Once the pieces were defrosted and patted dry, the next step was to cut the pieces into strips and lay them in the pan.

After baking in a low oven, there was considerable shrinkage, but the result was just as described in the recipe.  

Now here’s the most important part of this experiment:  Jazz performing the taste test.  She sat, she sniffed, she scarffed it up!

Look at that smile!  Success!  Now, check out the recipe and let me know if your dog smiles.

Homemade Chicken Jerky (or, Aren’t We All Tired of These Recalls?)

in chicken jerky / China / dog treats / homemade / recall  by February 1, 2013

In the light of yet ANOTHER recall notice concerning treats made from chicken imported from China, we thought it would be a good idea to research how hard it would  be to make our own.  This looks easy!  My dog Jazz (below) has agreed to be the taste tester.  


Ingredient:

Chicken Breast Fillet
Instructions:
  1. Preheat oven to 200° F
  2. Lightly grease a baking sheet.
  3. Rinse off chicken breast and remove any fat.
  4. Slice the chicken with the grain. This will help make the jerky even chewier for your dog. The slices should be very thin, about 1/8″ to 1/4″ thickness.
  5. Place the strips on the baking sheet.
  6. Bake for approximately 2 hours (see note below).
  7. Remove from oven and cool on a wire rack until completely cool.
  8. Cut strips into bite sized pieces.
 Note:  The baking times will vary due to difference in ovens, temperatures and meat size. Your jerky treats should be firm and dry, not at all soft or spongy. It is safer to go a little extra dry and firm than for the meat to be underdone.

Jazz will let you know if they’re any good.