smoking dog jerky treats?

[toolhead]

This may get transferred to another forum header.  Sorry if in wrong spot.

If you have weber grills..high chance you have a dog (s)

Anyone else smoke jerky treats for their pets?

Our wsms get fired up and smoke all types of jerky treats for our puppy...

Anybody else smoking them jerky treats?

[1buckie]

No, not yet.....but the wife & I have discussed this over & over....

we gotta do something, for two reasons....


The kinds of treats they like & eat a lot of are being constantly recalled because of toxic Chinese ducks & chickens.....and,  they eat like pigs in dog suits......

[austin87]

I haven't done dog jerky treats but I have done bones. Depending on the size of your dog, you can smoke beef or pork bones - go with something like leg bones, large neck bones, or knuckle. I think ribs (especially pork) are too small  to be chew toys. They can fracture and dogs can choke on them.

You will probably need to find a whole animal butcher, I don't think you will find bones that size in the local grocery store. Think of a veal or lamb shank... You want that bone, but from a cow. Lamb/veal shank may work for a smaller dog, just please do be careful that they are the right size and err on the bigger side!

If you can find them, smoke them until they are well done. Your pup will be extra happy if the bones still have some meat on them rather than being completely scraped clean.

[austin87]

To do just treats, I would get the cheapest cut of beef you can find (clod or chuck aren't too expensive but I would go with something leaner if you can find it) and cut them into 1-2 inch squares and smoke until mostly dry. You want to be able to store them at room temperature without risking them spoiling. I would not put any salt/pepper/seasoning on them.

[toolhead]

We have been doing this for a while.

Natural bison or pork jerky treats run $55 per lb.

Top round is great for beef jerky...no seasoning..smoke at 150-200 degrees.    Same process for chicken ..salmon..pork belly..tripe etc.

Post jerky weight cost is around $12 lb for usda choice beef jerky.

That based on $5lb for the top round post smoking weight..you lose around 60% water weight.

Big cost savings..human grade food quality and great excuse tobfire up the wsm

[addicted-to-smoke]

I'm confused. Is this regular jerky you're making, or is it that only your dog likes jerky?

[toolhead]

Jerky has only been made for the puppy so far.

The only cooking difference is puppy jerky...no seasonings added.

The rest of the process is the same.

S/w natural pet store early on and they said all the natural jerky treats are smoked ...or dehydrated...so basically same process for any jerky

[Johnpv]

So are you basically cutting it into strips?  How long are you smoking it for?

[toolhead]

Slice into 1/8 -1/4 strips..partially freeze meat to make it easier to slice.

Pop meat on when smoker holds steady at 150-200..

I dont use water in the wsm as the basis is to dehydrate.....when making jerky.

Check it in about 2.5-3 hrs...you may want to rotate meat as you will see hot spots based on which meat turns darker first

Meat is ready by eye check.

When it turns rosy brown and you can bend it without shapping. And you see white strands when bending the strip..it is ready.

We smoke  full wsm loads...freeze the bulk and leave weeks supply in fridge.

The first several times you may overthink and overcook the jerkyy.

After making jerky 3-4 times .the process will be much less of a labour as the process becomes more familiar and easy.

I dont toss the fatty pieces which i trim off.

Rather i keep those sectioned off and feed those same day to our puppy.

Our puppy gets pretty excited when the wsm gets fired up..its like thanksgiving day dinner.

If you dont have a smoker..you can do this on a kettle to try..but you wont have much surface area..if it works out...recommend smoker.

Itll pay itself back within six months in treats savings

We havent bought treats from pet stores since the wsm landed

[toolhead]

After the 3 hours milestone. Some of the smaller strips..top racks and outer wdge place strips will be ready...i move the less cooked pieces into the hot spots and move top rack to lower and lower rack to top and then on half hr intervals check/remove done pieces.

We tend to eat some of the fatty pieces as even not seasoned..given inadd some hickory chunks..its pretty dang tasty

[toolhead]

1buckie......theres easy math to make the wsm purchase.(or if you have one ...light er up)..itll pay for itself in six months...

80% cost savings and great excuse to keep the wsm fired up monthly

[austin87]

Beef jerky/dried meat snacks are pretty expensive compared to raw meat on a $/lb basis because fresh meat loses a ton of weight in moisture. 3/1-5/1 raw to jerky depending on how dry the final product is.

That's also why if you have ever eaten a pound of jerky on a road trip you get, ahem, backed up or constipated.. It's like eating 3-5 lbs of raw meat, but the jerky dehydrates you and requires a ton of liquid from your system to digest.

So @1buckie and @toolhead yes there is great savings on making your own dog treats (or jerky for human consumption).

[toolhead]

Yup..agreed...part of the thirst for human jerky is related to the salt/salty seasonings used in human jerky.

Without seasonings..still dry meat...puppy drinks a lot of water after jerky treats..

I did my math based on precook weight and then post cook weight with a food scale.

The 60% weight loss is fairly consisten across beef/chicken/salmon...by the time i did pork belly i stopped weighing.

The 80-85% cost savings doesnt include charcoal costs..so back of the napkin math...you can reduce savings to 75%.

But ..add back the food grade quality of meat being used and the cost savings accelerates back upwards to 100%..

Just sharing a cost savings method of feeding our pets better while another excuse to play with more charcoal...

[toolhead]

That continual cost savings is a great play when making your next kettle run buy when the your better half says.."another one??"

[Johnpv]

Thanks for the info, going to have to give these a try for our new puppy.