A few years ago, one of us received a food dehydrator for Christmas. It was a very thoughtful gift, but what would we ever do with one? It had been sitting in its box for ages until we decided to finally put it to work! Why now you ask?
Well, we were at the pet store perusing the treat aisle, when we came upon the chicken jerky that our pack loves!
Here they are, in case anyone is interested.
Milo’s Kitchen Chicken Jerky Treats Chik ‘n Breast Jerky Treats
They go through them like water! Lilo, Rosie, and Infinity are just crazy about them. However, us humans have never been crazy about the price tag. Let’s be real, being college students who run our own kitten rescue, we have to budget accordingly, and sometimes that means foregoing the higher end treats. We will occasionally splurge on these treats, because we love them and want them to have their favorite things.
It was then that the elusive dehydrator from Christmas past popped into my head! Out of nowhere, I thought, lets just make the treats. How hard could it be, right?
So we ran home, pulled some raw chicken tenders out of the freezer, and waited for them to defrost. We then proceeded to cut the chicken tenders into thin slices, placed them onto the dehydrator racks, and plugged the dehydrator in. We left it alone for 7 hours until it was nice and dry! Note: They looked ready around the 5 hour mark, but upon further inspection, they were still too moist.
The dehydrator we used is called Presto 06300 Dehydro Electric Food Dehydrator
We just plugged it in, set an alarm on our phone, and let it work.
Here it is in action with our chicken jerky treats!
And of course, the final product!
It was very simple, easy to do, and much cheaper than anything sold in stores. Best of all, the pack enjoyed the treats and we felt great about giving them something that we made ourselves. Chicken jerky treats from the store are on the higher end of treats, but may still contain preservatives and additives. The jerky we made had one ingredient, chicken. Honestly, it was so much easier than we ever thought it would be. Had we known, we would have been using it since day one! We highly recommend this to pet parents! Here is a video of the process and our pack eating up the treats!
Happy to report that the treats were a hit in our household!
Have questions? Leave us a line in the comments and we will be happy to answer them!
Rosie & the Huskies 
We use ours for dehydrating sweet potatoes for our Lab. Those are super expensive at the store but so cheap to make on your own. He loves them.
LikeLike
I see you love your pets a lot. Have you ever considered going vegan to extend that love to all animals? Would love to challenge you to try it for a month!
LikeLike
Is it safe? I mean, raw chicken can have salmonella, right?
LikeLike
Hi John,
The safe internal temperature for chicken is 165 degrees Fahrenheit, which is the temperature that the dehydrator uses consistently over a period of 7 hours, so the chicken is fully cooked and safe for all animals and humans to consume. Hope that answers your question!
LikeLike