Canning Dog Food From Offal

[baymule]

@frustratedearthmother I wonder if I could make powdered liver? Can you expound on your powdered ham a bit? Would it be better for me to cook the liver, then dehydrate it? What blender did you use? I have an old Vita-mix, with the stainless steel cannister. I bet it would do a good job.

Powdered might be easier to use, just measure and add water. It would take up a LOT LESS room too and space is an issue here. Please provide more details!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Lemme see.... I soaked the meat over night in a sink water to try and get some of the salt out (with a chunk of ice) to keep it good. Some of this meat was sliced really thin (think lunchmeat) and some of it was thicker (like a ham steak). You wouldn't need to do that with fresh liver.

At first I just put it in the dehydrator after soaking, but some of the bigger chunks were harder to dehydrate and as such, harder to powder because they were so large. I learned to cut the pieces smaller to help with both processes. I used my Bullet to powder it. It's the only blender I have, lol. I think you could do liver without any problems. Not sure if you would need to cook it first - but at my house I would. That's because my dogs (weirdos) don't do raw liver. They will literally look at me like I've lost my mind, lol. But I'm thinking that dehydrating it would basically "cook" it.

I haven't used any of my dehydrated/powderede meat yet just because I've been using up some other stuff I canned a while back first. My first experimental plan is to cook it up in some rice and see how it goes over with the dogs. Might try that today. Oh - I do keep mine in ziploc bags the freezer, just because I had the room. If I didn't I'd probably put it in canning jars and keep it in the pantry. Being dehydrated before storing it should keep just fine.

Experiment!

 

[baymule]

I think I’d cook it first. I have some frozen in the freezer. I think I’ll plsy with it and see what happens. Thanks for the idea!

 

[frustratedearthmother]

You're welcome! So today I put about a cup of the powdered meat in a pot of rice that I was cooking for the dogs. Dropped a few quail eggs in there too. They gave it two paws up!

 

[baymule]

We caught chicken leg quarters on sale for .47 cents a pound in 10 pound bags a couple months ago and bought 4 bags. I finally got around to thawing a bag out, cooking the chicken, deboning the meat and canning it. I got 7 quarts mixed with rice and broth. I used 4 cups cooked rice divided into 7 quart jars. The chicken cost $4.70, the rice maybe less than a dollar. So the dog food cost less than a dollar a quart. My husband divides my home canned dog food between 5 dogs and mixes it with their kibble. They love it and lick their pans. Getting them to eat was a problem, they nibbled at dry dog food and ants would get in it. Not any more. Since I started canning for them, they eat it up. Spoiled? Yes they are.

 

[flowerbug]

i'd say!

 

[Lazy Gardener]

One of those jars would be a great start to chicken/rice soup. Just add veggies!

 

[Beekissed]

We ran out of canned offal for the dogs!! Oh no!! So we went to the slaughter house, Mr. Jim priced us beef lovers at 25 cents a pound! He had beeves coming in for slaughter, so we went back later and got 69 pounds for $17.25 YAY! One liver fills up a wash pan.

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So I cubed them up, simmered in big pots and canned 28 quarts, but one broke in the canner, so I got 27 quarts. Plus I froze 6 quart bags, raw. Got 4 quarts of broth that I put in the refrigerator. Dogs are over the moon with this stuff on their kibble!

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I’m going to get more and get a bunch canned up. Got to get more quart jars. I’d like a 2-3 month supply. One quart per day split 4 ways, I really love my dogs to do all this. LOL LOL

Wow!!! What a bargain!!!! I'd love to have an abbatoir somewhere near here so I could get some good deals like that. Think of the good nutrition your dogs are getting!! Amazing.

 

[baymule]

One of those jars would be a great start to chicken/rice soup. Just add veggies!

I told my husband it is human grade food. It’s store bought chicken, what I raise is better, but we could open it and eat it.

 

[baymule]

Wow!!! What a bargain!!!! I'd love to have an abbatoir somewhere near here so I could get some good deals like that. Think of the good nutrition your dogs are getting!! Amazing.

Would you believe the stinkers didn’t like it? They like chicken! They ate it anyway. LOL I have more of it in the freezer, cubed up. I need to try canning some mixed with chicken.