# DIY Dehydrated liver treats



## Occa (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi all,
I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend to try my hand at making my own dried beef liver, dried liver and chicken jerk treats for my 2 dogs.

The results were not bad, nothing like the consistency of the store brands.
My turned into hard rubber, not crisp easily breakable pcs.

Do I need more powerfully Hydrator, or what.

Any help would be appreciated.

Grant


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## Karma6577 (Jan 22, 2013)

Try thinner pieces and leaving them in their for like a day.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

Occa said:


> Hi all,
> I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend to try my hand at making my own dried beef liver, dried liver and chicken jerk treats for my 2 dogs.
> 
> The results were not bad, nothing like the consistency of the store brands.
> ...


Did you use cure? Or marinade it? My dehydrator is presently going as I write this...sweet potatoes, bananas, blueberries, and apples for the dogs.


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## Occa (Oct 7, 2012)

Hi again,

I will try to answer everyone's Q's here.
The beef liver was pre-cut to 1/8" thick or less.
I cut the turkey liver between 1/4" and 1/8" thick.

I did not use any cure or marinate.

I tested the liver at 8 hrs, which prompted the new thread.

Run dehydrator for an additional 8 hrs. which finished off the thicker pcs.
The thin pcs. SNAP! when broken; the thicker pcs. take a few bends before breaking.

The borrowed dehydrator was 425 watts; I googled Excalibur dehydrators which have 600 watts plus a higher temperature setting.

Any thoughts on brand to look for?


Thanks again,
Grant, Occa and Cajun.


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## Karma6577 (Jan 22, 2013)

I use my oven to dehydrate fruit veggies and meat. I've found that the dehydrators are not big enough for the size of treats I do and the quantity. With some of the meat and thicker cut veggies it takes longer and I will leave them in for like 24 hours to get them crispy/crunchy! 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Kathryn19007 (May 27, 2013)

I bought a dehydrator to make liver treats for my dogs however after 2 hours the house smelled like dead bodies!! So out to the garage it went!! A terrific tip for the dehydrator is to cut parchment paper to fit the racks (the ones I have are plastic and the liver sticks to them like glue without using the paper), then cut the liver thin, and dehydrate at the recommended setting. I found that 10-12 hours worked amazingly. The liver came out crispy, didn't stick at all, and my dogs go thru hoops to get a piece!!


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## Discoetheque (Nov 2, 2011)

I have a Ronco dehydrator, and have recently made both liver and lung treats in it that I was very pleased with.

For both meats, I cut them in smaller pieces (probably about the size of a fun-size candy bar and half the thickness), nothing too thick, and layered them on the trays so that they weren't touching one another. I didn't do anything to the meat aside from rinsing it a few times after it was cut to get out a lot of the blood. No cures, marinades or anything.

I let my liver and lung dehydrate for about a full day, if not a little more. I want all the moisture out, since I don't feed treats often so they tend to stay around for a while, and i don't want to run the risk of molding. I would rotate my trays usually about once an hour, except overnight or when I was at work.
The liver came out nice and dense, dry and crisp. The lung came out dry, very light and airy with an easy, clean break.


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## LeoRose (Jan 10, 2013)

Commercial liver and lung treats are freeze-dried. That is why they are so light, crispy, and easy to break. Sound more like you were making liver jerky.  I dry sweet potato slices in the oven for my dogs, but I draw the line at liver. I can't stand the smell of the stuff when it gets heated up, so I just buy the freeze-dried stuff.


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## glendaleah (Aug 10, 2016)

Occa said:


> Hi all,
> I borrowed a dehydrator from a friend to try my hand at making my own dried beef liver, dried liver and chicken jerk treats for my 2 dogs.
> 
> The results were not bad, nothing like the consistency of the store brands.
> ...


I have a 500 watt NESCO dehydrator. I use chicken livers as they are the cheapest here. (I would use turkey as well but have not seen any) I rinse them and only cut in half with kitchen scissors if they are to big. Set the temp to 165f/71c. I dry over night. They come out crispy. I put them in a freezer bag and freeze them. I serve them straight out of the freezer to my dog and 5 cats. (I snap them in half for the cats) They love them. 

This machine came with 2 fruit roll up trays, 4 clean a screen for herbs and stuff (I ordered 2 extra), jerky gun and spices, 7 trays as I order 4 extra. Altogether it cost me less then $90 Canadian delivered. It is way quieter and has higher watts then my last machine so it is fast. Love this machine.

PS For some reason these do not smell up my house when drying with this machine. I know many people set it in their garage so there is no smell to deal with.


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## Elsieb (Apr 9, 2014)

I buy the dry liver treats from a local 'gourmet dog cookie' business. They are crispy and I can easily break them into pieces.
I know they slice their liver frozen to get the thin slices. I have an excalibur dehydrator but I am a vegetarian and know I couldn't
stand the smell. Even if I did it on the porch I'd be worried the dehydrator would be permanently stinky


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