# Baking Satin Balls



## elijah94 (Mar 9, 2018)

Hi guys i made a huge batch of Satin balls to give to my two puppies. and put weight on them. i Gave them one each to eat with there kibble. the thing is that they had really pudding type of poop for the entire next day. my question is do you guys think that if i bake them in the oven instead of giving it to them raw that they will have better stool and not upset stomach


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Yes, I bake them for sick foster dogs -- their immune systems are shot, and GI systems trashed, so I'm not feeding raw meat to them. 

There's two ways to do that: I bake them covered at around 400 until medium-rare (time depends on how big they are -- check at 20 min, but it may take longer). My friend leaves them raw and puts one in a glass bowl and microwaves it to cook before feeding the dog.

One key thing about satin balls is that if you are using one of those Internet recipes with a bunch of vegetable oil in it, you are asking for problems -- diarrhea is the minimum you're asking for, pancreatitis is a more serious potential problem with that much fat. OMIT all oil in those recipes. You also don't need fortified breakfast cereal (common in many recipes), if you are feeding vitamin-fortified kibble--it's too many synthetic vitamin sources. Just use more organic rolled oats in place of the fortified cereal.


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## Aly (May 26, 2011)

Thanks for your comments about the potential risks of the original Satin Ball recipe, @Magwart. I ran across the recipe years ago on another forum populated by a lot of breeders. Seen it lots of places online since then too. Ironically, it was and is highly recommended for putting weight on dogs quickly prior to a show. 

Makes you wonder, doesn't it?

Aly


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Yes, I know those recipes and used to use them years ago, until I looked into things more. They're all over rescue sites too. Carmen has also posted in the past about the problems in some of those recipes. Those recipes seem great until you have the one dog who can't tolerate all that fat, and then you have a $1,000 vet bill for pancreatitis. Not worth the risk!

Putting weight on "quickly" is also a goal I find strange on some of those sites. I have fostered too many emaciated, sick dogs, and the advice of good vets is always the same: slow, steady weight gain is the safest kind. 

I feed them to restore health in compromised dogs, so to me, everything in them should support health. It's very easy to simplify those recipes into something a little better. Less is more, with ingredients -- there's no magic to making a meat ball the dogs find delicious.

For weight gain, although 80/20 is usually plenty of fat, I have used 70/30 meat too and that's a lot of fat -- you'll see it when you bake them. I pour off whatever is left in the roasting pan (it's quite a bit). I honestly don't understand the need for the huge amount of vegetable oil some people are pouring in them (and some oil likely to be used, like canola, is pretty nasty), and I've never seen a good justification for it.

I also put 10% chopped organ meat in mine -- ideally kidney and liver, but even just liver if that's all I have, as it's a snack not a meal. It is a little nutritional and flavor boost. I prefer using good eggs -- Farmer's Market yard eggs, if I can get them, as they have better nutrition when chickens are foraging bugs, worms, and weed shoots outdoors. 

To me, the organ meat or yard eggs are simple, natural nutrition boosters that make more sense for a dog than fortified human breakfast cereal. You can also use culinary herbs too, to target any concerns (turmeric/pepper, oregano, etc.).

I think the gelatin in most recipes is likely superfluous protein in a food that's already protein dense. It won't hurt and might help digestion with some extra aminos, but it's an inconclusive ingredient to me. It's one of those things I'll add if I have it, but I'm not going to worry about leaving it out either. I'd just as soon give bone broth for collagen, as it has a lot of other good benefits that plain gelatin lacks.


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## Coolsuedean (12 mo ago)

Magwart said:


> Yes, I bake them for sick foster dogs -- their immune systems are shot, and GI systems trashed, so I'm not feeding raw meat to them.
> 
> There's two ways to do that: I bake them covered at around 400 until medium-rare (time depends on how big they are -- check at 20 min, but it may take longer). My friend leaves them raw and puts one in a glass bowl and microwaves it to cook before feeding the dog.
> 
> One key thing about satin balls is that if you are using one of those Internet recipes with a bunch of vegetable oil in it, you are asking for problems -- diarrhea is the minimum you're asking for, pancreatitis is a more serious potential problem with that much fat. OMIT all oil in those recipes. You also don't need fortified breakfast cereal (common in many recipes), if you are feeding vitamin-fortified kibble--it's too many synthetic vitamin sources. Just use more organic rolled oats in place of the fortified cereal.


I made a batch yesterday before seeing your post. I was up repeatedly last night having to let one of my dogs out to potty. Needless to say, I just baked them. Also, I will be only adding oats and eggs in my next batch. The ground beef is fatty enough and the Total cereal is filler. The oats are a healthy grain. Thank you for your comment.


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## Magwart (Jul 8, 2012)

Welcome to the forum, @Coolsuedean ! I'm very sorry to hear one of yours has some indigestion. Hopefully it will pass quickly today!


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