# Homemade Chicken Jerky??



## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I have tried, using my fan oven set low, but whether I pre-cook it or not I seem to end up with chicken chips. The dogs don't seem to mind, though!


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## sbarnhardt (May 10, 2012)

fjm said:


> I seem to end up with chicken chips. The dogs don't seem to mind, though!


Chicken strips, chips, chunks, et. al. it's all chicken. Beside, when I feed mine jerky, I break it up into smaller pieces and feed it to him that way. Makes him think he's getting more. It lasts longer anyway. 

I was wondering about precooking it to some extent though to hopefully eliminate any threat of salmonella. 

???


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

I did give it a quick blast to kill anything - perhaps that is why it went crispy. By the time I finished, the expensive organic treats were beginning to look quite inexpensive - a kilo of chicken didn't make a lot of treats!


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## dcyk (Nov 30, 2011)

I cut up chicken fillet into thin strips and put it into my oven toaster, and toasted it until there's no more bubbling liquid and a bit more, Nice and tough. Just takes a few minutes

But i usually finish feeding within a day or two.


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## PoodlePowerBC (Feb 25, 2011)

I make most of my dog treats. I dry Wild duck breast, beef liver, beef heart, elk, venison, salmon, and beef lung. I use a smoker/dehydrator or the oven. If I use my oven I keep the temp at 275. It takes a long time (sometimes overnight) but Russell is raw-fed and I just feel more comfortable feeding him this kind of treat. I do LARGE batches, and freeze them in Baggies, and take slices out as I need them. For instance, the last time I did beef heart, I dried 2 whole hearts. And when I do salmon I do a whole salmon.


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## cliffdweller (Jan 31, 2011)

Here's how I make beef jerky for Rain. I always have this on hand (in my pocket), cut into small pieces.

Cut lean beef (trim all fat off) into thin, flat strips and place one layer thick on roasting pan (I usually do as many pans as I can fit in the oven). Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Bake at 350 for 20 - 30 minutes (vary for thickness and quantity). Turn oven off and crack door slightly; let stand 'til cool. 

I freeze most of the batch & remove from freezer as needed. I have only occasionally done chicken this way.


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## sbarnhardt (May 10, 2012)

My wife bought me a couple of boneless, skinless chicken breasts at the grocery store Saturday, so I'm going to experiment. I'll let you guys know how it turns out. I've read what I can find from various spots. My plan is to slice with the grain into 1/4 - 1/8 inch thick slices, put in the oven until all pink is gone, then take out and immediately put it in my dehydrator until finished. One piece I read suggested even then putting it in a 160 degree oven for roughly 30 minutes as a final salmonella preventative. 

I guess we'll see........


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## happybooker1 (Dec 6, 2011)

*I did chicken jerky last month*

I bought boneless, skinless breasts. Stuck them in the freezer for about 40 minutes, sliced thin, and laid on cookie sheets in a single layer. 

I dried them in a 200 degree oven for about 8 hours. The chicken breasts were $2/lb. and I got about 25 oz. jerky out of 2# of meat.


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## tokipoke (Sep 3, 2011)

I might have to try making my own chicken jerky as well. I've just been buying chicken jerky by Dogswell Mellow Muts (MELLOW MUT®) - my dogs go crazy for them, and even my cat. She will gnaw on a thick piece like rawhide. She also gets possessive and growls at my other cat if he gets near her when she is eating these. If my drawers had handles, I'm sure she would figure out how to open it. She kept sniffing the drawer where it was kept, pawing at it. They love it but it's so expensive!


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## fjm (Jun 4, 2010)

happybooker1 said:


> I dried them in a 200 degree oven for about 8 hours. The chicken breasts were $2/lb. and I got about 25 oz. jerky out of 2# of meat.


Wow - it's really worth doing at that price! The cheapest I can get chicken breasts is nearer $6 a pound, and I over dried them and ended up with just a few ounces of chicken chips! I shall try your method next time I find some on sale.


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## sbarnhardt (May 10, 2012)

*It's in the works!!*

Well, for what it's worth my "Chicken Jerky Experiment" is on the way. 

I had three boneless, skinless chicken breasts in the pack when I opened it. I didn't notice the per pound price, but total price was a little over $7. So roughly $2.34 per chicken breast. 

I put it in the freezer for approximately 30 minutes before slicing it into 1/8 to 1/4 inch slices. It could have stood another 10 - 15 minutes in the freezer. That would be a trade off though. It would have sliced easier, but my fingers got a little cold as it was, so you'd win in one aspect and lose in another. 

Covered cookie sheets with combo parchment paper/aluminum foil. That's something new my wife got at the store. ???? Laid the sliced strips out on the paper, sprayed them with a bit of cooking spray, and sprinkled a little dried parsley on them. Put them in the oven at 350 for about 15 minutes till the pink was gone. At least it was in the ones I cut into so I'm going on the assumption that all were fine. That happened a lot quicker than I thought it would take. Then again, I'm no cook. The things we do for our fur buddies huh????

Took them off the sheets and arranged them on the racks of my dehydrator after spraying the racks with cooking spray. Reasoning for that was to prevent,hopefully, sticking to the rack. I've done beef jerky before and had a small amount of sticking issue. Not a lot and not bad, but some!!!! Turned the dehydrator as high as it would go. In my case that was 160 degrees. It's my plan to check at about an hour into drying to see how they are doing. 

I'll post more later as this thing progresses. Not hard to do so far folks. A little time which I have. As much, or more, hassle cleaning up the cutting boards, etc. as it is actually doing it. 

With fingers crossed...........


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## sbarnhardt (May 10, 2012)

*It's done!!*

Well it's finished......

I took it out of the dehydrator last night at a little after eleven. I maybe could have taken it out sooner, but I dozed off in the recliner so......

Anyway it spent almost 17 hours in the dehydrator. It was pretty dry which was good, but not extremely so so the dozing wasn't that much of a factor. I didn't have a set of scales to "weigh" the finished project, but judging the ending "mass" as opposed to the beginning "mass", I figured I lost about 2/3s. I started out with 3 chicken breasts and ended up with a quantity that, by sight, looked like about the amount of 1 chicken breast. So you see what I mean there......

Anyway, it passed one very important test!!! Jack liked it.


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