I have made dried liver for my pup twice now with a Mr. Coffee food dehydrator. Each time I use the trays, they seem to get more brittle and break. So far I have lost 4. I purchased it in the early 90's but it's only been used about 4-5 times.

Does anybody else make them at home with a dehydrator and what brand do you have? This one has a fan but the trays are really, really thin. I'm looking for new one.

It's so much easier to just forget and leave the empty trays where the dogs can get at them! Then they don't have a chance to get brittle since then they're all broken!

I'm on my second one now - sorry don't know what brand (it's out in the barn and there's 8 feet of snow between here and there..

How long are you dehydrating the liver for?

Lehman's Hardware in Kidron Ohio has some nice ones and the plastic to make new trays.
http://www.lehmans.com/shopping/product/detailmain.jsp?itemID=137&itemType=PRODUCT&RS=1&keyword=dehydrator

The store also stocks parts for hand-cranked meat grinders. They carry both the Porkert (Czech) and Chop-Rite (USA) brands.

The store serves the local Amish community and folks who want to live "off the grid". It's a pretty interesting place to browse.

I have been drying the liver for 12-13 hours and they are perfect. Dog goes bonkers over them.

I am trying to stay in the $30-$50 range considering I am only drying food for the dog once a month.

Here's a cool discussion site:

http://www.dehydratorshop.com/food-dehydrator-comparison.html


BTW, the Excalibur wins all the comparison tests I have seen. Never seen one, but it comes out on top of all the lists.

The Excalibur Parallax would be the one listed on the Lehman's website. I looked again and it has a 10 year warrantee on the trays.

I keep lingering by it when I stop by the store -- its just up the road from where I get my chicken parts. It seems pretty well made. I suppose someone who is a bit handy with woodworking tools could rig one up over a weekend. Parts alone will run about $50-70 for the fan, heater, rheostat to control the heater, tray material and casing materials.

As far as the price, I've found it's always better to spend the extra up front. That way, you just spend it once and you are happier with the better product. Of course, now that you know what you are looking for, you can start watching ebay. Or, you can start scouting around for better prices.

For my drying needs, I just use my oven. It has a built-in fan and I prop the door slightly open. It's not perfect but it works.

The Mr Coffee dehydrator seems to be discontinued.

Cabela's catalog also has dehydrators. They have some pretty serious ones.

More about the Parallax design,
http://www.healthnutalternatives.com/parallexxdet.htm

I make microwave "jerky" out of poultry breast for the dogs.

check out stuff like craigslist - that's where i got my dehydrator (http://www.aviva.ca/shop/products.asp?itemid=2303&catid=330). i don't think it's the fanciest out there, but it works and was a good price.

how can you tell when the meat is safely dehydrated?

for backpacking, i dehydrate fruits/vegetables etc, but i've been buying dehydrated food for the dogs (the honest kitchen) as i'm not sure about dehydrating raw meat. i'd be worried if i hadn't fully dehydrated it and it turned. but i'm not sure i want to be desicating their food either.

You can use your regular oven, too. Saves buying a dehydrater.
http://www.k9kinship.com/tt_treats.html
This link has a recipe for oven dried liver treats.
Here's another link:
http://homecooking.about.com/library/weekly/aa100702b.htm
This sounds so easy and good, I might try it myself.

Edited by Janice Jarman (01/02/2008 03:59 PM)
Edit reason: add another link

We have an Excalibur, it's WONDERFUL!!!!! It dries the food on all the shelves pretty evenly in much less time than any other dehydrator I've used.
Meat is dry enough when you can bend it and it cracks but doesn't break apart.