The Barking&Mad Bone Broth Chew
There are many issues with treats on the market for our dogs, many people swear by different types and although each have benefits, arguments can be made for negatives to.
Every option has its downsides and got me thinking about something we have been making for years for our own dogs!
What if there was a treat that literally had no downsides, something that made use of the scraps of a Sunday lunch and had more nutrients then dog food itself? Something that could last for weeks and only have 1 ingredient?
Bone Marrow – To Bone Broth
Whats are next exciting business venture?
To start we must go to the beginning, During my childhood making the most of meals was important and boiling bones in a slow or pressure cooker was a normal affair.
Why did we do this? Broth! Or stock to be more specific. The liquid after the long boil would be poured though a stainer into a jug and left to rest for a few hours, the fat would rise to the top which could then be skimmed off, leaving you with pure nutrient dense collagen filled stock!
How does this relate to dog treats?
Dozens of people love to use bones as a cheap buy from the waste of a butcher and boil them up to create the broth, this can be frozen or put in the oven to create a nice hard treat, and thats where we come in..
Have you ever noticed broth can go Gelatinous?
Our Simple Plan!
These cooking methods are not new, and people have been doing this for a while but most prefer to buy which is understandable as the process is long and takes effort, so what if we stepped in and made the effort for you?
We will source the best beef, lamb, venison and chicken bones from the best free range sources in the UK.
These will be boiled with 100% Cornish spring water and a hint of apple cider vinegar to help the bone breakdown.
After straining this beautiful nutritious concoction and removing the fat from the top we will add a winning ingredient to each flavour. This will include Fennel, rosemary, egg shells, dried blueberries, Kale etc. Which all add amazing benefits to a dogs diet.
After this, the broth and herb mix will be poured into a mould, for us a mould would be important to shape a chew for a dog to use and play with.
These moulds will be placed into a simple dehydration oven, this is to get rid of the moisture and may take some time! Its also the reason the mould is big as the broth mix may shrink!
Ingredients
Take note that the added ingredients may have to go into the dehydration oven first, adding to dried broth is best!
The dehydration oven will run for a few days or more, the aim point is for the broth jelly to start to “crystallise”
See this link on how to dehydrate bone broth
Ignore steps 4 and 5, thats the only difference! Also we are putting the broth into moulds that give it a thick rod like shape for chewing as oppose to spread thin on a sheet. A basic change that may require more time to dehydrate!
You must remove ALL the fat from the liquid broth before dehydrating. Fat does not dehydrate.
Once the process is complete your left with a nice chunky hard dog treat, this will last many weeks in a sealed pack, once given to the dog it’ll start to slowly soften up on contact with the dogs mouth, but still last days or weeks!
Most people have slow cookers, and many have been making broth for 100’s of years. Dehydration ovens are a simple addition and are becoming popular for making dried fruit and jerky, people use these ovens to turn broth into a solids for the use of stock making, or for us, treat making!
