Hey everybody! I'm new to this community but I've been blessed to have some wonderful pets in my life. I've always struggled with finding quality treats and snacks for them since the cheap commercially produced dog biscuits seemed bland and lacking any real nutrition. In late 2019 I bought a freeze drying machine with the intention of starting my own freeze dried pet treat business. Unfortunately for me, I decided to open for business in January 2020 and COVID eventually made me put my business on hold for a while...but I hope to start up again soon.
We adopted Pancake from a rescue when she was 4 months old and she is the most cuddly German Shepherd ever! She likes to follow my wife around everywhere and goes absolutely wild whenever she comes home from work.
Dyson is a pitbull mix that we adopted when he was around 1 year old. He is a very mellow dog that loves to nap, but is always excited for walks and hiking. He is very gentle with children and other dogs and is a great pal for Pancake. This is a pic of him from right after his adoption (no more crusty nose now!)
Here are some pictures from when I first bought and set up the Harvest Right freeze dryer in my garage. It is made my Harvest Right, a company out of Utah, and can load about 12 to 15 pounds of food inside at a time. The freeze dryer works by bringing the temperature of the food down to below freezing and a vacuum pump reduces the pressure inside of the chamber. The process, known as sublimation, removes the water content from the foods and all that is left is the freeze dried item minus the liquid.
I freeze dry whole chunks of raw beef and they become very easy to break into smaller pieces. I am saving the snacks in resealable mylar bags with oxygen absorbers to maintain freshness.
Thin sliced sweet potato "chips" are also another favorite with the pups. They really enjoy the crunchy texture, and it seems to help them with having enough fiber in their diets.
I also make freeze dried beef and chicken liver that I grind into a powder to sprinkle on pet foods to make it more appealing. I donate the powdered liver to the local animal shelters to help the picky eaters enjoy their meals a little more.
Lastly, here is a mixture of pureed sweet potato and beef liver that I poured into silicone molds and froze to make grain-free dog biscuits. It took me a few tries to get the recipe right because the first few batches didn't have the right ratio of sweet potato to liver and they would crumble easily.
Here are the finished biscuits.
Thanks for checking out my article! Have a great day and remember to hug your pets today!