Homemade dry cat food with beef
Poultry and fish are yummy to eat, but what about other meat? The list of homemade dry cat food recipes wouldn't be complete without beef, a great animal protein source for our carnivore cats.
Equipment
- oven
Ingredients
- 430 g boiled ground beef
- 150 g cornmeal
- 125 g fat-free dry milk
- 210 g soy flour
- 340 g whole wheat flour
- 115 g wheat germ
- 68 g brewer's yeast
- 15 ml vegetable oil
- 15 ml sesame oil
- 470 ml water
Instructions
- Boil 15 ounces of ground beef. Put it into a pot with water, and once it boils – cover with a lid and cook for about 15 minutes. After that, take it off the gas and let it get cold.
- Get a baking sheet ready. If you have a small one (46 by 33 cm or smaller), please take two to get enough space for all kibbles to bake. Otherwise, you'll have to spend more time on that. Cover sheets with parchment paper. (There's no need to use oil or butter, as it brings nothing but extra fat to your feline's diet.)
- Preheat an oven. Leave it to get 350 F (177 C), and start cooking the dough for kibbles meanwhile.
- Prepare the dough. Take all the dry ingredients (soy flour, cornmeal, whole wheat flour, brewer's yeast, fat-free dry milk, and wheat germ) and whisk them in a large bowl with a wooden spoon's help. Add two cups of water and mix a heavy and thick dough.
- Cook a filler. Mash ground beef, sesame oil, and vegetable oil in a small bowl with a fork's help. Sesame oil in the recipe is a zinc, iron, and calcium source for a cat's healthy bones and joints. Don't worry if the meat is still in bits after you've finished – you'll combine it with the dough later anyway.
- Add the beef filler to the dough. Pour it over and mix until you get the thick dough ball. Resist the temptation of adding more water to the dough to make it easier to mix: We cook dry kibbles, remember? So, the dough needs to be rough.
- Roll the ready-made mix out. Put the dough between two sheets of parchment paper and use a pin to roll it out evenly. Make it about 1⁄4 inch (0.64 cm) thick.
- Cut it into kibbles. Use a thin knife to cut the rolled out dough into small squares (future kibbles). Please make them small enough for a cat to consume safely after they are ready.
- Bake the squares in the preheated oven. Put raw kibbles on the prepared baking sheets, place them to your oven, and leave for around 20-25 minutes. Flip them from time to time while baking so that all the sides could get browned.
- Cool the kibbles and put them to an air-tight container. Once ready, take the kibbles out from the oven (please use a towel or a mitt to protect your hand), give them some time to get cool, and place them in a container for your feline to consume later.