How To’s And Guides | Manual of Man

5 Bands To Make You Feel Like A Man

Dec 172011

Music has a strange way of taking charge of your emotions. It’s also very easy to link emotions and experience to music. Some music can make you feel all emo, or bummed out, or forlorn. While other bands can make you feel pumped up, macho, and ready to kick some ass.

Here, I’ve put together a list of modern bands that will make you feel just manly. It doesn’t necessarily have to be about kicking ass and rocking out, but about being strong and respected.

The Black Keys

Akron, Ohio based rock duo The Black Keys are pretty much all over the charts right now, and for good reasons. Since the debut of their first album, The Big ComeUp, in 2002, they haven’t stopped being featured in TV shows, movies, commercials, and games. They have been the go-to bad for any scene or sentiment requiring someone to look just utterly bad ass. Essentially, anytime you ever hear a fuzzy, wailing voice, strung out over edge guitar and tight drums. They are a tribute to the older school of rock, one of the fewer bands rekindling the passion for rock and roll that’s centered on the music making the scene. Not the scene making the music. Expect more and more big things from these, as they’ve only just begun to crack the crust of mainstream. They just put out a new album, El Camino, which you can assume has already infected your eardrums in some shape or form by now.

How To Repair The Fiber Optic Thread on Your Bow Sight

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Dec 052011

I recently upgraded the sight on my compound bow to a 4-pin Sword Apex Hunter. I had purchased the bow used off the archerytalk.com forums and it came with an entry level Cobra 3-pin sight. It took me about a year to realize the sight wasn’t up to snuff, and decided to upgrade. If you’re still toying with the idea, go upgrade your crappy sight. It’s the nerve center of your bow, you can’t shoot when you can’t aim!

The sight, while being absolutely diesel in it’s construction, came with a pin that was a little too bright. After contacting Brandon over at Sword (great guy), they told me that the fiber optic thread was not clipped close enough to the pin hole. They recommended that I clip the end of the thread and use a lighter to very carefully flare the end so it would not pull back through the hole.

I, unfortunately, held it too close and “killed” the pin. Which means I burned the fiber optic which causes the end of the fiber optic to emit as much light. I therefore took it apart and pulled more line through and fixed the pin. In the process, I accidentally broke two threads while trying to pull more slack from the wrapped threads. After fixing one correctly, I figured I’d document and explain how to do it while I fixed the other one.

Below, you can see how the top pin (in green) emits almost zero light, since the thread was broken. The only light it is pulling from is the 2 inches of thread left after the break, rather than 12” of thread in the wrap.

How To Set Up An Intermediate Home Power Outage Emergency Plan

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Nov 072011

This is my next guide in increasing your preparedness for power outages and weather emergencies from basic to intermediate. Consider this Self-Reliance 101, class 2!

Lighting

Aside from having throwaway flashlights, have at least one good quality flashlight is a must have too (two is better). I think a stout, tactical grade flashlight should be near or on you at all times, in my opinion anyways. I personally carried a Fenix TK11 tac light on me all the time. I used it more than I’d ever thought I would, for when I take the dog out to when I wake up to a check out a bump in the night. Unfortunately, I lost it this summer while helping my parents move and can’t seem to find it. It’s either at their old place, at their new place, or somewhere at my place amongst all the crap I had to bring over from the old place. Needless to say, it’s as good as gone and I ordered a new one. Other fine flashlight makers to check out are Surefire, Maglite, and Streamlight. They are pricey, but I’d recommend investing in a quality LED light and buy a few more less expensive LED lights, like Maglites. As tempting as it is to stick with buying a cheapo dollar store brand, they are, in the end, very unreliable. They tend to burn the batteries in storage, break apart after a light drop, or always seem to die at some point when you need them. And trust me, when you need a flashlight, you need a flashlight. They, like I said in the previous Basic guide, are good to have initially to get you off the ground and act as burners that can be given away. They shouldn’t be the backbone of your lighting situation.

Lanterns or oil lamps are also very useful for prolonged outages. LED lanterns are much more practical, as they have better power efficiency and produce a nice, diffusive yet bright ambient light. They can be set down or carried around and are much safer than candles or oil lamps. You can usually find them at the local big-box store like Walmart, Home Depot, Lowe’s, Target, or Dick’s for reasonable prices. Many are very heavy and clunky, since the majority run off D-cell batteries. These are great for the price and light, but should be kept for home use or car camping.

You could go another route and go lightweight though. I recently picked up a Black Diamond Orbit lantern for just under $30. This little guy is lightweight and compact and designed for backpacking, so it serves a dual purpose. I can use it in the summer while camping, but have it ready for any outages throughout the year. There are many out there like this, and vary in output and size/weight.

Food

Food is a necessity but can also be a luxury. Once you’ve got a few emergency staples in place, like canned chili or baked beans, Chef Boyardee and soups, you can start to spread your culinary wings. But first, you must expand your cooking capabilities. You have a couple options:

If you have a decent propane grill, which you should if you regularly read my blog, get a cast iron skillet. Cast iron pans are a fantastic way of turning the grill into a cook top. If you don’t know the benefits of cast-iron, read this really quick. Stainless steel skillets and pots are fine, as long as they don’t have any plastic or nonstick on them (oven-safe) when warming up a pot of soup or chili, but trying to saute anything can be a nightmare of stuck-on and seared food. Cast iron will hold the heat evenly, reducing the amount of hot spots you may experience trying to work with the strip burners on most grills. Continue reading »

What Every Other Used Car Buying Guide Won’t Tell You: Part I

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Oct 112011

What Every Other Used Car Buying Guide Won’t Tell You: Part I

I recently bought a used car. It took quite awhile and was a drawn out experience. Just ask my girlfriend, she suffered through it. If you don’t already know, I’m the type of person that researches everything before I buy. It’s not only to just compare prices, but also to know what I’m getting is exactly what I want. This means that its good quality, fits my needs, and fits my tastes. I won’t even buy a water bottle unless I know it’s good. So you can imagine the process of buying a car.

I Googled and read quite a few “Used Car Buying Guides”, most of them all said the same thing. They all pretty much dealt with negotiating the final price. I had apprehensions about this, I don’t consider myself a good negotiator. I was worried I’d break under the pressure against a high brow salesmen, who just as easily tacks on an extra $1,000 to the price tag as he’d take a sip of coffee. In the end, negotiating the price on my 2007 Subaru Impreza was the EASIEST part of the entire car buying process. It took less than 3 minutes. It took me nearly 3 months to get there.

Luckily for you, I read all the guides, waded through all the bullshit, and dealt with every type of dealer on the spectrum. So I’m going to let you in on a few secrets I, for what it’s worth, learned the hard way. These are things I experienced, so they might not very well be the same things YOU experience, but these are definitely things you don’t read about everyday. Throughout this multi-part guide, I’m going to introduce you to the mindset I took on when looking for a car, the importance of deciding on a type of car, experiences with dealerships, negotiating, and experiences after you purchase you car. So stay tuned!

Tip #1: Decide to Buy Before You Need to Buy
This one sounds easy, right? You wouldn’t believe how many people I know that are in cars that they bought because the had to. That is to say, their current car broke down or just got too awful to ride (awful being a matter of personal opinion) here. When you have to do something, you’re not in the best position to make an honest, logical, rational purchase. You’re bound on both sides by situational constraints (like if you NEED a car to get to work), financial constraints (you may not have the money saved on hand), and emotional constraints (you’re purchasing on a whim because you want a new car).

If you car is on the verge of death or just becoming too costly to maintain, like my 1997 BMW 318ti was, look a few months before you think you will want to get rid of your car. For me, my car was running fine but it started to need more and more costly maintenance repairs. Tires, brakes, alignment, wheel bearings. It had a strong engine and new a catalytic converter, alternator, and fuel pump. These were all unexpected costly repairs that I had to pay into because I just didn’t have the money for a new car. Because i had put costly repairs into that won’t need replacing before the car dies for good, I decided that I’d like to sell it to someone who wants to put in the maintenance work for a high MPG car, and find myself a new one. Continue reading »

Reclaim the Kitchen: Simple Shrimp Scampi Recipe

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Sep 172011

This is my first post in a new topic series I’m starting that’s dedicated to reclaiming the kitchen. I plan to include simple recipes that set you up with skills to tackle more advanced dishes. Cooking is all about practice and having fun. Even master chefs sometimes make bad food, so accept the fact that not everything you make will come out edible. Once you let go, have fun and learn from the mistakes!

Shrimp Scampi, which also just means Shrimp Shrimp, seems like a very fancy dish but is really very basic. Just because you see it touted at wanna-be high end establishments *cough* like Olive Garden *cough* doesn’t make it something you can only enjoy at restaurants. Here is my recipe for shrimp scampi using just a few ingredients.

NOTE: Much like Jamie Oliver, I prefer to forgo hard measurements when it comes to cooking, its far too rigid and strict. Instead, you’ll see me use approximate or eyeball amounts. Therefore, take the liberty of adding more or less as you wish to your tastes.

Ingredients

1lb 21-30 bag of frozen uncooked shrimp (you can use peeled, but I prefer cooking them shell-on – its more work messy, but the shell imparts and captures more buttery flavor – look for the variety where the shells are sliced and already deveined, usually called ez-peel)
1 bunch of flat leaf parsley
1 lemon
Dry vermouth (you can use white wine if you have it on hand, but vermouth is easier as it stores much longer than an open bottle of wine)
1 stick butter
1 box of fettuccine or linguini
Salt & pepper
6-8 cloves fresh garlic (use fresh, no jars of minced garlic here)
A couple spoons of flour
Olive oil
Crushed red pepper (optional)

How To Prepare Your Home For A Major Storm

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Aug 262011

This article is a continuation to my write-up on creating a basic emergency power outage plan. In that article, I took a very rudimentary approach to basic emergency preparedness, lights, water, food, etc. In this article, I’d like to highlight some more advanced preparations you can make that focus specifically on hurricane or snowstorm threats. This is in light of the approaching Hurricane Irene which is moving its way up the Eastern seaboard on the writing of this article (Aug ’11). This is the first hurricane (or possibly tropical storm by the time it reaches) to actually have a good chance of hitting New England in quite some time. For many of my friends who are now living on their own, it’s their first hurricane to prepare for. The same precautions made for hurricanes in the warmer months can also be applied to snowstorms in the winter months, with a few measures to deal with the cold, of course.

I’m breaking the article up into two main sections, water and wind. These are two major players in any storm so I will give various ways they can cause damage and how you can prevent or clean up damage.

Water

If you followed my precautions for storing up some extra water, you should be all set. However, in the case of heavy rains, one must also deal with the impact of water through flooding and ingress. Flooded basements and first floors are the bane of a homeowner’s existence. During hurricanes, it’s high water levels flooding in. In the winter, its likely pipe freezing during an extended outage and flooding once the power comes back on. It’s a good idea to go outside and survey your property prior to a storm, or even the next time there is a moderate rain storm. Watch where the water moves, look for hills, depressions, and soil types. Is your house situated on a hill? Is it at the top, side or bottom? Obviously, if you live at the top of a hill, the likelihood of flooding is low but still possible. Side and bottoms of hills present more of a problem, with the side being slightly less. In the case of a house embedded on the slope of a hill, you’ll likely have one side of your home entrenched and the other side open. Large volumes of water must work it’s way around or underneath your home, as it flows downhill. There may also be depressions around your home that its likely to collect, these are the areas you must note. For those homes at the base of a hill, flooding should be a higher priority.

Sandbags

No, they aren’t just used by the National Guard for building up levies. And no, they aren’t just put in the trunk of your car during heavy snow (which is actually a great way to get dual-purpose). Sandbags are a great tool for holding water back from doorways, ground floor windows, and garage door seals. These are very easy means for water to enter your home. Empty sandbags are cheap online ahead of time or they can be found at your local hardware supply or feed store. Trash bags can be used in a pinch, as long as the top is sealed. You’ll have to use more trash bags because you can’t fit 50lbs of sand in even the heftiest hefty bag. If you have easy access to sandpits, then you can save on buying play sand – allowing you to leave the sand bags empty until you’ll need them. If you don’t have access to sandpits or clean fill (dirt free of large, rocks, debris, etc) buying a few bags of play sand is your solution. You can keep them bagged in their original packaging indefinitely as long as you can keep them dry. If not, you’ll have to fill them and store them. Use them in the winter, and keep them stacked and somewhere at ground level, preferably on a concrete floor. You don’t want over that much weight centralized in one location on an upper floor, especially if its going to stay there for extended periods of time. You can also buy sandbags prefilled, commonly called “tube sand”. They are usually categorized by pound rating. I keep several 75lb sand bags, but that’s also because I use them in my car for the weight. Weight does not play as huge a factor in preventing minor flooding as it does in something larger scale, like reinforcing a levy against river flooding. And keep in mind you’ll have to lift these! It’s okay to buy less poundage, I won’t tell anyone. What’s more important is determining how many you’ll need according to the dimensions of the sandbags. For flood prevention, get them in tube form, its usually how you find them. Buy enough to stack them at least 2 high, in a C-shape around your doors or windows, aim for about a 1-foot clearance away from the door. For most normal size door thresholds, that’s about 4-6 sand bags. Garage doors will be quite a bit more. Why a C-shape? So you can still use the door! It also provides you with some extra room to add more bags if needed. Continue reading »

Start Cooking With Cast Iron

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Aug 182011

Want non-stick? Put your teflon-coated, overpriced, part of a matching set skillet away. Try out cast-iron.

Why Cast Iron?

Cast iron has been around for a long time. It fell by the way side when stainless steel and then Teflon came around. Stainless steel came into fashion because it was lighter, didn’t rust, easy to clean, and pretty much just looked pretty. It had some downsides though. Heat retention is much lower in stainless and food stuck to them like a son of a gun. Teflon came around and solved the sticking problem. Teflon, or polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), was developed by DuPont accidentally. It’s a slick thermoplastic that basically has a high melting point. This makes it suitable to be applied to cookware, as its stable at all but the highest temperatures. However, its not a good to use while baking as well as with any cooking utensils harder than the coating. You’ll scrape that plastic off quicker than you ever thought. And guess where it likely winds up? In you!

On the other hand, cast iron cookware has the potential to add iron into your food just from cooking. No strange polymers, chemicals, or leeching to worry about. Read more about it here, in a an article published in the Journal of Food Science

How Does Cast Iron Work?

Cast iron has better heat retention and develops it’s own nonstick surface the more you use it. Better yet, you’re encouraged not to wash it! Sound to good to be true? Let me explain.

Firstly, that heavy cast iron pan is heavy for a reason. Cast iron is a dense material with very high thermal mass. What this means for you is that although it make take a bit longer to heat up than stainless (maybe a few more minutes) it retains that heat better and stays at a steady temperature. I mentioned this in my guide to buying a gas grill, but when adding cooler food to a hot surface, the food actually cools the cooking surface considerably upon contact. The lower the cooking surface’s ability to retain that heat, the bigger the temperature drop. This is where sticking loves to occur. Think of putting an egg on a cold pan and heating up, it’s bound to become a sticky mess. Throw that same egg on a super-hot greased surface, it’s going to slide off!

You may have noticed, I mentioned grease. Grease or any good fat is a great way to help build up the “patina” on a cast iron pan. A patina is a build up carbon and flavoring, accumulated from cooking with grease and various foods. Think of a patina as a personality, it changes and grows the more its used. The key is to not wash it off! All a cast iron pan needs, once its developed a patina, is a quick wipe with a paper towel. Much like the food you just cooked, the leftover bits of food will slide right off. (For extra stuck-on leftovers, boiling a small amount of water and wiping clean usually does the trick).

Oil, along with developing that patina, is also what preserves, protects, and maintains your cast iron. After using it and wiping it clean, a few drops of oil spread around with a paper towel will create a seal between your beautiful cast iron surface and ambient moisture. Even if you’ve wiped it dry, there is still moisture in the air in the form of humidity. There’s also always a chance of water unknowingly splashing or dripping onto the pan wherever its stored. Iron and water create rust, but the layer of oil separate the two… meaning no rust!

Another benefit of cast iron is it’s versatility for cooking. What other pan can go from stove top, to the oven, to the grill, or to a camp fire? A cast iron skillet can go just about anywhere and accept just about any heat source. I love cooking on the grill with mine, especially when cooking up burgers. It is great way to put the extra burner space to use sauteing onions or heating up sides! I’ve even cooked eggs for breakfast on the grill using a cast iron skillet.

Does the Kind of Cast Iron Matter?

Paul Wheaton over at richsoil.com really opened up my eyes to the different types of cast iron. Please check his lengthy and well done article here. I’m currently using my second cast iron skillet after the first one broken (from being dropped on a concrete floor). Both my skillets are from Lodge. I was a bit naive to the various brands of cast iron out there. Paul Wheaton expounds on the advantage of older, vintage brands like Griswold and Wagner. Back in its hay day, cast iron skillets were manufactured using a better (but more expensive) means of grinding or machining out the cooking surface after casting. Today, they just pour or cast molten iron in a mold and that’s it. No machining. The machining part led to a glassy, smoother surface, which required less seasoning and breaking in, so to speak. That’s not to say today’s cookware made by Lodge are bad. They just take a bit longer to break in. Skillets made by Griswold and Wager, from the early to mid 1900′s can be found on eBay. They range in price from $10 to $100 (for collector’s pieces). I’ was planning to buy a Griswold very soon to add to the Lodge skillet I already have. However, my girlfriend’s grandmother kindly gave us 2 Griswold pans a week after I wrote this article. A 6” and an 8” to go with the 10” Lodge!

I hope this article helped you out if you were thinking about using cast iron and were wondering what the benefits are.

Here are some tips to take away:

1. Make sure the skillet or pan you buy lay’s flat and is free of chipping. Sitting unevenly will lead to uneven heat transfer and chipping can result in cracking as well harbor troublesome rust-prone zones.

2. Let the cast-iron, just like any other pan, come up to heat fully before cooking. About medium heat is usually enough heat to get it good for even stir-frying.

3. Fat while cooking is good! But not all fats are good! Butter, vegetable oil, bacon grease, and canola oil are good for cooking. Olive oil is acceptable but can sometimes impart some funky flavors into the pan (Olive oil goes rancid very quickly and will sour the pan when not in use).

4. Rinse, don’t wash. Don’t use dish soap on a cast iron pan, it will strip that lovely patina clean off. And never, under any circumstances run your cast iron through a dishwasher. Along with the soap, the oxidative agents in dish detergent will destroy your pan. Scrape off any stuck on bits and a quick wipe with a damp paper towel is usually all you’ll need.

4. Fat after cooking is good too! Cook with the fat of your choice, but stick with vegetable oil to give the pan a light coating after its clean and dry. If storing pans stacked up, a cloth between each layer helps prevent the pans from scraping against each other and soaks up any moisture that may collect between them.

5. Paul Wheaton recommends using a sharp metal spatula. The sharp steel is good for developing a smoother patina, as it scrapes and levels the surface as you use it. Not only is it harmless to use sharp steel (unlike Teflon non-stick) it’s actually beneficial! I’d recommend it too, merely because a sharp and thin steel spatula is much easier to use than the plastic utensils made for non-stick cookware. Wheaton recommends any of these by Dexter Russel: 2 1/2” mini turner or the larger 5-inch turner

How to Assemble a Lightweight and Mobile Bug Out Bag

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Aug 172011

A Bug Out Bag, or BOB, goes by many names. Get Home Bag (GHB), Get Out of Dodge Bag (GOOD bag) or Armageddon pack as I’ve recently heard it being called (thanks Chip Monk!). No matter what it’s name, it is essentially the same thing. A 72-hour assembly of goods, material, and equipment to keep you safe, alive, and fed in the case of an emergency. The emergency can vary, the specific items in the kit can vary, but the underlying principle remains the same. Preparedness.

We never know when a disaster can happen or predict exactly what that disaster will be. Or even if its a disaster in the first place. A small problem can escalate into a large scale disaster pending the correct circumstances. A simple flat-tire can be a minor setback if it happens in your driveway. It could be a downright disaster if it happens on a back road in the midst of a snowstorm. Moreover, the necessities during a disaster may vary greatly. An approaching hurricane may prompt you to evacuate your town to a safer region, what items would you take and quickly? Or,if you work an hour away from home like myself, some other large scale disaster, terrorist attack, snow storm, grid failure, may make it impossible for you to drive home. Maybe the disaster makes you getting home to your loved ones, family, or extra supplies of utmost importance? How will you “hoof-it” there?

The key to creating a good Bug Out Bag is versatility. As I mentioned before, you can’t predict the disaster. Therefore, the specific items in your kit could explode into infinity if you try to prepare for everything. By evaluating the similarity between most disasters, one can make a “catch-all” type assortment of goods to keep with them. Continue reading »

On Wearing Formal Hats…

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Jul 282011

A friend of mine requested an article on wearing hats to a wedding. First of all, thanks for the request! I encourage requests! Secondly, to anyone reading this article, good on you for having the confidence to wear a hat to a formal event.

I must reiterate: confidence. The key to wearing a hat, to wearing a suit, to wearing anything, is confidence. Confidence in yourself, your attitude, and your look. The major, and I mean MAJOR, faux pas in fashion is lack of confidence. It doesn’t just mean physically appearing confident. Standing up straight, keeping your head up, and being deliberate in your movements are all key tenets to confident posture. It’s confidence in yourself and who you are. The color of your tie, the cut of your suit, the shape your shoes are in all act as visual cues to who you are. Which is why fashion should be chosen deliberately. Not just choosing “what’s in fashion” but choosing what fits “your fashion”. I’m not a fashion snob by any means, but I do think its an obligation for any man to look good and look the part. And in the end, you feel good. You feel good about yourself to you choose the right clothing to make you feel even better about yourself. It’s a positive feedback loop. I’ll take it.

Before we go further, I should say: Not everyone can wear a hat. Not everyone who wears a hat can wear any hat. Ball caps don’t belong in this conversation, by the way. I’m speaking mainly to classic or formal hats. The fedora. The bowler. The porkpie. The flatcap. Ball caps are another class entirely, mainly used as a “tool” than an”accent” to your personality.

A hat speaks worlds about your personality. Even how you wear your hat can tell people about you. The tilt, hat etiquette (removing it at the proper time), and the shape its in can all define characteristics about you. It doesn’t have to be a negative thing! The question is, are you ready to accept this? If so, read on!

The Fedora

The word “fedora” is quite a funny word for a serious hat. It’s widely known, widely worn, but rarely perfectly worn. The best and most popular example (for a reason), was Frank Sinatra. He was known for his fedora and how he wore it. A fedora, in its original form, is made from velvet, with a crease running lengthwise through the crown, a brim pinched on both sides. Nowadays, you can find them in the larger array of colors than the standard black, brown, or gray. You can also find them in a wider range of materials, from straw to paper. These are useful and fitting for summer months, coupled with a lighter fabric suit. I don’t want to get too bogged down in fashion details, like what color matches what.

The Pork pie

Similar to the fedora, it is generally made from felt or straw. But, unlike the fedora, the pork pie has an indent that runs circularly around the crown. The brim is generally shorter with a pinch. This hat is less formal then the pork pie and has a slight whimsical look to it, especially with the brim flipped up. However, with a dark suit and grim look, you can look downright badass like our friend Mr. Hackman in The French Connection.

The Flatcap

Often referred to as a “newsboy”, this is a stiff brimmed, rounded Men’s cap. I don’t generally see this working with many formal suits, but it could be paired with semi-formal to business casual outfits. It’s likely pretty warm and stuffy to be wearing during the summer too, if it’s made of a heavier material. It’s often seen as part of the classic golf look, so you can see how it works with different materials.

Those are just a few of the many styles of formal hats, as well as the many styles of those styles. The key to wearing any hat is knowing that it matches your personal style and personality. Moreover, a hat that matches you doesn’t look like its forced or contrived. You want the hat to appear natural and casual (juxtaposed against wearing it with a formal suit, I know). To put it in a negative perspective, you don’t want the hat to look like a novelty or as if part of a costume. That’s the biggest hurdle to overcome, but it’s really not that hard.

One key word of advice for all of you who immediately are going to wear a fedora with a dark suit… forgo the white tie and white shoes. Don’t look like a hit man. You’re better off swapping for a light shirt and darker tie. Try it.

Make Your Own Dehydrated Chicken Dog Treats

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Jun 152011

Why don’t you own a dehydrator yet? I know, it may sound like an absurd question. It did to me up until a year ago. I remember seeing the Ron Popeil infomercials on TV for the Ron Co Food Dehydrator. Hell, my parents even bought one. But last year, I realized it was a good way to store up food (I’ll do a later post on food storage). It’s also a great way to make jerky, dried trail mixes, fruit roll-ups, and make dried herbs. If you haven’t yet picked up a food dehydrator yet, I would consider a budget-conscious Nesco or a super-duper Excalibur (if you’ve got the dough – i don’t even own one yet). I personally use a Nesco 700-watt and it does the trick pretty well at a great price!

Here’s a great recipe I’ve put together from various sources on how to make your own dehydrated chicken breast dog treats. Don’t buy the crap from China, filled with who knows what (China has notoriously low food safety standards) and don’t pay top dollar for the holistic, organic, over-priced-because-it’s-green treats from the store. Buy some good quality, antibiotic free chicken breast from the store and use this recipe with your food dehydrator.

Ingredients:

Just one thing: Skinless, boneless, antibiotic-free, additive free chicken breasts/chicken breast tenderloins.

Yes, they are little more expensive, but by dehydrating, you’re leaving behind a lot of the phosphates, preservatives, and any other nasty stuff they pump into meat nowadays. The water leaving the meat is not necessarily taking these compounds with it, but more likely concentrating them. I don’t care if YOU eat this crap, but don’t feed it to your dog. At least you’ve got a choice! Springer Mountain Farms is a decent and not too expensive brand that you can find at most grocery stores, it’s got a blue label with mountains on it.

(Rule of thumb is dehydrating cuts weight by half, so 2 lbs of raw meat will yield 1lb jerky meat. Make as much or as little as you want)

Seasoning (Optional)

I encourage you to try and make them plain first. If you would like to season them (most likely YOUR preference, not the dog’s) then try this seasoning mix. (I’ve never seen a dog turn down a meaty, unseasoned, dog treat)

1 tsp of canola/vegetable oil just to help seasoning stick to the meat (olive oil can be used by tends to go rancid very quickly)
1 tsp rosemary
1 tsp parsley
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/4 tsp liquid smoke

Prepare this in a mix bowl prior to handling chicken (limits cross contamination in kitchen).