New Raw Dog Food Maker
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Hi! Thank you for this resource! We have a non-profit rescue sanctuary for geriatric, special needs and hospice dogs. Currently we care for 18 here and we are assembling the things we will need to make quality raw dog food. We want to package in 2 lb. chubs, but I am not sold on the bags, would prefer to use the poly tubing and clips or tape, that way we can make smaller or larger chubs as we figure out what works for us. We have a 1.75hp Cabela’s Carnivore #42 grinder, a few commercial freezers, a line on wholesale meat, some nice butcher block topped and stainless topped work tables, a cleaver, meat lugs, poly tubing, shelving, commercial sinks, We still need a meat mixer, stuffer and double clipper, or a good, non-messy alternative to a double clipper. We have also sourced an awesome deal on a huge, commercial double chamber vacuum sealer, it’s 3 phase, but we are looking to using a converter so it can run on the single phase 220V in our garage. If it is not practical, we’ll just sell it off as we should be able to make some good money off of it. I also have a slider/patty maker, but don’t have room to pre-freeze and don’t have a gas exchange unit, so not sure that we will go in the patty/medallions direction, but it does remain a possibility.
To start, we plan on processing about 200 lbs every two weeks or so, and increasing our volume as we bring in local folks who would like to purchase our mix to help support the rescue.
We will be processing/grinding raw bone from poultry/rabbit/fish for sure and we would REALLY like to also be able to do beef and pork rib and neck bones. Do you think our #42 will handle that? If not, what do we need in order to process smaller beef/pork bones? Should we use the stuffer attachment for our grinder or a separate manual stuffer? What size? What would a good meat mixer be for us? Is a tilt a real advantage? Can you recommend a good and clean way to seal and separate the chubs? Do you sell a double clipper? Would twisting the chubs and using two single clips work? Are there any good non-metal clips? Is vacuum sealing better?
Thanks in advance,
Lisa & the Rusty pugs -
truckmountgirl There is a lot to unpack there but help is on the way!
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truckmountgirl It sounds like you have a good handle on what you want to do!
To start if you plan on using anything other than a very large hydraulic stuffer a double clipper will be way more than you need and honestly less than functional. All of the double clippers ive seen are meant to run off a Vacuum Stuffer and We are talking big $ for that kind of set up. Your best bet would be either a tipper tie single clip style machine or a bag stapler of some sort. at 200lbs a week a 26lb hand crank would get it done in a decent time. I would by no means try to stuff off of your grinder though.
For the Grinder your’s will do chicken, fish & rabbit but for how long? Bones are a huge abuse on a grinder, We have 2 Biro AFMG-52’s with 7.5hp motors and im not sure i would even think about putting beef or pork bones in them.
We Make a chicken pet food by grinding chicken carcasses and we have found that its Messy! we stuff into 6x10 5mil vac bags and seal on a double chamber the stuff is so runny that im not sure if you could get it cleanly into a clipper. -
truckmountgirl When Cabelas90 says a lot of $ for a vac stuffer they are about $60,000 new! I also agree with him on the grinder information. Small bones from rabbits and chickens the larger Westons will handle but it isn’t something that you want to constantly do it on. I wouldn’t try beef bones at all even with the #42. I’d say vac sealing might be the way to go. You have a lead on a double-chambered vac machine so A) it will be fast and B) the bags that they use are relatively inexpensive. For example if you used a 6x10 and buy 2,000 at a time the cost will be just 3 cents a bag and C) you also close the bags as you are sealing them so you don’t need any type of clipper.
You-'re doing good work!
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Awesome! That is the direction I will go then. I had read about the bags for the chamber machines being much cheaper. Vac sealing it is. I will go for the sealer…It’s the Hobart pictured. Old model in working condition, tens of thousands for a new one, and parts are sketchy for this, but I have a son that is a genius at rehabbing stuff like that, so I think he can keep it working. The hardest part will be adapting to work on our single phase. Odd though that I can see a plug in the pic, but 3 phase is usually hardwired…hmmmm…
Is tilt important for a mixer? We will be blending different types of meat grinds (including bones, organs and skin), with some vegetables, berries and a vitamin mixture. There won’t be grains or root vegetables to take up the “slop”. However we can make it firmer by adding more “firm” meats like beef/pork. However there is a specific ratio of muscle meat to bone to organ meat to vegetable matter that is essential…So if the mix is loose at all, I am assuming a tilt would be necessary?
Grinding bones; since I assume no one here is regularly grinding bones, this probably isn’t the place to ask what I need (that is affordably obtained) in order to grind harder bones. But, just in case…does anyone know what it would take? Is there some other type of machine than a grinder? We are not out in the country either, so I don’t want some super loud machine that will make my neighbors upset. Maybe I need to look up that chick from Tiger King! I bet she knows how to grind bones!!
I will make sure I find a good deal on replacement blades in the meantime.Also, should I just give up the idea of patties or nuggets? They make it MUCH easier to portion/feed raw as opposed bulk chubs or a big bag. With that sealer, could I make a mold or dividers we could place into the big chambers and do a bunch of single serving size portions?
BTW, anyone looking for a killer deal on an old Tipper Tie Senior Casing Sealer? I bought it from an auction sight unseen for $75, because it said Tipper Tie case sealing machine. Turns out it is a machine used to seal and pleat/fold the sausage casing on the end that gets hung up in the smokehouse. Oh well, it was worth a shot. If anyone is interested I can send you the info on it. I got the manuals and schematics from Tipper Tie and could either sell it as is, needing re-hab, or could re-hab it and send it in refurbished condition. Seems to be circa late 60’s to mid 80’s. So…it’s vintage, right!!
Thanks y’all!! You guys have been awesome!!
Thanks and take care,
Lisa & the Rusty Pugs
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truckmountgirl Yeah, if you are going to have a wet solution tilt will absolutely be a big help in dumping, otherwise I suppose you’d have to come up with some sort of shoveling system that is going to cost time and effort. We have 3 phase vac machines with plugs on them here as well, they can be hard-wired or they can use that special plug, it has 4 prongs with one of them having a 90° angle in it (that will make sense when you see it)
Yeah, sorry, I don’t have any idea what would grind bones the best for dog food. A quick google search yielded no helpful article. I will see if anyone in our commercial sales department knows. We do some stuff with a guy in texas that does some pet food though if memory serves me he doesn’t grind up bones but adds calcium dust or bone dust or something.
If you wanted to do patties the easiest way would be to stuff it into Poly Tubing then freeze it and cut it. I don’t see a mold inside of a vacuum sealer working well. Maybe it would though?
I’ll update the post with anything I learn from the commercial sales guys.
