Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Grain Free "Satin Balls"

As an owner of show dogs, not much weighs on my mind regarding my dogs more than their weight. Ironically, the more I think about it the skinnier they get! While I am an EXPERT at teaching spoiled-rotten-picky show dogs to eat, sometimes they need a calorie boost to bulk them up a bit before a show.

While I'm a huge fan of using Satin Balls, I am also a raw feeder (or worst case grain free kibble feeder) so I hate the standard satin ball recipes that have SO MUCH grain in them! Most recipes call for Wheat Germ, Total Cereal or Oatmeal, and I would rather avoid those if I can!

Is there a way to make Satin Balls that doesn't use grain but also isn't satin ball soup?

I made it happen! Here is my recipe for Grain Free Satin Balls!

Ingredients:
10 pounds of Fatty Ground Meat (Hamburger, Pork, or a mixture! Anything 20% fat or more)
1 pound of Cheddar Cheese
4 cans of Tuna Fish - drained (any fish will do really, this is more for flavor than calories)
1 (18 oz) jar of peanut butter
1 (12-16 oz) bottle of Molasses
1 block of Cream Cheese
1 box of Knox Gelatin
1 can of Pumpkin (not the pie filling! PLAIN Pumpkin)
1 (24 oz) tub of Cottage Cheese
8 oz of Dehydrated Potato Flakes (If you can't find these, try PLAIN Instant Mashed Potatoes)

Directions:
Mix all of your ingredients together in a LARGE bowl (I used a GIANT pot!). It's best to mix 2-3 ingredients at a time as it blends a little easier I think. After mixing together well, put into the fridge or freezer (wherever you have the most room - I drop my whole pot into the deep freezer) and chill for 30-40 minutes. Chilling makes them less "sticky" when you're prepping them to store.

Meat in the pot (60% Beef, 40% Pork)


 Meat mixed with Cream Cheese and Cottage Cheese


There are 3 methods to storing these:
1) Roll into Balls. This is my favorite method. I take a heaping handful and roll them up. Obviously, they are Great Dane sized - about 3" or the size of a tennis ball. I love this method because I can grab some throughout the day and just toss it like a ball to them. Super easy!
2) Make into "hamburger patties". These seem to be the easier to store than the balls, but slightly more difficult to serve.
3) Put it in a container as is. This is the method to use if you would like to just scoop some out and plop it on their food.

Choose the method that you think would work best for you and go for it! If you're making Balls or Patties, put them onto a baking pan and then stick them in the freezer for a while to make them solid, then store them in plastic containers or bags. This keeps them from turning into a bag of mush!

This recipe made 53 Great Dane sized Satin Balls



If you use all 80/20 beef as your meat each Great Dane sized Satin Ball will be about 432 calories each!

My dogs LOVE these! Try them out and let me know if your guys love them too! Try some variations on the recipe as well and share what you come up with! The first time I did 40% pork and 60% beef. Next time I will probably add more cream cheese and PB!

DISCLAIMER: Satin Balls are not intended for use on puppies. If your dog has allergies to any of the ingredients listed, do not use them. Please consult your veterinarian or canine nutrition consultant if you have questions about wether or not these are appropriate for your pet. This post is not intended to be a discussion about wether or not to use satin balls, it is simply a recipe if you do choose to use them.

51 comments:

  1. Excellent! I feed raw and I give the standard satin balls to my bitches when they are in whelp as sometimes they won't eat... this might be a better alternative!

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  2. How much is a box of Gelatin? I have a box of 32 packets or 8 ounces and how do you mix it in?

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  3. I leave out the peanut butter, cream cheese and cheddar cheese and potato flakes, and instead add cooked quinoa, soaked chia seeds salmon instead of tuna, add a dozen egg yolks, and coconut oil.y picky dogs love them!

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    Replies
    1. Do you have the exact measurements for those substitutions?

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  4. Definitely go to try these and Jennifer Novello version too.
    Thanks

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  5. Replies
    1. Read the label - you want a food that lists real meat as the first 2 (or even better 3) ingredients. Real meat will say 'buffalo', 'deboned turkey', 'lamb', white fish meal or salmon meal (meal is the entire animal ground up and dried, a good thing when it comes to poultry and fish), etc. Finish reading the label, if it mentions 'by-products' put it back on the shelf. Make sure no grains are listed. If you follow this advice you will have a great grain free dog food, which will be harder to find than one would think!

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  6. My Rottie has terminal cancer and is undergoing chemo. She's gotten pickier about eating, but appetite is there once I get something she likes. Because of the chemo I need to cook the satin balls. I like the grain free recipe b/c of less sugars. Would it be ok to cook the grain free satin balls? Has anyone tried it? If so, what baking temp and how long? Thanks!

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    Replies
    1. I would use lard ( they actually sell it at Walmart in the grocery section.) high fat, already cooked.

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  7. I made some yesterday placed them in a muffins tin, for 20 mins at 350 degrees. They turned out great and my Dane loves them!

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  30. Hi, I have been googling grain free satin balls to feed to my hunting pack (beagles, all raw fed) and came across your blog. I was wondering if you might be able to give details on why you chose certain ingredients over others. I too want to avoid carbs/starch/sugars. For instance why tuna and not sardines? Wouldn't sardines offer more Omega 3's and be more appropriate for the canine? I'm not trying to be a pain, just curious as I would like to substitute a few things in this recipe but want to make sure I'm hitting the same nutrients and not missing anything if I do. Hope that makes sense. Love your blog and thank you for sharing this.

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  34. How do you know when eating satin balls that your dog is getting all the nutrients, vitamins etc that it needs?

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  43. Please make sure any peanut butter you use does not contain Xylitol as it is toxic to dogs. Also, you can add Prozyme to help with nutrient absorption.

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  44. I use 1 lb of ground beef, 1 pb of ground turkey, 1 lb of ground lam and 1 lb of salmon which I mush plus 4 eggs with shells. I also add 1 cup of shredded carrots and 1 cup of halved blueberries. I mix it with 1/2 cup molasses, 5 packs of gelatin, 1/2 cup of wheatgerm oil, 2 cups oats, 2 cups brown rice.
    Obviously it doesn't pack on the calories as quickly but lactose really isn't good for dogs so I stay away from it if at all possible.
    I give tennis ball sizes of these to my Golden Retrievers in the 2 montha prior to when I expect them to go into heat and I slowly reduce them down to evwntually eliminating them around day 20 of the pregnancy and just give them a vitamin and high quality food at that time. Then once pups are born, I add 1 lb of chopped liver to the recipe and begin giving 1 a day in addition to their food again.

    The reason I stop at day 20 of the females pregnancy is to avoid her developing eclamsia. Feeding this to her for approximately 3 months prior prepares her body for caring for the pups during that next 5 weeks of pregnancy. I do make sure she is getting extra kibble to replace the satin balls that I am no longer giving her but I don't want her having any calcium supplementation that she would get from the satin balls during that time.

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