Cooking Chicken To "mush" ?

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

I usually add a little lean ground turkey, cooked with water added... kind of a soup... to the TOW salmon kibble. My local better grocery store had local chicken legs on sale for less than I could get the commercial ground turkey (I really try Not to buy commercially raised meat). It was suggested that if I put it in the crock pot on low, covered with water, and let it cook for 24 hours .. the bones would be crumbly and soft. They aren't -- question, it's an old crock pot -- perhaps my low is TOO low for that reason? or that wasn't long enough to begin with.

 

Can someone who cooks for their dogs help here? I like the idea of cooking down the whole bird so the bones are soft, safe and included but.. well, not happening...

[RedHead]

I haven't done a lot of dog cooking in the crockpot but I have cooked lots of meat myself in there all day and the bones are rock hard still. I would think you would REALLY have to cook it for a long time or at a very high temp to make the bones soft. There is a canned food (Evangers?) I have picked up a few times that uses some process to cook the bones. They crumble right apart.

 

It is a bit more work, but I sometimes boil chicken thighs and then just strip the meat off (the pet rats get the cooked bones!). Added bonus is you then have a bunch of chicken broth to pour over the kibble too! If you are just adding meat to kibble you don't have to really worry about supplying calcium.

 

Anyways, maybe someone else has a trick to softening bones, but I have never seem that happen in my crockpot! lol

[gazehund]

I use chicken thighs only Sage. I do them for 10 hours on low but I take the bones out.

I did try the 24 hour method one time but the bones were still too hard for my liking. That was in a brand new crockpot. Good luck!

 

Edit to correct after I read vj's post. Yes, I do mine on low as well, but only for 10 hours and remove the bones.

Edited March 1, 2012 by gazehund

[vjgrey]

We do this once a week for our hounds. I just drop the whole chicken in and set on low. (Very) long-term low heat is the key, definitely not high heat. Sometimes it takes a little more than 24 hours, sometimes slightly less. I fish the bones out and mash them with a fork and then smoosh the whole pot with a potato masher just to be sure. Mix in a little rice, and that's our "canned" kibble topper for the week.

[Guest KennelMom]

Just cook the crap out of them. they will turn to mush...I accidentally boiled the hell out if a chicken carcass once and it was total mush. When I've cooked one for a dog in the crockpot I cooked it on high until it mushed up.

Edited March 1, 2012 by KennelMom

[Batmom]

I'm lazy. I wait for the boneless cuts to go on sale and then buy a bunch.

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

That's why I love GT -- we have such a broad range of experience ... hehe

 

I think... I'm at about 27 hours now, and I'm tired -- I'm going to let it go overnight and if the bones aren't true mush then .. well, I'll get some marrow out and toss the rest (no pet rats any more).... I will report back.. it's still good meat and broth.

[vjgrey]

The bones don't exactly go "soft," in mine. More like super dry and crumbly. They kind of turn into powder when I mash them with a fork.

[Guest tricolorhounds]

I think for the bones to break down completely you need a pressure cooker. Wish I had one. I've tried the crock pot/extended cooking time before but anything over 10 hours and it smells overdone to me.

[LuvAPuppy]

I always did 48 in my crock for chicken leg quarters. Add in veggies and carb around the last couple hours so they don't get over cooked.

[onrushpam]

We made "Isaac Stew" for many years, so I have lots of experience with this!

(DH, in a drug-crazed post-surgery stupor once crashed 2 slow cookers with 10 lbs of chicken/liquid/grease onto my kitchen floor, mixing it all into a mess of glass/pottery/plastic/chicken/grease/etc., etc... It even splattered the ceiling!)

 

We always cooked leg quarters on low for 24 hours, fished out the bones and mashed them (usually just with our fingers or a fork). Sometimes we had to discard a few of the big leg bones because they just wouldn't get soft enough.

 

So, if you do just legs, you may have some bones that just never get mushy.

[Guest NewGreyOwner]

We frequently cook whole chickens in the crockpot for the hound. Our crockpot will get the job done in 24 hours. Chicken mashes up nicely with a potato smasher. We like the fact that you're using the whole chicken with bones and all.

[Guest Greyt_dog_lover]

Why not just feed them raw, then you don't have to worry about wasting electricity and harm the environment? Raw bones are easily digestible.

[Guest mariah]

I heard that adding vinegar can help.

[Guest simile]

I've got a pot that finished this afternoon. I usually cook the chicken on high for the first couple of hours, then turn it to low for the next 20, or so. I add veggies about four hours before the chicken is done, then throw in rice or barley about an hour prior to finish.

 

Make sure you're using the right sized crock for the amount of chicken you're cooking. It won't cook right if the crock is under or over filled.

[Guest TBSFlame]

I usually add a little lean ground turkey, cooked with water added... kind of a soup... to the TOW salmon kibble. My local better grocery store had local chicken legs on sale for less than I could get the commercial ground turkey (I really try Not to buy commercially raised meat). It was suggested that if I put it in the crock pot on low, covered with water, and let it cook for 24 hours .. the bones would be crumbly and soft. They aren't -- question, it's an old crock pot -- perhaps my low is TOO low for that reason? or that wasn't long enough to begin with.

 

Can someone who cooks for their dogs help here? I like the idea of cooking down the whole bird so the bones are soft, safe and included but.. well, not happening...

 

I've cooked it a lot and it has always worked for me. Try turning up your crock pot and see it that helps. Most of the time I cooked whole chickens but have used legs before.

Edited March 3, 2012 by TBSFlame

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

I occasionally give them necks -- want to try backs.... didn't know that you could do legs but I guess for raw feeders, you would... I think I'd have to prepare to go raw so I was doing it right and the big problem is that Agnes will swallow chicken necks whole (eeek) but she won't Chew anything raw... which creates a problem and sort of defeats the purpose a little.

 

I have a problem with going all raw because I have R.A. and some days my hands don't work very well -- plus I've got a little bitty freezer -- my biggest problem tho is Agnes' lack of interest. I've been getting them rib bones from a local farm and the boys love them.. but again, Agnes won't touch...

 

The chicken legs got about 1/2 crumble-able by this morning so the ends where they crumbled were crumbled; I fished out all the marrow from the remaining sections and have all the broth in the fridge so I can skim the fat off it.

 

Right now I can't see making raw feeding work, even though I totally believe that it's a very healthy way to go. Maybe if I get a book published I will be able to afford a small freezer and to hire someone to help me process stuff and get it ready for meals .. a girl can dream....

 

Thanks every body .....

[Guest KennelMom]

Why not just feed them raw, then you don't have to worry about wasting electricity and harm the environment? Raw bones are easily digestible.

 

We do feed raw, but when we've made up a cooked/mashed chicken/bones it's because the dog couldn't have raw food for various health reasons, ie a compromised immune system or teeth issues.

[silverfish]

Leg bones are the hardest bones in the chicken's body, because they're weight-bearing. It's going to take a LOT of cooking to get those soft, meanwhile, the meat is going to be total goop.

 

I think for the bones to break down completely you need a pressure cooker. Wish I had one. I've tried the crock pot/extended cooking time before but anything over 10 hours and it smells overdone to me.

 

I use a pressure cooker for my dogs' add-ins. I buy chicken carcases, sometimes bags of wings, and occasionally legs. The legs are the least likely to mush down, so I buy those least often.

 

It takes about an hour or so to do a carcase at high pressure, which is why I prefer the pressure cooker to a crockpot.

 

 

 

(DH, in a drug-crazed post-surgery stupor once crashed 2 slow cookers with 10 lbs of chicken/liquid/grease onto my kitchen floor, mixing it all into a mess of glass/pottery/plastic/chicken/grease/etc., etc... It even splattered the ceiling!)

 

 

Oh. My. Goodness. I think I'd have shut the dogs out of the kitchen and cried for an hour!! How on EARTH did you clean all that up - and single handed, too, presumably (DH being out of action)?

 

And the waste ...

[Guest hlpnhounds]

I cook for 24 hours on high. We add in a large cut up sweet potato for the last hour of cooking. Then we turn it off and let it sit for an hour or so and then mash it all with a potato masher. We add a bag of frozen peas/beans/carrots/corn after we mash it and then put it into containers to freeze.

We've never had an issue with the bones not being soft enough to mash when we use the crock pot. However, when we used the roaster one time, it didn't do the job well enough.

 

Hope that helps ! My dogs LOVE chicken mash !!!!

[Guest june]

My dogs love some zucchini and chopped carrots added to theirs. Also, I'll add a bit of apple from time to time. They really chow down on that. I think they believe it is dessert.

[fourofem]

Every two weeks I make a trip to Sam's and buy a big pack on leg quarters and another of thighs. I cut all the skin and fat off on them before I cook them. I have to use two crockpots to get them all done but 24 hours on low has always worked for me. When they're done, I pick out the bones and mush them up with a potato masher. I cook mine outside on the front porch because I think the smell is a little overwhelming so in the winter it takes about 26 to 28 hours. Every once in a while, I run across a really big leg bone that doesn't cook up as much as I like so I just toss it.

 

 

[silverfish]

My dogs love some zucchini and chopped carrots added to theirs. Also, I'll add a bit of apple from time to time. They really chow down on that. I think they believe it is dessert.

 

 

I add carrot quite often, and sometimes green veg, but if beans or broccoli aren't mashed up really well, they spit them out. Just like kids, huh?

 

I haven't tried zucchini or apple. Maybe they'd like those better.

[Cindy_Hanson]

I bought a 4.5 quart crockpot yesterday for just this purpose. I threw in four small packages of fresh chicken thighs and about two cups of water, and set the temperature to high. After 10 hours, I went through and pulled out all the thigh bones because it just didn't seem to me that those were going to turn to mush . . . they were still really hard. Fortunately, the meat fell right off and finding the bones was really easy.

 

I threw in about two cups of rice, cooked it on high for another hour, then moved everything to a large mixing bowl that I'm keeping in the refrigerator. The finicky eaters were really excited about it this morning.

 

I'd love to not have to go through and pick out the bones . . . but I don't want the whole mess to turn into total slurry, either. If any of you who use chicken thighs have any suggestions about length of cooking time, temperature, etc. that make it possible to use the bones, I'd love to hear them!

[Guest Mom2Shiloh]

I got a new 5 qt crockpot after I realized that the one I was using had been my mother's and was at least 20 if not 30 years old. I was thinking it was probably NOT energy efficient, but it was pointed out that it was probably not all that safe either. One thing for sure: it works a lot better!! Instead of 36 hours and no soft bones, 12 hours (1 hour on high, the rest on low) produced thigh bones that I could smoosh completely with my fingers. Quite a huge difference -- of course since it was cooking properly, the aroma was also pretty overpowering -- I would be glad to let it cook on the back deck when the weather is better. Except for wondering it neighborhood cats might try for it...

 

I pull all the meat out and store the broth separately so I can easily skim the fat off after it's cold. After my marathon cooking sessions, this was a relief.