Cheap Bone Grinder for Dog Food: Grind Bones at Home!
Okay, so I've been meaning to make my own dog food for a while now. It just seems healthier, and I like knowing exactly what's going into my pup's belly. A big part of that is grinding up bones – calcium, you know? So, I finally took the plunge and got myself a bone grinder. This is how the whole thing went down.
Getting Started: The Research Phase
First, I did a bunch of reading online. Seriously, tons of articles and forum posts. I wanted to make sure I wasn't going to mess this up. I learned that you can't just use any grinder. A regular meat grinder? Nope. It'll probably break. You need something heavy-duty, something specifically designed for bones.
I looked at a few different models, read reviews. Finally, I decided on it.
The First Grind
Okay, so the grinder arrived. It was bigger than I expected! This thing is a beast. I chose to chicken bones because that's what I had read up was to use to start, after they had been throughly cooked, and it was suggested to use to get started.
- Step 1: Prep the Bones. I used the chicken, all cooked and cooled down. I'd already used the meat for other meals, so these were just the leftover bones.
- Step 2: Fire up the Grinder. I plugged it in, put a big bowl underneath the spout, and flipped the switch. It's pretty loud, not gonna lie.
- Step 3: Feed the Bones. I started slowly feeding the bones into the grinder. I used the pusher thingy that came with it – definitely don't want to get my fingers near those blades!
It took a little while, but the grinder worked! It made this coarse, crumbly bone meal. I was pretty impressed, and my dog was watching the whole process with serious interest.
Mixing It Up
I am still experimenting with the right bone-to-other-stuff ratio, but I'm getting there. The first batch I mixed the bone meal with some ground meat, veggies, and a little bit of rice. My dog absolutely devoured it. He licked the bowl clean, which is always a good sign.
The Clean-Up
Cleaning the grinder is a bit of a chore, I won't sugarcoat it. You have to take it apart and scrub all the little bits of bone and gunk out. It's not hard, just... time-consuming. But, hey, it's worth it to see my dog happy and healthy. Also, a good tip I learned is to grind up a few pieces of bread afterward. It helps get all the small bone fragment and residue.
So, that's my bone-grinding adventure so far. I'm still learning, but I'm really happy with how it's going. It feels good to be making my dog's food from scratch. And again, the grinder paid for itself!
