# Sweet potato treats



## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Right now, I am making the microwave Sweet Potato Treats

_Posted by Jane:_
_*Homemade sweet potato treats* _
_I just ordered a small food dehydrator from amazon.com. Until it gets here, I'm just giving my boys real chicken (instead of the chicken jerky) but I am looking forward to hearing others' tips for making homemade meat jerky! For now, I am making my own dehydrated sweet potato snacks in the microwave.

I slice up a sweet potato into 1/4" thick pieces, lay them on a plate, and nuke them until they are dried, but not browned (or burned - like my first attempt), and are still kind of pliable. As they cool, they harden. Some are harder/cruchier and some are more soft, but my dogs love them either way. It is hard to get the consistency right, so I think the dehydrator will work better. But this is good for the meantime. Made in California!! 

Oh, also, it seems to help to nuke small batches at a time (otherwise too much steam builds up in the microwave). It helps to open the door to vent the steam periodically too. Good luck!_
____________________

They smell really GOOD. I hope she likes them.

I can't figure out how to make them in my dehydrator...or for HOW long. All of the recipes I have are for "leathers" and I don't want to make a leather. 

Has anyone made them in the dehydrator? Did you use that parchment paper? If so, how long did you cook and at what temp?

Thanks,
Kara


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Kara, are you doing the white sweet potato or the orange-centered ones? Here, the grocery store calls the white ones sweet potato, & the orange ones are labeled as yams, but Costo sells orange french fry cut "sweet potatoes".

I made them with the white sweet potatoes, which the dogs LOVED, but just bought the french fry cut orange ones the other day and haven't given those to the dogs yet. _I've been eating them all! _ LOL


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Okay.....

That was a TOTAL DISASTER.

I must've missed the part about watching closely not to burn!!! ound: Well, they are all basically BLACK an inedible. I cooked for 4 min flipped and cooked 3 more minutes, decided to flip and add 3 min.

WRONG.

There is a haze of smoke and the house smells like burnt food. The kids should start rolling in from school any minute, each.....pausing to ask me "What is burning/ that awful smell" and then....my husband.

Good thing the smoke detector is out of batteries and sitting on the coffee table waiting to be put back up. LOL

Sheesh.

Kimberly, I used the orange ones. Here in the south, everyone calls them Yams except for me? lol. I do like the white ones, my son is fascinated with them. lol

Kara


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Oh yuck! Burnt microwave stuff is nasty. I burned some popcorn one time and am sure I smelled it lingering for two weeks. I hope you don't have the smell for that long.

Jane also burned a batch, so I was ultra careful and flipped mine every 30 seconds, and only cooked them about 3 minutes total. On your next batch, that may help, but in the meantime I'm sorry you have that mess & stench. Yuck.

That's how I know the orange ones too - yams.


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## LuvMyHavanese (Apr 13, 2007)

If this is any consolaton Kara, at least we are all learning by your mistakes!! So i guess we should thank you!


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## Sunnygirl (Jun 1, 2007)

So Kara, were they OK after the first 7 minutes? I want to make these, but I'm all about learning from your mistakes first. Kara or Jane, what do you think the right amount of time is? Of course I'll watch them because microwave ovens vary so much, but it'd be great to know what the ballpark cooking time is. 

I guess I'm a northerner through and through, because we call those orange things sweet potatoes. And my yankee status was confirmed when I spent my 1st semester at UVa (many many years ago, of course) in complete and total culture shock. You Virginians do have a beautiful state, though, if Charlottesville is any indication.


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Yes, they were okay at 7 minutes, but remember........"Microwaves do vary" according to Popcorn people! ound: 

So, maybe shoot for 6 and go from there in 30 second intervals.

Thanks  Virginia is beautiful, I think. I'm originally from Texas, but I love it here, too.

Kara


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## LuvMyHavanese (Apr 13, 2007)

Sunnygirl said:


> And my yankee status was confirmed when I spent my 1st semester at UVa (many many years ago, of course) in complete and total culture shock. You Virginians do have a beautiful state, though, if Charlottesville is any indication.


Its a small world because thats where i live(well, just outside of C/Ville) and i work there as well. I moved here 11 years ago & i love it here(summer is too hot though). How long has it been since you visited here??


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## Sunnygirl (Jun 1, 2007)

LuvMyHavanese said:


> Its a small world because thats where i live(well, just outside of C/Ville) and i work there as well. I moved here 11 years ago & i love it here(summer is too though). How long has it been since you visited here??


Well, I'll totally date myself by admitting that it's been 23 years since I graduated from UVa law school. I've only been back once since then, although we're planning to head that way in the RV sometime in the next year or so. Yup, Nico is a camping dog.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Sunnygirl wrote: _"I guess I'm a northerner through and through, because we call those orange things sweet potatoes."_

*** Same here and I'm up north too! lol

I made these two weeks ago and some of mine also burnt, but not all. I think they are too crispy though. I cut them too thickly and so had to spend more time checking them. I think it was a total of 15 mins. cooking time. I laid the potato strips on a plate covered in paper towel to absorb moisture.

I actually prefer them thicker, like a large-cut french fry. The boys, though, are not at all crazy about them...... sigh.....


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Hi Kara!

Sorry to hear about your smokin' disaster! 

I did make a batch of sweet potato treats in my dehydrator, but after 4 hours I wanted to go to bed and they really did need another hour in the dehydrator. So this batch isn't quite the consistency I'd like. I'll try again after these are gone. I didn't use parchment paper - I just sliced the sweet potatoes 1/4" thick, and blanched them in the microwave first (till they got hot and a little soft) - that's what the little instruction book that came with the dehydrator recommended. Then I just lay the hot slices in the dehydrator. Since I'm impatient, I turned it up to the hottest setting (160F) instead of the 130F in the instructions :biggrin1: 

I really think the microwave works well for the sweet potatoes as long as you watch it like a hawk - you can't beat the speed! Like I said, I'm impatient!

For the dried chicken breasts though, the dehydrator wins hands down vs. the microwave. I freeze most of the batch and keep the rest in the fridge. The defrosted ones are great - no problems with the consistency as they thaw.

I've never tried yams - I don't know if they would cook differently. Sweet potatoes have a whitish/yellow center and the peel is a lighter brown (not dark or purplish).


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Jane,

Thanks! For the recipe and the advice on the dehydrator. Mine doesn't say much about sweet potatos, and I have TWO dehydrator cookbooks and one lady the wrote the one book said they "don't taste that good unless they are leathers" :frusty: So, she didn't give advice on them. Aggravating! lol

I don't have Parchment paper yet..so I'm glad to hear I can skip it. I didn't use it for the bananas and apples (for the humans) and those turned out GREAT. The crew ate them quickly.

I am cooking chicken jerky today. I think this batch will be much better than the last, because I used a different chicken, cut it a bit thicker, cured it right, etc. I'm hoping for the best.

LOL @ the cranking up the temp! That sounds like something I would do. 

I have 3 more "yams", so I'll have to do a test run tomorrow, maybe.

Kara


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Oh, I forgot to mention that my dehydrator came with these flat, circular, plastic meshlike screens that they say you can use for "sticky" foods like bananas. It is supposed to make cleaning up easier. I didn't need to use them for the sweet potatoes though and they didn't stick to the trays.

Oh the things we do for our dogs. I did homecooking too for 3 months. We are back to kibble now with add-ins because I was having to give butt baths so frequently. I need to systematically figure out if Scout has allergies to any of the ingredients I was using but life has been so busy. My dogs eat anything and love their kibble so at least they are eating enough.


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## Missy (Nov 6, 2006)

Little trivia: anything bought or grown here in the states is a sweet potato. real yams comes from south america or africa. They are pretty much the same thing though- real yams are supposed to be superior nutritionally, which is why growers started marketing sweet potatoes as yams.... Even though I know this, I always go for the ones called yams... the garnet yams are my favorite.


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## marjrc (Jan 13, 2007)

Great info, Missy! I didn't know that. Thank you. 

In the stores here in Quebec, they are always called sweet potatoes, the orange ones.


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

You ladies are amazing. 

I think I'm going to do it the easy way. I saw some sweet potato chews (made from genuine US grown sweet potatos) from Front Porch Pets. As soon as I confirm ingredients, I'll order some and see how the girls like them.

Susan


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

mckennasedona said:


> You ladies are amazing.
> 
> I think I'm going to do it the easy way. I saw some sweet potato chews (made from genuine US grown sweet potatos) from Front Porch Pets. As soon as I confirm ingredients, I'll order some and see how the girls like them.
> 
> Susan


Susan,

Is that the Sam's Yams? It sounds familiar. My dogs loved the Sam's Yams, but my locala pet store stopped carrying them and replaced them with Made in China kind.....ewww.....


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## mckennasedona (Feb 20, 2007)

Jane, 
Yes. Sam's Yams. I figure I'll have to order online. I never find that kind of stuff in the pet stores near me.


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## Jane (Jun 2, 2007)

Susan,

My dogs LOVED those. They smell delicious. If you get the big pieces, you can use a kitchen shears to cut them into smaller pieces to stretch your supply a bit longer! They aren't cheap, but they are great!


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