How to cook beef lung for a dog: how long to cook, dry in the oven and then how to give it?

Beef lung is a frequently used by-product in dog nutrition. Due to the fact that this part of the animal’s carcass is edible and is considered a budget product, many owners include it in their pet’s diet.

In terms of nutritional value, lung belongs to category II, since it has minimal nutritional value - about 92 kcal. Meat contains no carbohydrates and fats, but a lot of protein - about 70%. Will this characteristic be enough to keep the dog well-fed and healthy?

Raw

The mentioned by-product is necessary for dogs to maintain their own lungs, because many pets actively move and often run.

The benefits of beef lung are in many ways similar to pork or lamb, since this product contains a number of useful substances:

iron;
magnesium;
potassium;
phosphorus;
sulfur;
iodine;
calcium;
B vitamins;
sodium.

According to some dog handlers, the main disadvantage of the component in question is that it does not undergo a thorough veterinary examination, which is why pockets of pathological infections may persist inside the meat.

Such food contains a lot of connective tissue, which causes vomiting or diarrhea in the animal, and excessive elasticity of the tissue can lead to the risk of choking.

Beef lung should not be given to a dog raw: it must be boiled or dried. It is also recommended to supplement this ingredient with other beef analogues to create a meat mix. The heart, liver, trachea or scar are ideal for this. Under no circumstances should kidneys be added here.

How to choose?

Looking at the chest of a cow, the lung is considered the largest organ there, weighing 2-3 kg. And the benefits of any product depend primarily on the freshness of the carcass, the age of the animal at the time of cutting and suitable storage conditions for the meat.

Therefore, in order to choose a fresh copy in a store or market, you need to carefully examine the product, according to such parameters as:

color (the shade should be light pink, without noticeable blood clots or mucus, and the shell should remain smooth, shiny, without damage or dirt);
elasticity (press lightly on the product, if after touching the shape quickly recovers, then the product is fresh, and if a dent remains, this indicates the beginning of fermentation);
smell (should be fresh and without mustiness, light and pleasant, but the manifestation of a foreign or putrefactive aroma means a violation of the deadlines or conservation rules).

Prices for beef lung start from 100 rubles per 10 g and reach an amount of 600 rubles per 3 liter container. In pet stores, natural products of this kind are most often represented by an assortment from the following companies: Titbit, GreenQZin, Farm Delicacies, Village Delicacies and Zoogurman.

Possible harm

However, in order for the food to bring only benefits, it is very important to know how to cook light beef for a dog. We'll talk about this a little later, but first, let's talk about the possible harm.

To begin with, the lungs, being waste, usually do not undergo serious testing - parasite eggs may remain in them. Therefore, it must be cooked especially carefully, leaving no chance for the worms.

It is worth remembering that the offal contains a large amount of connective tissue. If you feed a raw product, it may well provoke diarrhea or vomiting in the animal. Raw lung is also elastic - a dog can easily choke when eating.

High-quality cooking can completely solve this problem.

How long to cook?

If the dog tolerates this product well and does not have problems with the gastrointestinal tract, then the lungs are given raw in small quantities. But before that, be sure to wash it well. In its pure form, such a product is given in a minimal volume.

When the portion is large, it is better to boil the food, otherwise an eating disorder may occur, which is manifested by such symptoms in the animal as abdominal pain, vomiting and diarrhea.

To prepare a delicious meat mix for your pet, you need to cut the beef lungs into small pieces. Next, fill the workpiece with water and put it on fire. You need to boil it until half cooked, which takes about 15-30 minutes.

Contraindications for use

There is the following list of conditions and diseases for which it is prohibited to give this product to your dog.

This:

gastritis;
colitis;
stomach ulcer
impaired digestion of food, a small amount of hydrochloric acid secreted by the stomach;
intestinal obstruction;
problems with the pancreas;
frequent dyspeptic disorders.

There are dog breeds that are prohibited from consuming this product from birth:

Dalmatians;
bulldogs;
East European Shepherds;
Staffordshire Terriers;
Shar-Pei.

Their gastrointestinal tract is not adapted to such food and will not be able to digest lung tissue.

How to dry in the oven?

If you use the correct drying method, the lungs will turn out airy and relatively soft (like polystyrene foam) - you can re-cut them into pieces of the desired size without crumbs. You need to make the preparation like this:

Cut the meat into large slices (5 cm thick) to reduce drying time due to the diameter.
Directly raw, without pre-cooking, the food should be placed on a baking sheet at a short distance from each other.
Set the temperature to 100°C and bake for 3 hours. If you set it to low, the beef lungs will be too hard and brittle.
After half an hour, you need to open the oven a little so that excess moisture evaporates.
After another 3 hours, you need to fully open the oven door, set it to 40-60°C and dry the meat completely.
The last stage lasts about 5-8 hours, after which you should wait for the product to cool down and you can already treat your pet.

This simple delicacy is easy to make at home, stores well, does not stain your hands or clothes (can be put in your pocket), so it turns out to be a very practical snack for a dog during training or a walk.

Real jam…

If you decide to cook a cow's udder for the first time, this recipe will come in handy. Housewives do not have any difficulties, but the heat treatment process takes a long time. You can reduce it if you have an excellent kitchen assistant - a pressure cooker. With its help, you can bring the udder to readiness in about 1 hour 40 minutes.

Ingredients:

onion - one head;
cow udder – 500 g;
refined vegetable oil;
carrots - one root vegetable;
salt, ground allspice;
sour cream - two tablespoons. spoons.

Preparation:

Let's immediately begin preparing the necessary ingredients. Peel the vegetables and wash them thoroughly.
Clean the beef offal and defrost if necessary.
Place the udder in a bowl, fill it with purified water and leave for 8 hours. During this time, do not forget to change the water a couple of times.
After soaking, transfer the offal into a pan. Fill with water and bring to a boil.
As soon as the udder boils, drain the water. We repeat this procedure two more times.
We wash the udder and cut it into pieces.
We transfer everything into the slow cooker. We activate the program extinguishing mode and cook for 3-3.5 hours.
The cooking process will be faster in a pressure cooker. You can set the appropriate program and cook offal in less than 2 hours.
Cool the boiled udder a little and cut into slices.
Chop the vegetables.
Sauté vegetables in a small amount of refined vegetable oil.
Then add slices of boiled udder. Sprinkle with salt and add ground allspice.
Stir and continue cooking in simmer mode. Add sour cream with medium fat content.
Add water so that the liquid lightly covers the contents of the dish, stir. Simmer for exactly 10 minutes.
Udder prepared in this way turns out soft, tender and incredibly tasty.

Which one is better?

For large breeds of dogs, feeding lightly, raw, boiled, and dried, in large quantities and for a long period of time, is harmful. Due to the porous structure, even chewed meat is retained in the intestines and stomach for a long time, because it is difficult to break down by gastrointestinal juice.

As a result, the pet’s body receives a small amount of energy substances: the dog will want to eat more and more often, and with an increase in standard portions, the entire digestive system (especially the intestines) will suffer.

In general, decorative breeds should be fed exclusively with boiled and chopped beef lung no more than 1-2 times a week.

Can dogs eat beef lung?

The answer here is quite clear - cow lung is perfect for supplementing a dog's diet. After all, these are by-products, which means they contain a large amount of useful microelements that ensure the health and long life of your pet.

It is also important that the cost of this offal is quite low - it is perhaps impossible to find a cheaper meat substitute. For many dog breeders, this factor is extremely important.

At the same time, the lung is exactly the same supplier of proteins - for dogs, like any other carnivorous animals, it is very important to receive a sufficient amount of such raw materials. Although they, unlike their wolf ancestors, have adapted to digest many foods, dogs cannot get by on porridge or pasta alone - this will quickly undermine their health.

It is no coincidence that it is the lung that is often used by large producers in the production of a tasty and fairly cheap delicacy, which is sold in stores at a price higher than marbled beef.

So if you can’t feed your dog selected meat, but want to provide it with a satisfying diet, you definitely shouldn’t give up the light stuff.

Roast

Fried light is the second extreme after the raw version. In principle, dogs should not be given foods with such heat treatment . And beef by-products have an interesting effect: the longer you fry, the more it cooks.

In addition, without adding oil, such meat will stick to the surface of the pan and spoil its structure. If the ingredient is fried just a little, it will be tender, but before that it is necessary to boil the workpiece at least a little so that both stages of cooking eliminate any bacteria.

If you fry the lung heavily and for a long time, it will become very crispy - you will get almost a copy of the preparation that can be obtained using the oven.

The difference is that drying in a closed space better processes the meat, while the process of cooking in a frying pan is intended only to speed up the procedure. But we repeat, this delicacy is contraindicated for pets .

Cooking methods

There are many recipes invented by dog owners. Some involve different heat treatment options, and there are recipes for cooking light with vegetables. A few simple recipes will definitely come in handy to pamper your beloved pet.

Porridge with light meat and vegetables

This tasty and nutritious dish will appeal to many dogs. It is better to cook it in small quantities, since boiled lung is not recommended to be stored for more than 3 days.

Ingredients:

300 gr. beef trimmings;
200 gr. beef lung;
½ cup buckwheat or rice;
1 small bell pepper;
½ zucchini or zucchini;
greens (dill, parsley).

Sea kale is very useful for dogs

Preparation step by step:

Cut the trimmings into cubes and boil for 10-15 minutes.
Lightly cut into strips and remove arteries.
Peel, wash and cut the vegetables into small cubes.
Place meat, lungs, cereals and vegetables into boiling water.
Cook the porridge for 20 minutes over low heat, stirring occasionally.
Add greens, stir and remove from heat.

This recipe involves using more than just the vegetables listed. You can prepare it using those that your pet likes best. If your dog doesn't eat greens, sea kale can be an alternative. It is available for sale at any pet store.

Dried lung treat

It takes a little effort but a lot of time to prepare a tasty treat that is convenient to use during training. The drying process takes about 4-5 hours.

Important! The lung should first be frozen a little to make it easier to cut. Cut the offal into small strips

Next, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Baking is carried out at a temperature of 180 degrees. The oven door is kept open for the first 2 hours, and open for the next 2-3 hours. You can dry offal in the microwave if you have the appropriate mode.

Cut the offal into small strips. Next, place on a baking sheet lined with parchment. Baking is carried out at a temperature of 180 degrees. The oven door is kept open for the first 2 hours, and open for the next 2-3 hours. You can dry the offal in the microwave if you have the appropriate mode.

Assorted boiled offal

This dish can be given to your dog separately or mixed with porridge immediately before meals.

Ingredients:

300 gr. beef liver;
200 gr. beef lung;
300 gr. beef trim or tenderloin.

The range of by-products can be varied

Preparation step by step:

Rinse all ingredients under running water and cut into cubes.
Boil water and add chopped meat and offal.
Boil for 20-30 minutes.
Drain the water.

This meat mixture will be an excellent addition to your diet. To make it more healthy, you can add vegetables that your pet prefers. The set of offal can be supplemented with trachea or scar.

Attention! Under no circumstances should kidneys be included in this assortment.

How to give?

This by-product is not suitable as the basis of a diet for dogs. Beef lungs can only be added to the dog menu. It must be mixed with porridges (buckwheat, rice and millet), other parts of the carcass and even vegetables. If there is no suitable addition to the portion, then it is better to opt for the vegetarian portion.

But focusing only on the lungs for a long time is a direct path to your dog getting poisoned or having other problems with the digestive tract. Along with this meat, you can give eggs and cottage cheese. If desired, you can even mix it with dry food.

In addition to the appropriate quantity, it is also important to monitor the serving format. Cow lungs should not be given whole or roughly chopped. Standard pieces or slices are perfect for any continuation: for grinding into minced meat, boiling and drying. A properly crushed ingredient is also convenient to store and divide into portions.

But it is also better to avoid too small pieces: dogs love lungs very much and practically swallow them if the offal is detailed. Therefore, the pet may choke when consuming it if the owner is too carried away with chopping the product.

Nutritional value

Beef lung is good for dogs if the animal is not allergic to it. Pork and lamb lung can also be cooked for your pet. Lungs belong to the second category of offal, along with lips, legs, ears, spleen, brains, etc.

Belonging to category II means that the nutritional value is low. The bulk of the organ is made up of difficult-to-digest connective tissue. It also contains a lot of proteins, but they are incomplete, that is, they are not absorbed by the body.

Among the beneficial substances, beef lung contains the following:

iron, calcium, potassium, sodium, magnesium;
iodine, phosphorus;
vitamins C and group B;
sulfur.

This makes lungs a rather valuable food product that is suitable not only for dogs, but even for humans.

There are many recipes for fillings for pies, pancakes, stews, goulash, pates. True, they are quite labor-intensive. But dishes for the dog menu do not require long preparation, but you still have to cook and cut up the product.

If it gets bad

Sometimes a pet may become ill after eating beef lung. Most likely reasons:

The dog has gastrointestinal problems. Due to its porous structure, the treat is more difficult to digest than other foods.
An error was made during preparation. Before feeding your pet, you need to boil the offal well and then chop it. Whole connective tissue fibers can make your dog feel sick.
The product was stale.

The main symptoms of a pet feeling unwell after eating lung are vomiting and diarrhea. In case of poisoning, lethargy may occur.

If you notice any of the above symptoms, provide your dog with free access to water, and, if possible, do not give heavy food that is poorly absorbed by the body. If symptoms of lethargy appear, your pet should be taken to a doctor immediately. The veterinarian will provide qualified assistance and prescribe treatment.

Required Products

Putting together a food basket for the average dog is quite simple, but you need to consider which specific ingredients are most suitable for the breed. These details are usually clarified with the breeder or discussed with the veterinarian. When compiling a list of dishes, the dog’s personal preferences, as well as possible allergic reactions, are taken into account.

When introducing a new product, add it to your daily diet gradually and carefully monitor the reaction. If any component causes vomiting or diarrhea, then either you fed more than necessary, or your stomach is simply unable to digest. Cancel and try again after a while in small portions.

Meat

Not every cut of any animal is suitable for a dog's dinner. The ideal choice would be 1st grade lean beef. At the same time, there is no point in trying to select the best pieces. The same cutting will not bring much benefit. Lamb, rabbit, horse meat and venison are also excellent for feeding animals. In this case, it is necessary to choose pieces without fat and take into account that lamb and rabbit meat are higher in calories than beef and veal.

READ ALSO: How much meat does a dog need per day?

Pork is not suitable for dogs to eat. This is too fatty and heavy meat, which is not digestible and cannot be digested normally, which means it will not bring any benefit, only increasing the load on the liver and gall bladder.

Bird

One of the options for a variety of meals 1-2 times a week can be poultry. Usually this is chicken or turkey, the rest usually have too fatty meat, absolutely not suitable for feeding four-legged friends.

When choosing the part to be fed, it is worth removing fat and skin, since their dogs cannot

It is also worth paying special attention to preparation. If regular meat is given raw, then it is preferable to cook the poultry, even if it has been frozen

In this case, we are not talking about possible infection with internal parasites or any disease, but about the effects of hormones that are actively used in feeding birds.

By-products and tripe

Another necessary part of the diet are various offal products. Here it is possible to use almost any parts of the bodies of animals and birds that are also used by humans. The only exception is pig organs, which are also too heavy for a dog's delicate stomach.

Offal is also served raw after careful freezing, taking into account that the portion should be larger than the standard one, since they are less nutritious.

Giblets cannot completely replace muscle tissue in the daily diet, but they can be given 1-2 times a week as a separate meal.

A special place on the list is occupied by liver, especially beef, and tripe. Liver, raw or boiled, is a wonderful treat that can be used to pamper your pet during walks and exercises without any consequences and to the great pleasure of the dogs who love it. Tripe, or raw cow stomach, is often used from a very young age to gradually accustom the puppy to meat components. Also, in its raw form, scar is needed to establish the microflora of the gastrointestinal tract.

READ ALSO: Types of offal for feeding dogs

Cereals

This part of the diet is the second most important, since it is the main source of slow carbohydrates that fill your pet with energy throughout the day.

Rice, buckwheat, oatmeal, and oats are the traditional basis for dog porridge. However, before giving it, it is worth checking with your veterinarian whether a particular type of cereal is suitable for your breed.

Vegetables and fruits

The most standard, familiar vegetables and unsweetened fruits are selected. Carrots, cabbage, cucumber, zucchini, bell peppers, pumpkin and other familiar options, grated, the dog will eat with great pleasure along with the meat part. It is dangerous to give potatoes, corn and other foods containing a large percentage of starch.

Cooking features

You can cook beef lung in a saucepan or casserole dish, slow cooker, or pressure cooker. This ingredient is quite easy to prepare and does not require much skill or experience from the cook. But you should still remember a few rules that will help facilitate the process of preparing beef lung at home:

For cooking, it is better to use a large saucepan with a thick bottom, which will maintain a uniform temperature.
It is better to cook everything over low heat, constantly monitoring the boiling water so that the water does not boil too much and flood the stove.
Do not forget to skim off the foam; all remaining dirt and waste usually rises with it.
If desired, you can add ground spices to the broth, but this must be done a few minutes before turning off the burner.
The larger and heavier the piece, the longer it will have to be cooked in the pan.
Beef lung tends to become saturated with water and swell during the cooking process, so you can press it with something directly in a pan of boiling water.

Note!

You can press down the lungs in the pan using a deep plate or large cup, turning it upside down and pressing it with a lid. This will keep the product completely submerged in water throughout the cooking time and allow it to cook evenly.

Preliminary preparation of offal

Before cooking, a piece of pulp must be prepared. You need to rinse it thoroughly (you can do it right under the tap). Next, fill everything with cold water and leave to soak for several hours. It is better to change the water periodically. This will allow us to get rid of harmful substances that we do not need in food, this procedure will make the offal softer.

After soaking, rinse the lung again under cold running water. Now you can cut it into pieces, removing all unnecessary parts: trays, films.

Attention!

If only frozen beef lung is available, it should be completely thawed before cooking. You can do this by immediately immersing the frozen piece in cold water. This way it will defrost and soak at the same time.

Cooking time

The cooking time directly depends on the weight of the piece. The larger it is, the longer it will take to cook it. In order to speed up the process of preparing offal as much as possible, you can use a pressure cooker.

By cutting the pulp into medium-sized pieces (5-7 cm), you can reduce the cooking time several times.

Important!

You can also cool the boiled pulp under pressure. This method will allow you to remove all excess liquid from it and obtain a more dense structure of the finished offal.

How to store

If you purchased fresh beef lung, it can be stored in the refrigerator for up to 48 hours. For longer storage, it is better to use the freezer.

The offal can remain frozen for six months. You can, of course, keep it in the freezer even longer, but when cooked, such products will no longer be so juicy and tasty.

Beef for weight loss and sports nutrition

Introducing beef into your diet for the purpose of losing weight or as an element of sports nutrition is a great solution, because the product has a lot of useful properties. Red meat from cattle is one of the least high-calorie meats, which is why it is recommended for people who want to lose a few extra pounds.

Beef is healthier in this regard than chicken. For this reason, red meat is an ideal protein base for lunch or dinner. You just need to supplement the product with vegetables - and your meal will be healthy, balanced and rich in nutrients. Such food will give you a feeling of satiety, normalize metabolism and become a faithful assistant in the fight against excess weight.

Beef for weight loss and sports nutrition

Description

Pate is a delicious minced meat dish that is used to prepare snacks. It can be prepared from a variety of ingredients, including meat, mushrooms and even vegetables.

It is generally accepted that the pate first saw the light of day in 1771 in France. The goose liver dish prepared by French chefs was initially available only to the king and his entourage. Over time, the recipe for making pate spread to other countries, after which ordinary people got the opportunity to taste it.

To transport the product over long distances, cooks baked pies filled with pate. This helped keep the dish fairly fresh. Most people liked the idea, and therefore a large number of recipes for making pies and other pastries with pate filling appeared. From those times to this day, the so-called “Strasbourg pie” has been very popular, references to which can be found in Russian literature.

To give or not

Some dog breeders, especially if they feed their pet dry food, are afraid to let him chew bones. This is not entirely true.

It is recommended that a dog, even the smallest breed, be given a certain load to its jaws.

Of course, you shouldn’t give a tiny toy a huge beef moth, but it’s good to pamper your dog with soft ribs of lamb or kid.

Large and young dogs with strong teeth are given large bones, making sure there are no sharp chips.

Basically, a dog chews a bone for pleasure and entertainment, gnawing off veins and cartilage from it. Only a hungry dog shows interest in a “bare” bone.