How Are Dog Treats Made? The Air-Drying Process Explained

Dog treats are made using one of five main methods: air-drying, dehydrating, freeze-drying, baking, or extrusion. The method determines everything about nutritional quality. Air-drying, which uses low heat (60-75°C) over 12-48 hours, preserves the most nutrients while still eliminating pathogens. Here is exactly how it works.

The Air-Drying Process: Step by Step

Air-drying is a manufacturing method where moisture is removed from raw meat using controlled airflow at low temperatures, producing a shelf-stable treat without preservatives, additives, or artificial anything.

Here is the full process, from paddock to pack:

Step 1: Sourcing

For genuinely quality air-dried treats, the meat source matters. At Rufus Chews, all meat is sourced from Australian farms, free-range where possible. The difference in raw material quality feeds directly into the finished product. Factory-farmed, low-grade trim and premium free-range muscle meat do not produce the same treat, regardless of what the label says.

Step 2: Cutting and preparation

Once the meat arrives, it is trimmed and cut into consistent pieces. Consistency is not just about aesthetics: if pieces vary significantly in thickness or density, they dry unevenly. Thinner edges over-dry and turn brittle while the centre is still too moist, leaving the finished treat out of specification. Uniform cutting ensures the entire batch reaches the target moisture level at the same time.

Step 3: Air-drying at controlled low temperatures

This is the critical step, and the one most often misunderstood.

The meat is loaded into purpose-built drying chambers and exposed to steady, circulating airflow at temperatures between 60°C and 75°C. That temperature range is not arbitrary: it is calibrated to achieve two specific outcomes simultaneously.

First, it kills pathogens. Salmonella is destroyed at sustained temperatures above 60°C. Listeria is neutralised above 65°C. At 70°C with appropriate dwell time, both are eliminated without question. The extended drying period, 12 to 48 hours depending on the cut, ensures the heat penetrates through to the centre of every piece, not just the surface.

Second, it stays below the threshold where nutritional value degrades. Most heat-sensitive vitamins, including the B vitamin complex (B1, B2, B6, B12) and vitamin C, begin to break down significantly above 70°C. Natural enzymes that support digestion start denaturing at similar temperatures. By keeping the drying chamber at 60-75°C rather than the 150-200°C used in baking and extrusion, air-drying threads the needle: safe, but still nutritionally close to the original raw meat.

Drying times vary by product. Thin, jerky-style strips of muscle meat are typically done in 12-16 hours. Denser cuts like Beef Paddywacks or Kangaroo Tail Chunks require 24-48 hours as moisture locked in connective tissue and dense muscle fibres releases more slowly. Bony pieces with cartilage, like Chicken Feet, take longer still.

Step 4: Moisture reduction to under 10%

The drying continues until the water activity in the meat drops below 10% moisture content. That number is the key to why no preservatives are needed. Bacteria, moulds, and yeasts all require a minimum water activity level to survive and reproduce. Below 10% moisture, the treat becomes microbiologically stable at room temperature. No sodium nitrite, no BHA, no BHT. Just physics.

Step 5: Cooling, testing, and packing

After drying, treats are cooled to room temperature before packing. Reputable manufacturers test moisture levels on each batch to confirm the product is within specification. The finished treat is then sealed in packaging that prevents moisture reabsorption from the environment, which would restart the microbial clock.

The result is a treat with a nutritional profile significantly closer to fresh meat than anything produced by baking, extrusion, or even most dehydration processes.

How Dog Treats Are Made: All Manufacturing Methods Compared

There are five main methods used to manufacture dog treats commercially, and each produces a meaningfully different result in terms of nutrition, safety, cost, and shelf life.

Why Temperature Is the Most Important Variable in Dog Treat Manufacturing

The temperature at which a treat is processed is the single biggest determinant of how much nutritional value survives the manufacturing process.

Here is what the science shows at each temperature range:

Below 70°C: Most vitamins, enzymes, and amino acids remain structurally intact. The B vitamin complex is largely preserved. Digestive enzymes that help dogs absorb nutrients remain active. This is the window where air-drying operates.

70-100°C: Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) begins to degrade significantly. Some enzymes start to denature. This is the zone where the upper end of dehydration sits. Some nutrient loss occurs, but the treat is still significantly more nutritious than baked alternatives.

150-200°C: This is where baking and extrusion operate. At these temperatures, the Maillard reaction occurs, which browns the surface of the treat and creates that "baked" smell dogs respond to. However, this reaction also destroys a significant portion of B vitamins, degrades amino acids, and eliminates heat-sensitive micronutrients. The proteins that remain are still digestible, but the enzymatic activity and vitamin density are a fraction of what they were in the raw material. Manufacturers then add back synthetic vitamins and minerals to meet minimum nutritional standards.

Extrusion, used to produce most kibble-style treats and products like Greenies, adds high pressure to the high-heat equation. Raw material is forced through a die at 150-200°C+ under pressure, cooking it in seconds. It is the fastest and cheapest manufacturing method, which is why it dominates the commercial pet treat market. It is also the most nutritionally destructive.

Air-drying is slower, uses more expensive raw material, requires larger processing facilities, and produces a lower volume per hour. That is why air-dried treats cost more. And that is exactly why the nutritional difference exists.

What Nobody Else Tells You About the Air-Drying Process

Most brands that air-dry their treats say "air-dried at low temperatures" and leave it at that. Here is the detail that actually matters, and that almost nobody explains.

The pathogen kill is in the dwell time, not just the temperature

At 60°C, Salmonella enterica requires approximately 35 minutes of sustained exposure to achieve a full 7-log reduction (a 10-million-fold reduction in bacterial count). At 65°C, that time drops to roughly 15 minutes. At 70°C, it takes under 5 minutes. When you are running a 12-48 hour drying cycle at 60-75°C, the cumulative heat exposure is far beyond what is needed for pathogen elimination. The slow drying process is not a food safety compromise; it is an extremely thorough pathogen kill combined with nutrient preservation. That combination is the technical achievement of air-drying.

The moisture target is under 10%, not just "low"

The food science principle at work is water activity (Aw). Fresh meat has a water activity of around 0.99, which is a near-perfect environment for bacterial growth. Properly air-dried treats reach an Aw below 0.60, corresponding to under 10% moisture content. Below that threshold, no bacterial pathogen can replicate. It is the same principle that makes beef jerky shelf-stable and has kept dried meats safe for thousands of years before refrigeration existed.

Consistent piece size is a safety requirement, not a quality preference

When Rufus Chews cuts meat into consistent pieces before drying, that is not just about aesthetics. If a piece is twice as thick as the average, its centre may not reach the required dwell time at the target temperature. Inconsistent cutting creates variation in the drying curve, which means some pieces may not fully reach the moisture target. It is a quality-control step that has direct food safety implications.

The cooling step matters

After drying, treats need to cool fully before packing. If warm product is sealed into packaging, residual heat creates condensation inside the bag, reintroducing surface moisture and providing the exact conditions microbial growth needs. Proper cooling to ambient temperature before sealing is the last step in producing a genuinely shelf-stable product.

What Rufus Chews Air-Dried Treats Look Like in Practice

At Rufus Chews, every treat is made from one ingredient sourced from Australian farms and air-dried in Queensland. There are no mixed protein blends, no filler meats, no unnamed animal derivatives. The label says what it is, and that is all it is.

Here are four products that show the range of what air-drying can produce:

Chicken Feet (125g, $10.95): Air-dried whole chicken feet. The cartilage in chicken feet contains approximately 450mg of natural glucosamine per foot, making these one of the best natural joint support treats available. The bony structure creates a satisfying chew that also delivers mechanical dental cleaning. The air-drying process makes the bone crumble safely rather than splinter.

Beef Paddywacks (300g, $24.95): The nuchal ligament of Australian cattle, air-dried to a dense, chewy treat. Paddywacks are one of the richest natural sources of type 3 collagen, chondroitin, and glucosamine in a dog treat format. They take 24-48 hours to fully air-dry due to the dense connective tissue. A single paddywack gives a medium-large dog 20-45 minutes of sustained chewing.

Kangaroo Tail Chunks (300g, $19.95): Wild Australian kangaroo tail, cut and air-dried. Kangaroo is among the leanest proteins available (under 2% fat in lean cuts), making these suitable for dogs on calorie-restricted diets or with pancreatitis history. As a novel protein, kangaroo is also an excellent option for dogs on elimination diet protocols.

Shark Jerky Sticks (125g, $14.95): Single-ingredient shark, air-dried into flexible jerky sticks. Shark meat is naturally rich in omega-3 and omega-6 fatty acids and contains natural chondroitin from cartilage. The jerky format means they are easy to break into smaller pieces for training rewards. Shark is also a novel protein, which means it is well-suited for allergy management protocols.

Browse the full range at rufuschews.com.au.

How Rufus Chews Compares to Other Air-Dried and Dehydrated Treat Brands

Several brands in Australia and New Zealand market premium natural treats, and the differences between them are worth understanding before you buy.

Ziwi Peak is a New Zealand brand that uses air-drying across its main range, with freeze-drying available for some products. Ziwi Peak is well-regarded and genuinely uses quality ingredients, but it is a New Zealand product, not Australian-sourced. The price point is at the premium end of the market. For Australian buyers who want locally sourced meat, the provenance difference is worth noting.

Laila and Me is an Australian brand that markets itself as natural and premium. The important distinction is that most Laila and Me products are dehydrated rather than air-dried. Dehydration uses higher temperatures (65-90°C) for a shorter time. Both methods produce shelf-stable treats without preservatives, but the higher processing temperature of dehydration does result in somewhat greater vitamin degradation compared to true low-temperature air-drying.

WAG has a broad product range across multiple manufacturing methods. Some WAG products are air-dried or dehydrated; others are baked or processed. The brand is not single-method, which means the nutritional profile varies significantly across the range. You need to read individual product labels rather than trusting the brand name as a consistent quality indicator.

Greenies is produced via extrusion at high heat and pressure. The ingredient list includes wheat starch, glycerin, natural flavours, and a range of synthetic vitamin and mineral additions to restore what processing removes. Greenies are widely available and popular, but they are not a natural or minimal-ingredient treat by any measure. The dental cleaning mechanism works, but the ingredient profile is incomparable to single-ingredient air-dried alternatives.

Rufus Chews is specifically positioned as single-ingredient and Australian-sourced. Every product in the range contains one ingredient. The air-drying takes place in Queensland. There is no overseas contract manufacturing, no mixed protein blends, and no undisclosed ingredients.

Frequently Asked Questions

How are dog treats made?

Dog treats are made using one of five methods: air-drying (60-75°C, 12-48 hrs), dehydrating (65-90°C, 6-18 hrs), freeze-drying (vacuum sublimation, no heat), baking or extrusion (150-200°C+), or kept raw. The method determines nutritional quality. Air-drying offers the best balance of safety, nutrient preservation, and shelf stability without preservatives.

What temperature is used in air-drying dog treats?

Air-drying typically uses 60-75°C over 12-48 hours depending on the cut. This kills Salmonella and Listeria through sustained heat exposure while staying below the 70-100°C range where most heat-sensitive vitamins and enzymes begin to degrade. The extended dwell time at low temperature is what makes air-drying both safe and nutritionally superior to baking.

Why don't air-dried dog treats need preservatives?

Air-dried treats don't need preservatives because moisture is removed to under 10%. Bacteria, moulds, and yeasts cannot grow below this water activity threshold. The result is a shelf-stable treat that lasts 12-18 months at room temperature without any chemical preservatives. The science is the same principle used in making beef jerky or dried fruit for humans.

What is the difference between air-dried and dehydrated dog treats?

Air-drying uses 60-75°C over 12-48 hours. Dehydrating uses 65-90°C for a shorter 6-18 hour cycle. Both remove moisture without preservatives, but air-drying's lower temperature better preserves heat-sensitive B vitamins and digestive enzymes. Laila and Me uses dehydration; Rufus Chews uses air-drying. The two terms are often used interchangeably by brands, which obscures the difference.

Are air-dried dog treats better than baked treats?

Yes, in terms of nutritional quality. Baking and extrusion reach 150-200°C+, destroying most heat-sensitive vitamins, enzymes, and micronutrients. Synthetic nutrients are then added back. Air-dried treats like Rufus Chews contain only the natural nutrients present in the original meat, because the process never gets hot enough to destroy them.

Is freeze-drying better than air-drying for dog treats?

Freeze-drying preserves slightly more nutrients, using vacuum sublimation at around -40°C with no heat. However, freeze-dried treats are significantly more expensive, tend to crumble easily, and are mostly sourced from overseas. Air-drying offers strong nutrient retention at a more accessible price point, with a firm chew texture that freeze-dried treats cannot match.

What meat is used in air-dried dog treats?

Quality air-dried treats use whole cuts of muscle meat, offal, or bone from a single named species. Rufus Chews uses 100% Australian meat sourced from local farms, including free-range chicken, grass-fed beef, wild kangaroo, and shark. No mixed species blends, no unnamed animal derivatives, and no meat meal or by-products.

How long does it take to air-dry dog treats?

Thin jerky-style strips take 12-16 hours. Dense connective tissue cuts like beef paddywacks or kangaroo tail take 24-48 hours. Bony pieces with cartilage take longer still. The longer drying time compared to baking or dehydration is part of why properly air-dried single-ingredient treats cost more than quickly processed alternatives.