What is the Process of Dry Pet Food?

Raw material pretreatment: Laying the foundation for dry food quality. The first step requires designing a formula based on the pet's breed (dog/cat) and growth stage (puppy/adult/senior). The core ingredients are mainly grains (corn, wheat flour, 30%-50%) and protein ingredients (fish meal, soybean meal, 25%-40%), supplemented with vitamins, minerals, and other nutritional additives. Avoid adding too much high-fiber material (≤15%) to prevent affecting the extrusion effect. Raw materials need to be screened to remove impurities and then ground to 80-100 mesh to ensure uniform particle size. The moisture content is then adjusted to 12%-14%, and the mixture is stirred for 8-12 minutes to fully integrate the materials and moisture, achieving a consistency where the food "can be formed into a ball when squeezed but crumbles easily when touched," preparing it for the subsequent extrusion stage.

Extrusion extrusion: The core step in dry food shaping. This step relies entirely on a dedicated dry pet food making machine and is the key difference between dry and wet food production. Pre-treated raw materials are fed uniformly into the extruder's extrusion chamber. The Twin Screw Fish Feed Extruder generates strong shearing force through meshing rotation, combined with steam heating to create a high-temperature environment of 110-150℃ and a high-pressure environment of 2-5MPa within the chamber. The starch in the raw materials rapidly gelatinizes, the proteins denature, and the moisture is converted into superheated steam. The pressure drops sharply the moment the material is extruded from the die, causing the steam to expand and escape rapidly, resulting in a porous and loose structure for the dry food. Simultaneously, the cutter cuts the food into pellets of a set size (2-8mm) suitable for pets of different sizes.

Post-processing and Finished Product Packaging: Ensuring Consistent Quality. The extruded pellets are immediately sent to a drying and cooling machine, first dried to a moisture content of 10%-12% (the core moisture standard for dry food), then cooled to room temperature to prevent moisture absorption and mold growth. After drying, qualified pellets are screened through a vibrating screen, and broken pieces are returned to the raw material silo for secondary processing. Subsequently, flavoring is performed, with meat flavorings and oils added through oil spraying and powdering devices to improve palatability. Finally, after inspection with a metal detector to ensure there are no impurities, the food is sealed and packaged, and the expiration date and nutritional information are labeled, completing the entire production process. The entire process relies on precise temperature control using a dry dog ​​food making machine to prevent nutrient loss or burnt pellets due to high temperatures.

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