Method of preparing a cooked chunk pet food product

A method of making a cooked chunk pet food product comprising;

• a) grinding animal muscle meat and animal organ meat and mixing the animal muscle meat and the animal organ meat in a ratio of muscle meat to organ meat of from about 2:1 to about 10:1 wt % in a mixer for from about 5 to 20 minutes to form a mixed meat component;
• b) mixing additional ingredients with the mixed meat component to form a pet food base formulation comprising
• the mixed meat component in an amount of from about 64 to about 95 wt %, KCl and/or NaCl in an amount of from 0 to about 0.6 wt %,
• tricalcium phosphate (TCP) and/or dicalcium phosphate (DCP) in an amount of from about 0.01 wt % to about 2 wt %,
• sugar in an amount of from 0 to about 0.5 wt %,
• a starch source selected from the group consisting of barley flour, rice flour, and oat fiber in an amount of from 0 to about 12 wt %, and
• added water in an amount of from about 5 to about 20 wt %;
• c) disposing the pet food base formulation in a casing to provide an uncooked pet food log;
• d) cooking the uncooked pet food log in the casing to an internal temperature of from about 135° F. to about 185° F. to form a sliceable pet food log;
• e) dicing and/or shredding the sliceable pet food log to provide a chunk pet food product having an average piece size of from about 0.25 to about 0.75 inches in the largest dimension;
• and
• f) packaging the chunk pet food product in a format suitable for refrigeration or freezing.