Ruff's Recipes

Ruff's Recipes Grain-Free Trays: Hunters Stew review

Name: Ruff's Recipes Grain-Free Trays: Hunters Stew
Brand: Ruff's Recipes

79.1/100Excellent

WetAdult

Flavour

Four Excellent grain-free trays, each 60% meat with almost no starch underneath and not a single category term on the labels. Two keep to one animal, the fish tray leads with cod, and Hunters Stew splits its meat four ways with a percentage for each.

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Our view

Likely to suit

Dogs kept to one animal, through the chicken or the lamb
Homes avoiding cereal altogether
Dogs that have run out of the usual meats; Hunters Stew brings duck and venison
Protein doing the heavy lifting, at 50.0% of dry matter or more on three trays
Smaller dogs and grazers, as a 150g tray leaves no leftovers
Digestions that like a prebiotic, with chicory on every label

Worth watching

Salmon oil alongside the cod in Homely Fish Pie
Ash far higher in Shepherds Pie than the rest
Four animals in Hunters Stew, the opposite of an elimination diet
Light trays at 72 to 88 kcal per 100g, so a large dog goes through many in a day

Written by our editorial team. Independent guidance, not veterinary advice.

How this scores

How we score

79.1/100Excellent

Protein and processingOutstanding

Nutritional balanceOutstanding

TransparencyOutstanding

ValueExcellent

The details

Dog fit

Listed for adults of every size. These trays are not interchangeable, so read the one you are putting in the trolley.

Food type

Wet

Life stage

Adult

Breed size

Toy, Small, Medium, Large, Giant

Main protein

Duck

The score, in context

Hunters Stew 79.1
One-Pot Chicken 73.8
Shepherds Pie 73.0
Homely Fish Pie 71.4

All four Excellent. Typical wet food: Excellent.

Hunters Stew pulls clear by naming four animals with a figure each, and the other three sit close together just below it.

What's in it

Duck, turkey, pork, venison60% (21%, 20%, 14%, 5%)Four animals, each with a figure. Venison is one of the least common meats in dog food.
Peas4%
Dried spinach2%Given as 4% before drying.
Minerals
LinseedPlant omega 3.
Dried herbs and botanicals: seaweed, nettle, rosemary, turmeric, reishi, valerian and more0.2%Trace level.
ChicoryA source of inulin, food for the gut's good bacteria.
Dried blueberry

Zinc and manganese as amino acid chelates, with iodine and copper; no vitamins are declared.

Four animals in one tray rules it out for an exclusion diet.

Named ingredients

Duck, Turkey, Pork & Venison (60%) (Duck 21%, Turkey 20%, Pork 14%, Venison 5%), Peas (4%), Dried Spinach (2%, equivalent to 4% Spinach), Minerals, Linseed, Dried Herbs & Botanicals (0.2%) (Seaweed, Nettle, Rosemary, Bay, Dill, Mint, Oregano, Thyme, Chamomile, Turmeric, Reishi Mushroom, Valerian Root), Chicory (a source of Inulin), Dried Blueberry.

Against the range

Meat: Duck, turkey, pork, venison; One animal on each of the others.
Carbohydrate, dry matter: 2.7%; 0.0% on the other three.
Fat, dry matter: 27.8%; The most moderate; 30% to 33.3% elsewhere.
Band: Top of the range; The other three grouped a little below.

For a dog that simply likes variety, this is the pick of the four.

Every tray is built on 60% meat with no cereal, then two vegetables, linseed for omega 3, chicory for inulin and a 0.2% herb and botanical blend at trace level. Carbohydrate reads 0.0% of dry matter on three trays and 2.7% on Hunters Stew.

The added panel is short: chelated zinc and manganese with iodine and copper, and no vitamins declared on any of the four. Calcium runs from 1.67% of dry matter in the fish to 2.22% in the stew and the chicken.

Nutritional analysis

Declared analysis

Energy

84 kcal/100g

Protein

Fat

Fibre

Ash

2.5%

Moisture

82%

Dry weight

Protein

50%

Fat

27.8%

Fibre

5.6%

Ash

13.9%

Carbs

2.7%

As-fed composition

Estimated breakdown of the finished product by ingredient category, from the declared ingredient list and ingoing weights. These are estimates, not measurements.

Meat

70.8%

Added water

20.3%

Carbs

Veg

2.7%

Other

2.2%

Pricing & size