There are two primary methods for cooking dry pet food (kibble); extrusion, which represents the majority of foods on the market, and baking, which is much less commonly used. Both methods include cooking a number of ingredients at one time, such as plant, animal or fish proteins, carbohydrates of all types, fats, vitamins, minerals and more. Thus, both methods involve complex reactions among all of these ingredients.

Due to the wide variety of available machinery, cooking temperatures and other factors, there is no valid study to determine which cooking method is best. In fact, extrusion offers a larger variety of operator adjustments than baking, which is part of the reason why we view extrusion as the more beneficial method for achieving an optimal cook.
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Though there are not scientific studies to rely upon, there are some general differences between the two methods that informed our choice to use extrusion. For instance, the higher temperature and longer cooking time of baking can translate into increased loss of ingredient-based vitamins and nutrients, which would then necessitate the need to reintroduce additional supplements. With its lower temperature and short cooking time, extrusion minimizes this potential pitfall.
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For more details about these two processes, please review the following descriptions:
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EXTRUSION
Ingredients are first mixed and hydrated with water and steam before they are moved into a long, enclosed shaft. The shaft contains one or more rotating screws (generally one) which produce a combination of heat, steam and pressure that cooks the ingredients. Cooking temperatures start off below 200 degrees and increase to between 220 degrees and 280 degrees by virtue of the pressure created by the torque of the screw(s). The cooking time of this process is generally measured in seconds, or about three minutes. The food is snipped off into nuggets as it exits the extruder. Subsequently, the nuggets are then sent into a low-temperature dryer (125-200 degrees) to remove moisture. Finally the nuggets are given a coating of additional fats as needed to meet nutritional requirements, or per the specifications of a given formula.
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BAKING
Typically, ingredients are mixed and formed into dough. The dough is flattened onto a sheet with rollers, then conveyed very slowly through a long tunnel oven. Heat of about 300 degrees is applied directly to the dough for about 12 minutes as it moves through the several-hundred-foot-long oven. The dough rises during the course of baking. Prior to cooling, the final product is cut into the designated kibble shape.
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