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  1. #1
    Real Retriever Moby and Barley's Mom's Avatar
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    Raw food prep...any tips on making it easier and faster??

    I make raw food for my older dog - which I feed him in the morning. I don't mind doing it - but I am wondering if there is a faster, easier way to do it. Currently I mix everything in the cuisinart and two large bowls and make individual patties. I use plastic wrap to wrap 3 patties at a time, then put them into zip lock bags for freezing. That takes forever - but allows me to defrost 3 days worth of patties at a time. Any tips? Thank you!

  2. #2
    Senior Dog
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    i buy mine, all mixed with bone, liver, tripe, from haretoday. get about $300. at one time, just feeding eli raw. for now.
    defrost , semi, a 5 lb tube, cut, weigh, wrap, and freeze, leaving out 3 days worth at a time.

    when i was feeding all raw like that it became a bit of a pita.

    but nothing compared to cooking for rex. steaming 6 lbs of cod almost made me sell my house. never mind the pulverizing and cooking of the veggies. and carbs. the cod made me gag.

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    Moby and Barley's Mom (08-22-2014)

  4. #3
    Senior Dog shellbell's Avatar
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    That sounds very organized! I feed prey model raw, and the only time I prep and bag out individual meals is if I'm going to be out of town or need someone else to feed the dogs. Otherwise I just pull things into the fridge and feed from there. Like right now I've got a pack of boneless pork from the grocery, a five lb bag of lamb hearts, tripe, chicken quarters, liver, and a few bags of ground venison from last year. That will last a few days and I'll just pull things out and feed from that, measuring and cutting as I go. I do feed three dogs, so I go through things a bit faster.

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    Moby and Barley's Mom (08-22-2014)

  6. #4
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    It takes me about three hours every two or three weeks (going to the market and buying the meat included). When I get back from the market I cut the meat into smaller peaces and put it into freezer bags (1 bag = 1 meal). I get around 20-30 bags, i.e. meals. I cook the veggies two times a week and put those into a plastic dish which goes into the refrigerator.

    So when it's dinner time, I take a bag from the freezer (which I defrost), add some veggies, and some other things like yogurt, kefir, egg, etc and dinner is served.
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    Moby and Barley's Mom (08-22-2014)

  8. #5
    Real Retriever Moby and Barley's Mom's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Berna View Post
    It takes me about three hours every two or three weeks (going to the market and buying the meat included). When I get back from the market I cut the meat into smaller peaces and put it into freezer bags (1 bag = 1 meal). I get around 20-30 bags, i.e. meals. I cook the veggies two times a week and put those into a plastic dish which goes into the refrigerator.

    So when it's dinner time, I take a bag from the freezer (which I defrost), add some veggies, and some other things like yogurt, kefir, egg, etc and dinner is served.
    Wow! You have me beat for sure! I grind all the veggies in the cuisinart, then mix with ground beef, eggs, flax seed oil, cottage cheese, carrot, apple, etc. It makes about a months worth and takes about 1 1/2 hours. I just wonder if I do not need to individually wrap them... He gets grain free kibble in the evening.

  9. #6
    House Broken Aerodogs's Avatar
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    I spend one day (about 6-8hrs) a month breaking down roughly 350-400lbs of raw food. My dogs are fed a PMR diet and while I keep many things whole for my boy (rabbit, turkey neck, large fish etc) my girls eat much less, so I find pre-packaging their meals more ideal. Plus, I travel a lot with my dogs, usually out of state at least two extended weekends, so it's nice to be able to toss a couple bagged meals in the cooler and hit the road.

    Since you make your homemade grind into patties, you can probably just use wax paper between layers, instead of individually wrapping each patty. That should save some time. I use to have to hide organ in Jordyn's tripe, so I was making her tripe patties and used wax and plastic containers I could stack and reuse (because for whatever reason the baggies that I put the tripe in always seem to be the ones that leak, lol).

  10. #7
    House Broken Lainie's Avatar
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    We use ground meat, grind our fruit & veggies in the food processor & mix everything up along with oils, supplements etc. Then we make big meat balls & put them on a parchment lined cookie sheet into the freezer to flash freeze. Once they're frozen solid, we bag them & can remove one or more at a time without them sticking together. Works great for us.

 



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