Green and/or non plastic methods of refreezing portions of raw?

[korina]

Edit: this assumes at the least ground raw, and in my case commercial raw.

I like the idea of getting burgerstyle or chubs of raw, however you got to defrost, chop it up into portions then refreeze.

The most popular is to place portion in ziplock.

Although i have plenty of ziplock at home, I wouldn’t feel right going through bags like that and filling landfills for 1000 years, plus they are expensive.

I have thought of a few methods to refreeze portions that either more green, or don’t include plastic.

Exposed- just have them on a metal cookie tray and slide it in the freezer(think making chocolate chip cookies). People might think it will frost up, I can tell you my mother(greek) made her trays of spinach and cheese pies and froze on tray for the party next month. They were always delicious.

Wax Paper- It doesn’t fold easy, but I could see dropping the food into it.

Plastic Saran wrap- same idea, its cheap and very malleable. I would plop it in, then twist at the top.

Ice cube tray- read that on hare today, maybe i could find one that makes bigger cubes.

Also, if you have read some of my other posts, my new kitties (barely had 24 hours) were weaned from their mom onto a diet of friskies and a "ping pong ball" size of raw bravo beef blend.

Check this extra sized ice tray:
I did some googling, found the volume of a ping pong ball (2.3 tbsp) and the bravo patties are 8 oz which is 16 tbsp (therefor 8 servings).

Any thoughts on 2 tbsp per meal?

 

[ldg]

I'm not sure about volume. :dk: Most raw feeders use weight, and kittens usually eat 8-10 oz a day, in a number of meals. Though the idea is to basically feed them as much as they want while they're growing. :rub:

As to dethawing, no reason not to dethaw entire patties or whatever at one time. They'll be good for several days in the fridge. What about pyrex storage containers? They have plastic lids, but are glass otherwise.

 

[Willowy]

What about pyrex storage containers? They have plastic lids, but are glass otherwise.

Those are what I use. And glass can be completely cleaned/disinfected so I can also use them for people food. Or you could use reuseable plastic containers. . .still plastic but at least you're not throwing them away all the time. I don't think I would use Saran Wrap. . .I'm pretty sure it's not BPA free, although they might have changed that. Not very different from using ziploc bags anyway. Wax paper would probably need to be taped or something to hold it closed.

But, yeah, if you're using 8 oz patties, just thaw them in the fridge; you'll use them up before they go bad. If you start buying larger chubs, you'll need to figure out how to portion it though.

 

[carolina]

Yeah..... Between the plastic bags and the paper towels.... Feeding raw is not that green.
What about recycling?

 

[carmina piranha]

Is reusable plastic all right with you?  I can't tell.

We use the Glad brand semi-disposable containers, 25-ounce, entree style.  When the container gets emptied, we put it and the lid on the floor, where the kitties scour it clean.  We have to take it away before they chew on it, though--they do ruin some of these.  Between the tongue-scouring, and pausing the dishwasher to let the food microbits soften, (or running a rinse cycle), the containers come out perfectly clean 90% of the time.

 

[wolcar]

I feel the same way about the ziploc baggies. I've been cleaning them and recycling them as I do the plastic store bags you get. I take them to the supermarket when I go.  I also bought many 4 oz plastic containers that I've been reusing.  Is this not good? 

 

[otto]

I was thinking of using the Pyrex food containers (the glass ones) but I really don't have room in my freezer for those. I'm not happy about the use of plastic baggies either, but other than the Pyrex, I haven't come up with another solution.

I do freeze them all in one ounce servings in ice cube trays, then when they are frozen put them all (of one protein I mean) in one freezer bag now, so that has cut down somewhat.

 

[avalyn]

I have a pretty small freezer, so as you can imagine, stocking up raw food for my 7 kitties can be a challenge! I do use reusable plastic containers though, and they're stackable, so they pretty much take up the same amount of space as would Ziploc bags - I can't bear using the latter because it's terribly wasteful to use so many and toss them all out after each use. 

 

[carolina]

I have a pretty small freezer, so as you can imagine, stocking up raw food for my 7 kitties can be a challenge! I do use reusable plastic containers though, and they're stackable, so they pretty much take up the same amount of space as would Ziploc bags - I can't bear using the latter because it's terribly wasteful to use so many and toss them all out after each use. 

If you use the ones with the zipper on the top - they are the ones I use.... You can wash them and reuse it.... They are actually pretty strong. Some members wash, dry and reuse.

 

[feralvr]

I'm not sure about volume. :dk: Most raw feeders use weight, and kittens usually eat 8-10 oz a day, in a number of meals. Though the idea is to basically feed them as much as they want while they're growing. :rub:
As to dethawing, no reason not to dethaw entire patties or whatever at one time. They'll be good for several days in the fridge. What about pyrex storage containers? They have plastic lids, but are glass otherwise.

I thaw whole 8 oz. patties at one time and put in the Pyrex glass containers.

Yeah..... Between the plastic bags and the paper towels.... Feeding raw is not that green.
What about recycling?

:lol3: TONS of paper towels and plastic bags. I rinse and recycle them.