Raw diet

[solona]

Does anyone travel with their cat/dog and feed him/her a raw food diet? When I had a dog, I fed her 100% raw, but the food was kept in the freezer. I want to get a dog in my van, eventually, and can't bring myself to feed him anything other than raw.

There are freeze-dried alternatives like Stella & Chewy's, I'm just not sure that's ideal for a dog long term. Maybe I can buy a small container of frozen raw whenever I make town trips to feed him that day and then feed him freeze-dried the rest of the time.

 

[Almost There]

Or you can plan out the interior and electrical of your van to include a deep freeze like I did.

I didn't do it for having raw foo diet for a dog, I did it for me so I had a ready supply of fresh meat for my own meals but, hey, you get to decide what you're freezing.

I will tell you that keeping the Whynter 65 qt unit at freezer temps takes 4 to 5 times the power that it does to keep the same size unit at fridge temps. I fully utilize 450 amp hours of battery every day and to keep them charged you'll need lots of solar and a generator. The generator is to guarantee that you will be able to keep the batteries happy - the alternative is meat that is defrosting because you're low on power.

 

[highdesertranger]

x2 on what Almost There said. a freezer is almost better than a refrigerator. if you go with both you will have all kinds of options. highdesertranger

 

[Dingfelder]

Freezing kills at least some nasty things too, which is nice. The more the better.

 

[highdesertranger]

I don't think it actually kills the nasty's, but stops them from multiplying. I could be wrong.

anybody know the answer to this.

highdesertranger

 

[solona]

I can't run a generator, nor propane, so solar is my only option and I'm not sure I want to manage all that. It also takes a lot more water to properly disinfect and clean after handling raw meat. The packaging is super stinky. Feels like a hassle.

 

[solona]

Freezing kills some nasties, for sure.

 

[highdesertranger]

"Freezing kills some nasties, for sure."

no, no it doesn't. at least according to this article by NPR,

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesal...ezing-food-doesnt-kill-e-coli-and-other-germs

highdesertranger

 

[Dingfelder]

Good to know, thanks. I've read differently previously, but time marches on.

This part:

Weidmann also wasn't surprised to hear that frozen food could harbor E. coli. "We store a lot of microbes in the lab," he says. "The easiest way is at minus 80 degrees."

... was pretty damning.

I guess that's why blanching veggies before freezing is so popular. FWIW, I once tried to store still-fresh and crispy raw asparagus without blanching. When I defrosted it, I found it was rotten.