Best way to store and warm up raw food?

[mschauer]

...which is why we recommend using warm, or even cold water to defrost and warm the food a bit, not hot.

You should be careful in your use of "we" unless you identify the group you are speaking for. Otherwise you give the appearance of speaking for everyone which of course you do not.

Quote:

Though you may be careful about the amount of time you are warming the food in the microwave, it is generally not a recommended way to warm raw. If you feel comfortable with how your doing it, where it is not going to accidentally get too cooked, that's ok for YOU. Any heating method has the potential of killing some of the nutrients and enzymes in raw, which is why we recommend using warm, or even cold water to defrost and warm the food a bit, not hot.

Any time a microwave is used to warm food, you run the risk of cooking it. Every microwave is different, even a few seconds can make a difference of just a tad too much and there by killing some of the nutrients and enzymes we're trying so hard to give our cats. Bones run the risk of being cooked if the raw contains bones, as many grounds do. Some ground raw with bones have the bones ground small enough where splintering may not be a concern, but cooked bones splinter and can cause big issues when a cat eats them. Because of all these factors, microwaving is discouraged as a "to be safe" don't do. 

 You will not find it recommended anywhere, where feeding raw is discussed.

I'm aware there are some who believe that heating food in a microwave does serious damage to the food but that is hardly a universal belief. The nutritional value of food is reduced when food is heated to high temperatures and the longer the heating time the greater the reduction. But for just warming purposes the food is in the microwave for just a few seconds. Personally I am completely confident that microwaving raw cat food for such a short period of time does little if any meaningful harm to the nutritional value of the food. I know from personal experience that even very small bits of bone do not come any where near to being cooked in that period of time.

As for accidentally overheating that is simple to avoid by using the timer on the microwave. 

 

[katluver4life]

Yes, sorry for using the "we". It's just the general consensus, from all the raw food feeding research I have done, is that microwaving is not recommended, and actually say do not.

 

[mschauer]

The general consensus of the raw feeding community can only be determined by polling the entire community. I certainly have never been asked to participate in such a poll.

I think what you really mean is that among the tiny subset of raw feeders outspoken enough to post an opinion on the matter in an online forum the consensus is that raw food shouldn't be warmed in a microwave oven. 

 

[katluver4life]

No, what I meant is, from what I have read about raw feeding on sites meant to teach about raw feeding, such as rawfedcats.org, onlynaturalpet.com, fnae.org and a few others. So this is where I based my information on.

Sorry for any confusion this has caused anyone.

 

[ldg]

I was wondering about the onlynaturalpet.com info (being a sales site). This is the link: http://www.onlynaturalpet.com/knowledgebase/knowledgebasedetail.aspx?articleid=5 and the information:

Do not microwave raw food as the live enzymes are damaged and bones will harden even in just 30 seconds of microwaving.

I think we need to distinguish between warming up raw food for dogs versus for cats. The portion sizes for cats are so much smaller than for dogs, reheating in a microwave is typically 7-8 seconds. Portion sizes for dogs are much larger, so I can see why raw food shouldn't be reheated in a microwave, as with the larger portion sizes, I guess you could run the risk of cooking the bones.

I looked up the rawfedcats reference. http://www.rawfedcats.org/practicalguide.htm

Some cats don’t take well to raw food that’s cold, straight from the refrigerator, but instead prefer it to be closer to ‘mouse body temperature.’ This is easily done by simply putting the meat in a plastic baggie, and either running it under a warm faucet, or soaking it in a bowl of warm water for a few minutes. Never microwave your cat's raw food to warm it, as microwaving changes the molecular structure of food, thereby altering its nutritional value, and can also turn raw bones into cooked bones, which should never be fed to your cat.

Actually, cooking changes the physical and chemical structure of food. And insofar as cooking goes, microwaves may be preferred: http://thechart.blogs.cnn.com/2010/07/01/does-microwave-cooking-rob-food-of-nutrients/

Microwave ovens cook food using oscillating electromagnetic waves, much like radio waves. The energy penetrates your food and excites the water and fat molecules, creating energy in the form of heat. The heat is fairly evenly distributed in the food cooking it quickly and evenly, as opposed to boiling, baking or steaming, which heat foods from the outside until they are cooked inside. Because microwave cooking is generally faster, fewer vitamins will be destroyed in the cooking process.

These are probably better explored in a thread exploring the best methods of cooking food for cats (for those that want to make homemade but don't want to feed raw). But as for warming raw food, it's not at all clear to me that less than 10 seconds in a microwave is any better or worse than in a baggie in warm water...