Refrigerated Raw Keep Time.

[darg]

How long will thawed commercial raw keep in the fridge?

 

[lisahe]

A few days. I wouldn't go beyond a third day, though I usually try to use thawed raw food the day after taking it out to thaw, if possible, so freeze small amounts.

Keeping a low temperature in the refrigerator helps. We keep ours pretty cold, usually around 35. (A friend who works in the seafood business tipped me off to this some years ago and it really does seem to help keep food fresher longer.)

 

[darg]

Great. Thanks.

 

[daftcat75]

I don't trust raw thaw in the fridge more than same day use. Back in Krista's Rad Cat days, I would run a tub under cold water for 10-15 minutes--just long enough to get a carving knife into it without hurting myself. I carved the very much still frozen tub into smaller slices, weighed, and portioned those into plastic baggies and pressed those as flat as possible before sealing them up and re-freezing them. Then when it came to meal time, I fill a shallow container with hot water and press the portion with a fork or my fingers under the water. The frozen portion and the hot water do a heat exchange where the water gets cooler, the food gets warmer, and they meet somewhere in the middle. When it feels body temperature (lukewarm or slightly cooler than you like your bath water), I turn it out and serve it. It takes maybe 45 minutes to re-portion a tub and only a couple of minutes in the water bath to thaw and serve. That's why I press the portion flat before refreezing--to speed up thaw time. The only time I keep a raw portion in the fridge is if the frozen portion needed to be split into two or more meals. I write today's date on a sticker and put that on the refrigerated portion. If it's still there the next day, I toss it. Better down the sink than back up onto the carpet.

 

[daftcat75]

If your cat is anything like Krista, he'll let you know almost immediately when you fed him too old thaw.

 

[darg]

The food that I'm making at home is frozen in ice cube trays and then stored in a freezer baggie. I've been popping a couple out the night before and letting them thaw overnight. Same with the Stella and Chewy's selects. I've just been feeding one of those a day. He likes them mixed with canned but they are expensive so I'm just using them to supplement some canned. I don't think I'd have a problem with 2 days in the fridge but so far I've only been thawing what Gizmo will eat daily. I'll probably stick to that just to be safe.

Thanks

 

[lisahe]

The food that I'm making at home is frozen in ice cube trays and then stored in a freezer baggie. I've been popping a couple out the night before and letting them thaw overnight. Same with the Stella and Chewy's selects. I've just been feeding one of those a day. He likes them mixed with canned but they are expensive so I'm just using them to supplement some canned. I don't think I'd have a problem with 2 days in the fridge but so far I've only been thawing what Gizmo will eat daily. I'll probably stick to that just to be safe.

Thanks

I think the Stella and Chewy's are fine for a couple days, too. I took out too much food the other day and they looked (and smelled) totally normal two days later. We do keep our refrigerator very cold, though, so I'm sure that helps!