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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2014 15:52:46 GMT -5
My biggest issue since starting raw has been preserving Piper's meats so that I can access just what I need when I need it. I was wondering if you guys have more effective strategies. My container of chicken livers recently went bad in the fridge, so I think with the next container, I freeze individual livers in an ice cube tray. Otherwise, they all glom together in the container and can't get at just what I need.  With her wings, I dissect the full wings into shoulder, upper arm, and tip, and then warp each individual piece in foil before tossing them into separate bags for each part. This keeps them from glomming together, but it also means I don't worry about disinfecting everything when I take her meat out to thaw. I wrap hearts and such individually, but that is extremely time consuming and annoying. How do you guys make sure you can access hearts and other firm organs as you need them, one at a time? |
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Post by gfountain on Dec 7, 2014 16:52:57 GMT -5
Baggies.. lots and lots of baggies. When I bring home meat from the store, I portion it all into meal-size portions and bag it up. Then I take out one bag at a time. When I only had one fuzzie, I chopped everything into approximately 1 ounce chunks and put a whole day's meal into one bag. I always did an organ or heart or muscle meal with a bone-in meal. Then I had other baggies with only bone-in, in case I needed to substitute a muscle meal for bone-in. He was eating about 4 oz/day at that point, so I might have a bag w/ 2 chunks of organ and 2 chunks of bone-in.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2014 17:10:51 GMT -5
I'm with Gina, baggies. A few weeks ago I bought 280 zip lock bags at once, doesn't cost too much actually, I get the 70 bag boxes. I bag cut, weigh, bag, freeze. Liver, Kidney, Heart, etc. I bag the organs and heart into 2 oz portions, and their soup into 2-3 oz portions.
I then shoved them together in my freezer if I was running out of space, and I also bought freezer containers, rolled the bags up and put them in their, I fit 3 weeks worth of Kidney in a 5 in container that way.
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Post by ferretbrah on Dec 7, 2014 19:32:50 GMT -5
I bought about $30 worth of little rectangle zip-lock brand containers at Target.
It is a perfect size to make two different meat-balls with when using grinds at least.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2014 19:40:10 GMT -5
I have an extra freezer. So, when I get home from shopping, I portion everything out and put it into baggies. Then I bought some bins from the dollar store and this is my freezer. My husband teases me that they have more meat than we do.  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2014 20:13:05 GMT -5
Wow, so neat @poncesmom, I love it.  I was going to say about the same as everyone. We find the little & big baggies at a dollar store not far from here. (the only one that carries them), so we have tons. I just got a tub of chicken livers, bagged them all up...1 liver per bag, then put most of them back in the tub. (they wouldn't all fit) but I don't have a neat freezer like poncesmom, I have to dig to look for everything lol :christmastree: 18 more days  |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2014 23:05:13 GMT -5
when i bring meat home i portion it out in bags, enough for a week of meals. then when i need to make a week's worth of meals i chop it all up and put it in icecube trays and do 2 cubes twice a day for my 2 weasels
when its feeding time i pop out the cubes and put them in the bowl with hot water running over them for a bit while i feed everyone else, then i break up the meats by hand and drain the water and serve
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Post by Deleted on Dec 7, 2014 23:06:29 GMT -5
I have an extra freezer. So, when I get home from shopping, I portion everything out and put it into baggies. Then I bought some bins from the dollar store and this is my freezer. My husband teases me that they have more meat than we do. i have a pet freezer too. i need to label things like you do just in case i go out of town. poor hubby has no idea how to care for any of our animals lol |
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Post by racheld on Dec 8, 2014 2:03:40 GMT -5
I got little 8oz containers from a restaurant supply company close to me. I love them! I can get two days worth of food into one of them so I just pop them in the fridge to thaw as needed. So I will do one big prep day every month or two where I thaw everything I need and make up the little containers, then I can pull one at a time. Love it!
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Post by raynebc on Dec 8, 2014 16:28:00 GMT -5
I went with 8oz freezable deli containers also (Reditainer brand) and have been pretty happy with them so far. When I make batches of raw soup, I usually split it into 3 containers so I have 3-4 ounces in each. This lets me take out enough for a couple meals and keep the rest frozen. I thought the ice cube idea was interesting, but the containers are lidded so I don't have to worry so much about accidentally spilling or contaminating it.
It's also great for meat, I can buy a pound of ground meat and split it into 4 containers and stack them up in the freezer. They're just about the perfect size to fit one chicken wing. I usually just store hearts and gizzards pre-separated in a container. The hearts are pretty easy to split up, but the gizzards are a bit more of a challenge.
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Post by Deleted on Dec 9, 2014 16:07:10 GMT -5
I'm the same with the 8oz deli containers. They stack nicely and I just pop one out each night to thaw for the next day.
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 9, 2014 23:51:01 GMT -5
Yep, deli containers. There are different sizes, are dishwasher safe and you aren't constantly throwing them out. You can also label the lids and then reuse them.
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lefertmama
Junior Member
Raw Feeder
6 Fuzzies, yup gotta love Ferret Math!
Posts: 231 
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Post by lefertmama on Dec 27, 2014 22:52:42 GMT -5
I have an extra freezer. So, when I get home from shopping, I portion everything out and put it into baggies. Then I bought some bins from the dollar store and this is my freezer. My husband teases me that they have more meat than we do. HAHA My husband says the exact same thing! |
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Post by Deleted on Dec 28, 2014 23:16:20 GMT -5
You guys were so awesome, thank you so much for all your help!
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Post by bitbyter on Dec 28, 2014 23:47:23 GMT -5
Keep an eye out on Cragslist or Kijiji. Used college dorm sized freezers crop up every once and a while. They are perfectly sized if you have a smaller business.
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