- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
You're welcome! xThis looks great, lots of nice stuff for Maisy to try on here, I will definitely try them - although far too much tripe in my opinion!
Thank you Helen.
How much raw to feed?
- Thread starter Shaz82
- Start date
Sounds like you’re getting to try out quite a variety—well, Maisy is!! Sorry about about the tripe vomit!!!! Eew!
Curious to know why the chicken breasts are not for human consumption?
Snowie’s food comes in 1kg frozen bags. I defrost and then repackage into meal sized portions and freeze again. I know many people defrost and freeze again. I am only using human-grade meat tho.
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
I read somewhere that as long as you defrost in a 'fridge that you can then refreeze.
I wouldn't personally with chicken but would prefer cooking then refreezing. Not sure what the evidence was.
I wouldn't personally with chicken but would prefer cooking then refreezing. Not sure what the evidence was.
- Location
- Andorra and Spain
I frequently defrost and refreeze. Not killed me yet. Very scientific, I’m sure you’ll agree 
- Location
- Argyll & Bute, Scotland
I frequently defrost and refreeze. Not killed me yet. Very scientific, I’m sure you’ll agree
Never x
- Location
- Essex, U.K.
The chicken for pets is from packaging that wasn't sealed properly with enough gas, or something like that, the shrinkwrapping has not been done properly so the butcher gets a refund from the supplier and sells the meat for pets. I thought it was because it had been dropped on the floor or something but it isn't as simple as that.
In school (a couple of years ago
) we were taught NEVER defrost something and freeze it again, unless it has been cooked first. But a lot of the things you buy from supermarkets and butchers has already been frozen and thawed before they are on the shelf, so who knows what is best.I used to use human-grade chicken breasts for Maisy but the pet meat is so much cheaper, just a few pound for a huge bag. The butcher made me promise not to eat it myself! She is getting very spoilt with all this choice.
I would avoid that cheap chicken for two reasons:
1. It sounds like the chicken was packed in a "modified atmosphere pack", which can triple the shelf-life of raw chicken. A "normal" shelf life is kill+5 days (before it starts to go off). If the gas has leaked out of the pack, it means the bacterial load could have increased to unpleasant levels. It also means other things could have got in to the bag, through the hole.
2. The butcher has already received a refund from the supplier for the poorly-packed chicken. The refund agreement probably includes some small print that the faulty product must be disposed of and not sold. But whatever the legal text, this butcher is trying to profit here with chicken that an ethical person would have thrown away. In my eyes, that would make him shifty and untrustworthy. Who would want to trust such a person and can you be sure he wouldn't act unethically with the other meat products he sells his customers?
Jacqui-S
Moderator
- Location
- Fife, Scotland
I get what you are saying @Snowy
I do however take the approach of "If it looks okay, smells okay, (and tastes okay), then its okay to eat" when it comes to food generally.
There are lots of rules in this world which are there for Health and Safety purposes which stretch real life a bit.
It's worthwhile for sure thinking about safety and the ethics here, but overall I would encourage common sense to prevail in such situations.
I do however take the approach of "If it looks okay, smells okay, (and tastes okay), then its okay to eat" when it comes to food generally.
There are lots of rules in this world which are there for Health and Safety purposes which stretch real life a bit.
It's worthwhile for sure thinking about safety and the ethics here, but overall I would encourage common sense to prevail in such situations.
- Location
- Wellington, NZ
I hate seeing meat go to waste - an animal died for that - so if it's good enough for a dog to eat then I'm all for it.
- Location
- Canberra, Australia
If you’re worried about the chicken breasts then cooking them will eliminate any problem. With boneless meat there’s no advantage to feeding it raw anyway (as no bones you need to keep raw) and cooking it properly will kill off any bacteria.
- Location
- Essex, U.K.
Yes I would think it does, but that does not bother me. I am glad he is finding a use for it and I would not expect him to give it away when he has had to re-pack it, and freeze it and spend time on admin with the supplier etc. And for a couple of pound for 5kilos I do not begrudge him that, he is doing me a favour plus he is a friend of mine.
It is not that there is a hole in the packaging but that the packaging has not passed the standards set for humans, in this case I believe from his explanation that not enough vacuum was used to shrink-wrap the product therefore letting in too much air in the packaging. But whatever the reason the meat is frozen afterwards so would that not kill any bacteria? To be honest, I am more worried about Maisy eating the dead frogs she keeps finding at the moment, or horse poo.
I can see your reasoning @Snowy but don't worry he is not a shifty butcher (unless he has some of the 'special stuff' under the counter
)
Last edited by a moderator:
That's a pretty good approach, works 99,9% of the time
Fully agree, and in addition you have to suffer that insurance company-driven, health and safety, risk assessment paranoia that we just don't see here. I remember visiting a trade show in the UK a couple of years ago, and one of the guys was serving cups of instant coffee granules with hot water from a boiler. Suddenly a guy with a clipboard arrived, threatening to close the stand down because the "server" didn't have a food hygiene certificate.
Additional info: Cook boneless chicken to 80°C and bone-in to 85°C. Measure in the thickest part of the meat. If you don't own a digital thermometer, get one from Aliexpress or ebay for about 7€ delivered. Every kitchen should have one.
I'm pretty envious that you have a "real butcher"
Me too. We've made a big effort over the last 5 years, and have only needed to throw away a couple of carrots that went black.
But if there is ever even a slight chance that food could be contaminated, I would dispose of it straight away. I qualified as a food scientist a long time ago, so perhaps am overly careful what I put in my/our mouths.
- Location
- Buckinghamshire UK
I read recently that it is now considered perfectly ok to defrost and refreeze meat. I've been doing it for years so I'm quite happy that my food peculiarities have now been justified.
I was listening to a food scientist on the radio talking about best before dates and sell by dates. He said those dates are only relevant to quality, not health. He said most food is healthy to eat for months, even years after those dates are reached—just that they’ll look ugly! And have a change of texture. Ie the quality aspect. But they won’t kill you if you ate them. He did mention that animal products can’t last as long ito of being healthy. But think of dairy: I ferment milk in the pantry for days (unrefrigerated) and it’s absolutely fine to drink/eat; as a ferment, it’s considered very healthy!
- Location
- Canberra, Australia
Wow, so you just stick a bottle of milk in the pantry? I guess that’s what yoghurt is, kinda...
I add a bit of kefir, which has a lot of bacteria for fermenting the milk. But apparently local bacteria gets into the milk and adds to the fermentation process. Yup, yoghurt is exactly the same. Well, proper yoghurt. What is often sold in the supermarket is thickened milk, almost like a pudding, not really fermented properly. Properly fermented yoghurt has very low lactose, which makes it very low carb, unlike supermarket yoghurt.