Have you ever had astronaut ice cream? That dry, room-temperature treat offered at science centers and space camp?
Although little quite a novelty, these snacks are made with an equivalent technology wont to prepare food for spaceflight – by removing the water, the food weighs less and takes up less space.
Called freeze-drying, the method wont to create these treats is additionally wont to create freeze-dried pet food.
Many dog owners are interested in these foods and are considering making the switch to them. Read on to find out about the ins and outs of freeze-dried foods; we’ll even recommend five great options for those that plan to make the switch.
Quick Picks: Best Freeze-Dried petfood
#1 Pick: Honest Kitchen Dehydrated pet food
#2 Pick: Buckley Liberty Freeze-Dried petfood
#3 Pick: Orijen Freeze-Dried petfood
Freeze-Dried petfood Benefits: Why Do Fans Love It?
There are several benefits to feeding your pooch freeze-
dried pet food, including:
High-Quality Ingredients. Freeze-dried diets are typically comprised of a particularly impressive slate of ingredients, including muscle meat, organs and ground bones (some also include freeze-dried fruits and vegetables). Most are entirely grain- and gluten-free, and really few are made with artificial additives.
Raw Diet Alternative. Many freeze-dried feeders begin doing so as an alternative to providing a raw diet. Raw diets are often difficult and laborious to assemble and prepare, and therefore the regular handling of meat may be a serious and unnecessary risk for many families. But by employing a freeze-dried diet, raw food devotees can enjoy greater convenience and safety.
Long time period. Additionally, freeze-dried foods often have ridiculously long shelf-lives, which makes them handy to stay around for emergencies. for instance, you don’t want to run out of pet food if you discover yourself snowed certain every week or if you reside during a hurricane-prone region, during which the grocery shelves completely empty whenever a storm threatens.
Dogs Simply Adore Freeze-Dried Food. apart from everything else, most dogs find freeze-dried foods to be drool-inducingly delicious. In fact, some people use them as healthy (if somewhat high-calorie) treats.
Note that some dogs will produce much less waste after switching to a freeze-dried diet, because of the shortage of unnecessary fillers. far more of the food is converted into new tissue and energy.
What Are the Downsides to Freeze-Dried Foods?
The single greatest problem with freeze-dried foods (and dehydrated foods to a lesser extent) is their expense – every product on the market is extremely pricey in comparison to dry (cooked) kibble.
However, it's important to recollect that the majority dehydrated foods swell to three to five times their original size, once rehydrated – so don’t be thrown off by their small packaging!
Since freeze-dried pet food can get quite pricey, tons of householders find yourself using freeze-dried foods as “toppers,” by serving them with other, cheaper foods. Do note that some manufacturers discourage this type of use, so make certain to consult the feeding instructions before employing a portion of food during this manner.
What’s the Difference Between Dehydrated and Freeze-Dried Foods?
Although freeze-dried and dehydrated foods are broadly similar products and are both comprised of raw foods that have had the majority of their water removed, they are doing differently in several key ways.
Dehydrated Foods
With dehydrated foods, the water is faraway from food by simply placing the food during a low-heat environment for an extended period of your time.
This is an equivalent drying process that a lot of people use reception to form jerkies and dehydrated fruit treats. during this process, the water begins as a liquid and is becoming a gas, which then slowly diffuses from the food.
The use of warmth is noteworthy because it tends to cause the food to undergo a couple of structural changes. Whether or not this features a negative impact on the nutritional content of the food isn't yet known, but raw food devotees often consider this a crucial distinction.
Freeze-Dried Foods
By contrast, freeze-dried foods aren't heated at any point within the manufacturing process.
The freeze-drying process begins with already-frozen foods, which are then placed in large machines that lower the air pressure around the food. This causes the water to sublimate (transition from ice on to gas) and diffuse out of the food.
This means that freeze-dried foods haven't been cooked in the least – a fact many raw-food feeders greatly appreciate.
Additionally, because the food’s structure remains largely intact (aside from shrinkage), the ingredients still resemble their original shape. This makes it easy to seem at a pea, for instance, and know exactly what it'.
Freeze-Dried Foods vs Totally Raw Foods
Owners can also find themselves wondering about the difference between freeze-dried pet food and raw pet food.
Really, most freeze-dried and dehydrated foods are made with meat. However, the removal of water as a part of the freeze-drying and dehydration process makes it possible to store these foods safely without refrigeration. Bacteria require moisture, so by removing the majority of the water from the foods, they aren’t as likely to spoil.
So, while freeze-dried raw and dehydrated raw dog foods often resemble typical dog foods (some are a touch more sort of a bag of uncooked oatmeal), truly raw petfood requires packaging just like the raw meats you purchase at the grocery – they’re essentially an equivalent thing.
You can’t store completely raw petfood without refrigeration, and even with refrigeration, these sorts of raw foods are only getting to remain safe for a finite period of your time. So, there aren’t very many commercially produced raw (with moisture) foods on the market, and people that are available are going to be sold within the refrigerated section of your local pet store.
Note that you’ll get to practice very sound hygiene whenever you're handling raw meats. take care to avoid cross-contamination and always wash your hands with soap and water once you’re finished.
What to seem for during a Good Freeze-Dried Food
There variety of characteristics that you ought to look in any petfood freeze-dried or otherwise. Additionally, there are a couple of additional considerations to stay in mind when contemplating making a switch.
The best freeze-dried foods feature ingredients that contain many omega fatty acids. a number of the foremost common ingredients utilized in this capacity include salmon and flaxseed, also as assorted vegetable fats, fish meal,s and oils.
Most freeze-dried foods are comprised primarily of meats and minerals, but many of the absolute best recipes also include antioxidant- and fiber-rich fruits and vegetables. a number of the foremost common examples include cranberries, blackberries, blueberries, spinach, parsley, and carrots.
Although it's rarely a drag when seeking out freeze-dried foods, confirm that you simply avoid any that contain artificial colors, flavors or additives. These sorts of ingredients not only invalidate much of the reasoning behind feeding raw food, but they will also trigger food allergies too.
Whenever possible, select foods made within the USA, Canada, New Zealand, Australia or Western Europe. These countries maintain stricter internal control standards and regulations, which helps ensure your dog’s food will arrive untainted by dangerous or unhealthy pollutants or unidentified ingredients.
Avoid low-quality, economy products just so as to save lots of a couple of bucks. Price is usually a crucial consideration when buying expensive, high-quality pet food, and it makes perfect sense to save lots of a couple of bucks once you can. However, going cheapest often dangerous with freeze-fried foods; one-way manufacturers can attempt to lower costs is through cheaper packaging – if the packaging doesn't remain airtight, moisture can seep in, resulting in bacterial growth.
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