Keep raw dog food in the freezer and thaw a couple of days’ worth at a time in the fridge, never on the bench. Once it’s thawed, keep it covered and use it within two to three days.
Raw food is easy to live with once you have a routine. Here’s how to handle an order from the moment it arrives: where it goes, how long each product takes to thaw, how long it keeps, and what to do when you forget to take it out.
When your order arrives
Your order arrives chilled, so the first job is to get it into the freezer as soon as you can, keeping out whatever you plan to use in the next couple of days.
Our mixes and minces, like Beef Mince and Active Dog Mix, are cut into blocks before they’re packed, so you can take out what you need without thawing a whole carton. The blocks are cut by hand, so they vary a little in size. Most come in at about 500 g.
Raw bones are packed in together and frozen, rather than cut into blocks. Most people let the box soften a little, pull the bones apart and bag them up, so they can take out a piece or two at a time. Rolls come ten to a carton, 1.8 kg each, and go in the freezer as they are.
Freezer space
We settled on standard carton sizes so they stack neatly in a freezer. As a guide:
- Mixes and minces: 10 kg in a carton about 36 × 27 × 18 cm
- Bones: 10 kg in a carton about 36 × 27 × 18 cm
- Rolls: ten 1.8 kg rolls in an 18 kg carton
If you feed a big dog or more than one, a small chest freezer in the garage makes bulk buying much easier. And if you’re on a subscription and the freezer is still well stocked, you can change or pause your subscription in My Account before the weekly cut-off.
A 10 kg carton takes up about 17.5 litres. Chest freezers are sold by litres, so on paper a 100 litre chest freezer holds about five cartons, and a bit less in practice once you leave room to get things out. If the carton doesn’t fit a kitchen freezer drawer whole, the blocks can come out and stack loose or go into freezer bags.
Thawing
- Take out two to three days’ worth of food.
- Put it in a covered container in the fridge, ideally the night before you need it.
- Feed from the fridge, and take out the next lot when you’re down to the last day.
The fridge keeps the food cold the whole time it thaws. On the bench, the outside of a block sits warm while the middle is still frozen, which gives bacteria time to grow. Food Standards Scotland’s raw pet food advice says the same: defrost it in the fridge, in a sealed container at the bottom.
Don’t microwave or cook raw dog food to thaw it. Some products, like our Chicken Mince, have bone minced through them, and cooked bone goes brittle.
How long each product takes to thaw
| Product | In the fridge | Tip |
|---|---|---|
| A block of mince or mix (about 500 g) | Overnight | Move it down after dinner, ready for the next day |
| Two or three blocks together | Overnight to a day | Spread them out in the container rather than stacking them |
| A raw bone or two | Overnight | Bag bones in small lots so you only take out what you need |
| A 1.8 kg roll | About a day | Start the next roll a day or so before the container runs out |
Fridges vary, so check the first few times and adjust. A colder fridge or a full shelf takes a little longer.
Forgot to take it out? Defrosting raw dog food quickly
It happens to everyone. The quick way that’s still safe is cold water:
- Put the frozen portion in a sealed, leak-proof bag.
- Sit it in a sink or bowl of cold water, never warm or hot.
- Change the water every 30 minutes.
- Feed it as soon as it has thawed, rather than putting it back in the freezer.
Smaller portions thaw much faster than a whole block, so break off what the next meal needs if you can. In the meantime, a meal from the fridge stash, a raw bone that’s already thawed or a raw egg will tide your dog over.
Storing thawed food
An airtight container stops it staining or flavouring the rest of the fridge. Keep it on the bottom shelf, away from food for people, and use it within two to three days. Wash the container between batches. Rotating between two makes that easy, because one is always clean.
With a small dog or a cat, a block goes further than two or three days. Thaw it in the fridge, keep what you’ll use in the next two to three days, and pop the rest straight back in the freezer. Raw meat thawed in the fridge can be refrozen.
Rolls work the same way. Thaw a whole roll in the fridge, empty it into a sealed container, and scoop out each meal with a cup or a large spoon. Keep two to three days’ worth in the fridge and freeze the rest in smaller tubs or bags.
Serving
Most dogs eat straight from the fridge. If yours prefers it a little warmer, let the portion sit for 10 to 15 minutes first. Pick up anything left in the bowl after the meal rather than leaving it out.
Wash the bowl after each meal, and wash your hands and any surfaces the raw food touched, as you would with any raw meat.
A weekly routine
| When | What to do |
|---|---|
| Delivery day | Freezer straight away; keep the next couple of days’ food in the fridge. Bag up bones. |
| Every second evening | Move the next two to three days’ worth from the freezer to the fridge. |
| Each meal | Serve from the container, pick up the bowl after, wash up. |
| When the container’s empty | Wash it and swap to the clean one. |
| Before your next order | Check the freezer, and change or pause your subscription in My Account if there’s plenty left. |
Common questions
Can I keep it in the carton in the freezer?
Yes. The food comes in a liner inside the carton, and both go straight in the freezer. Take blocks out as you need them, and use the oldest cartons first.
What if I forget to thaw it?
Move a portion into the fridge straight away and feed later, once it has softened. Smaller pieces thaw faster. Avoid the bench and the microwave.
How much should I take out at a time?
That depends on how much your dog eats. Our guide to how much raw food to feed has daily amounts by weight, and the calculator works it out for your dog. To split a whole carton into daily portions, see our guide to portioning raw dog food.
How long can raw dog food stay in the fridge?
Once thawed, two to three days, covered, on the bottom shelf. Our guide to telling if raw food has gone off covers the signs to look for.
Can I refreeze raw dog food?
Yes, if it thawed in the fridge. Food thawed in cold water gets fed straight away. A bowl that’s been down 10 to 15 minutes can go back in the fridge, covered, but not back in the freezer; anything that’s sat out longer goes in the bin.
How long does it keep in the freezer?
Frozen solid, it keeps well for months. Use the oldest cartons first.
How do I split a carton of bones?
Bones are packed in together and frozen, so let the box soften a little in the fridge, pull the bones apart and bag them up. An old screwdriver helps with stubborn ones.
More guides
How to portion raw dog food from your first 10 kg box
What's in the box, how to split blocks, bones and rolls into meals, how long a box lasts by dog size, and fitting it in the freezer.
How to tell if raw dog food has gone off
The smell, texture and timing signs to trust, and the things that look worse than they are.
Weaning puppies onto raw food: a guide for breeders
Week-by-week weaning onto raw food for breeders: texture, meals, amounts per puppy, feeding mum and how many boxes a litter goes through.