Frozen chop

[Pampa]

I have tried two different recipes of chop and froze one batch using containers and oatmeal to absorb moisture and the second batch I used vacuum sealed bags to freeze. Both times my bird likes the fresh chop but not the defrosted chop.
What are your experiences and remedy’s? I’m thinking of going back to chopping up fresh a couple times a week, however I was looking forward to the connivence of making large portions and freezing.

Roxy

 

[wrench13]

We make a 90 day supply of chop at a time, and portion it out and freeze it in single serving baggies. Sometimes we zap it to defrost it, sometimes we let it defrost naturally. We add a small amount of Avicake to absorb moisture after defrosting, in addition to fresh elemnts to keep the diet different and interesting. Some days ( like 1 or 2X a week) Salty gets sweet 'taters, or other favorite meals. He thrives on this diet and has for the last 3-1/2 years. He also gets breakfast of pellets + 1/2 walnut and 1 nutraberry and a lunch of small amount of fruit + fresh veggie like peas orstring beans. For some reason he loves frozen peas !

 

[Pampa]

Thank you. Fresh foods in the morning and pellets in the afternoon. She has been a good eater but never wants to eat the defrosted chop, even though she liked it when it was fresh.

 

[wrench13]

Keep experimenting. Example - Salty likes his defrosted chop much more if it is slightly warm, around 95deg F or so, use a laser thermometer to assure it is not too hot ( they are cheap on Amazon).

 

[greytness]

I'm an every morning fresh chopper. I first make my coffee to sip and then I get going chopping my 13 fids' breakfast!

I've never given my fids frozen chop. If I went to work the following day I'd prepare their fresh chop the evening before.

 

[charmedbyekkie]

I typically make a batch that should last 2-2.5 weeks. I freeze it in portions that typically last 1.5 days (3 meals).

The way I do it is:

- Watery foods get strained. I chop capsicum (bell peppers) and other potentially mushy food first, then let it sit in a strainer to drain out as I chop the drier food. So I ultimately have two bowls - the straining watery food bowl and the drier veggies bowl.

- After I've pressed out the water, I mix the two together. Then I portion them out for 3 meals each. I try to get as much air out as possible, then immediately toss them in the freezer.

- When I take a 1.5 day portion out of the freezer, I open the bag and dump in some rolled oats to absorb the water as the chop thaws.

So in my mornings, I roll out of bed and rush to feed the bird before work, which consists of:

- replacing water
- portioning out his breakfast chop for his food box
- offering bigger chunks of veggies in a big bowl (often fresh kailan and frozen butternut squash since they keep longer throughout the day)

At first Cairo was not a chop bird at all, but all he's ever known for chop is frozen chop. But we've tried it a variety of ways - warmed up, fridge temp, or room temp (he doesn't like room temp). I used to have to sprinkle oats on top, but now he likes it when they're mixed in and absorbing the water from the chop.

But I know for sure if the chop is thawed longer than 1.5 days, he doesn't like it as much.

 

[Pampa]

Thank you everyone. I will give the oatmeal a try. I did drain the cop but after mixing everything together, next time I will separate out the wetter chop from dry.
Again thank you for your replies.

 

[chris-md]

Separating the wetter fruits from drier veggies will absolutely go a long way. It did for me.

Also, don’t forget the power of top dressing. Throw some coconut oil or red palm oil on top, or some quinoa, flaxseed, or chia seed, among a ton of other options. Top dressing goes a long way in getting the beak into the bowl.

 

[EllenD]

I make a large batch of Chop every Sunday and freeze it in individual freezer-baggies, each having the right amount of Chop that I need for all the birds for he day. And then first thing in the morning I just grab one of the bags out of the freezer and put it in the fridge to thaw throughout the day, so that by the time I get home in the late-afternoon/early-evening, it's completely thawed-out and I can give them all their Chop along with something else that I make for them to go along with it while I'm cooking my own dinner, such as some scrambled-Eggs, some of the fresh-Veggies that I'm making for myself, some Oatmeal, Grits, Brown Rice/Multi-Grain Rice, etc., or a bit of what I'm eating for dinner if it's appropriate for them, or I heat-up one of the little packets of Higgin's "Worldly-Cuisines" that they all love. Then we all eat dinner together as a family, me eating my meal and them eating their thawed-out, fresh Chop along with whatever else I prepare for them...

***As far as having issues with freezing your Chop, thawing it out, and then (I'm assuming) it becoming "slimey" or "soggy" after it's thawed-out, and then them not wanting to eat it because of this (if that's the problem, as it's a common one), I've found that a lot of the time this happens because of the type of fresh-Veggies and/or fresh-Greens that you are putting in your Chop recipes...And especially if you are putting any fresh-Fruit in your Chop and then freezing it...If you are putting any fresh-Veggies or fresh-Greens in your Chop recipes that are "watery" Veggies or Greens, these will definitely cause your entire batches of Chop to become very soggy, slimey, etc. after it's thawed-out...And this will happen a lot of the time if you're putting fresh-fruit in your Chops of any kind, simply because most-all fresh-Fruit contains a ton of water in it. So if you are putting fresh-Fruit of any kind in your Chops, freezing it, and then thawing it out and having it end-up slimey or soggy, the best thing you can do (or at least try) is to not add any fresh-Fruit into your Chop recipes before you freeze them, but rather thaw-out your Chop without any Fruit in it, and just cut-up any Fruit you want to add to it fresh and at the time you are going to feed the Chop to them. Then after you thaw-out the frozen Chop just add the fresh-Fruit you just cut-up into the Chop, that way you're not thawing-out that very watery, frozen Fruit into the entire batch of Chop, making it all soggy and slimey...And the same goes for any fresh Veggies and/or Greens that you want to add to your Chops that are particularly "watery" Veggies and Greens, such as Celery, Green-Beans, Pea Pods, and then the "watery" Greens like Bok Choy/Pak Choy, ANY types of Lettuce or Cabbage, etc. Just don't add these to the Chop recipes and then freeze them, but rather thaw-out the rest of the frozen Chop and THEN add the freshly-cut/chopped-up Fruit and the more watery Veggies and Greens on the spot, right before you feed it to them...

***Also, as others mentioned above, it helps tremendously if you add small amounts of ingredients into your Chops that are "absorbant" and that will soak-up the water that drains-out of the Veggies and Greens as they thaw-out, such as plain Oatmeal, plain Grits, Quinoa, Flaxseed, Chia Seed, Hemp Seed, etc. (no Sunflower Seeds), a little bit of Wheat-Germ, a little bit of Brown Rice or any of the really delicious Multi-grain Rices (the really "fat" Rices that really look like Beans, because they are extremely healthy for them, are delicious, and really soak-up the water and keep it away from the rest of the Chop), different types of Legumes/Beans, etc.