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Fresh Dog Food – Benefits, Drawbacks and What to Look Out For

Which dog food is right for your dog?

In the comprehensive LuckyChef Dog Food Check, we compare the most important types of dog food and show you what to look out for when choosing the right option. In this article, you’ll learn everything you need to know about fresh dog food.

Find the complete overview of all types of dog food on the Dog Food Check homepage.

What is Fresh Dog Food?

Just like home-cooked – without the effort: Fresh dog food brings the aroma, quality and taste of a freshly prepared meal to your dog’s bowl.

So-called Fresh Menus, also known as Slow Cooked or Fresh Cooked, are prepared:

  • gently
  • at low temperatures and
  • with short cooking times.

This helps preserve vitamins, heat-sensitive nutrients and natural flavours to a large extent. To ensure a long shelf life, fresh dog food is generally deep-frozen, which means preservatives can be avoided.

Feed as fresh as home-cooked: 20% off FreshMenus

What Makes High-Quality Fresh Dog Food?

Fresh dog food should be declared as a complete food; only then does it provide everything your dog needs.

  • Water: Forms the basis of the dog’s nutritional pyramid. Without sufficient fluids, no metabolic process in the dog’s body can function properly.
  • Protein: Makes up the main component of a menu and can come from animal or plant-based sources, depending on the recipe. Protein provides the most important building blocks for muscles, organs and a strong immune system.
  • Carbohydrates: Provide moderate amounts of energy for everyday life without displacing the protein content.
  • Vegetables and fruit: Provide vitamins, minerals and dietary fibre.
  • Supplements: Oils, herbs and additional nutrients such as minerals and vitamins form the top of the nutritional pyramid and make up for what cannot be fully covered by the main ingredients in a complete food.

How Is Fresh Dog Food Made?

Different production methods are used depending on the manufacturer. The goal is always the same: to preserve as many nutrients and flavours as possible while also making the food shelf-stable.

Simply click below to find out more.

All ingredients, such as meat and vegetables, are chopped and cooked at low temperatures, often between 80 and 90°C, in steam. This reliably kills germs while keeping the ingredients juicy and tender.

The ingredients are often cooked in larger quantities and only filled into packaging later. This can result in the loss of flavours and water-soluble nutrients.

The raw ingredients are portioned, vacuum-sealed and then slowly cooked in the sealed bag in a water bath at very low temperatures, usually below 80°C.

Unlike steam cooking, the food is not transferred to another container and nothing is drained off. This helps preserve nutrients, aroma and flavour in the bag that might otherwise be lost to the cooking water or steam.

To preserve the fresh menu, it is frozen immediately.

Some manufacturers additionally use high pressure after cooking. High Pressure Processing (HPP) eliminates remaining germs without using additional heat.

HPP is an additional processing step after cooking. A strong technical pressure of several thousand bar is applied to the product, which can alter the texture of individual ingredients.

Benefits of Fresh Dog Food

Bioavailability: The low cooking temperatures help preserve important nutrients, allowing them to be efficiently absorbed by the dog.

Consistency: The ingredients retain their recognisable structure, which many dogs find appealing both visually and in terms of taste.

Acceptance: Fresh food is often enjoyed even by picky eaters. Dogs use their sense of smell to decide whether something looks appetising to them. The natural aromas and juicy consistency appeal to their natural instincts.

Just like home-cooked: Fresh menus are very similar to home-cooked dog food, without the effort of preparation and calculating the nutritional requirements. When it is a complete food, the dog receives all the nutrients it needs.

No preservatives: Shelf life is generally ensured through deep-freezing, making artificial preservatives unnecessary.

Digestibility: Cooking makes the ingredients easy to digest. This can also be beneficial for dogs with sensitive stomachs.

Practical: Deep-frozen and delivered directly to your home, the menus are always ready to serve, without additional shopping or time-consuming preparation.

Practical Experience: Veterinarian Hanna Holster on Fresh Dog Food

“For me, fresh menus are one of the most exciting forms of modern dog nutrition. They combine many of the benefits of home cooking with the convenience of ready-made food: fresh ingredients, plenty of moisture, transparent recipes and generally much less processing than traditional dry food.”

The biggest advantage is its practicality in everyday life. Not everyone wants to cut meat, cook vegetables, weigh minerals and then clean the entire kitchen afterwards. A good fresh menu takes care of all of that – provided it has been professionally developed and is labelled as a complete food, covering all of your dog’s nutritional needs.

Fresh menus can also be a great option for picky eaters, dogs with sensitive stomachs or dogs with individual nutritional needs. They smell, taste and feel more like a real meal, without leaving nutrient intake to chance.

Of course, one thing is important: “Fresh” is not a protected quality claim. The key factors are the ingredients, recipe, declaration and a clean production process. But when those are right, fresh menus are much more than just a convenient compromise.

My conclusion: Fresh menus come very close to home-cooked dog food – except that someone else has done the calculating, cooking and cleaning up.

Drawbacks of Fresh Dog Food

Shelf life: Fresh dog food has a shorter shelf life than dry or wet food.

Refrigerated storage required: Fresh dog food can be kept in the refrigerator for several days, depending on the manufacturer. Unopened fresh dog food is best stored in the refrigerator or freezer.

Price: Regardless of the cooking method, many fresh dog food manufacturers focus on high-quality, fresh ingredients. The gentle production process and quality of the ingredients are reflected in the price.

What to Look Out for When Feeding Fresh Dog Food

First of all, it is important to check the declaration. It tells you whether the fresh dog food is a complete food or merely a complementary food.

With a closed declaration, ingredients are only listed generally as categories such as “meat and animal by-products” or “vegetables.”

With a semi-open or open declaration, on the other hand, you can see exactly which ingredients are included and in what quantities.

Simply click below to learn more about feeding fresh dog food correctly.

How much fresh dog food a dog needs each day depends on its weight, activity level and age. Most manufacturers provide recommended amounts on the packaging.

The amount can easily be adjusted depending on how active the dog is. The daily ration can be divided into two or more portions. This is easier on the stomach and provides a more even supply of energy throughout the day.

Je nach Hersteller muss das Futter unterschiedlich aufbewahrt werden. Meist gilt: Ungeöffnete Packungen gehören tiefgekühlt bei minus 18 Grad in den Tiefkühler. 

Zum Auftauen die Frischemenüs am besten über Nacht in den Kühlschrank legen. Geöffnete Packungen halten sich dort meist mehrere Tage. Schnelleres Auftauen klappt im Wasserbad: einfach in kaltes Wasser legen, bis es weich genug ist.

Serve fresh dog food at room temperature. This allows the aroma and flavour to develop optimally. Food that is too cold can also cause gastrointestinal discomfort.

Has your dog never had fresh food before? The best approach is to switch gradually over several days by mixing increasing amounts of the cooked menus into the usual food. This gives your dog’s digestive tract time to adjust to the new consistency and changed composition.

If your dog is sensitive, you can extend the transition period and increase the new proportion more slowly. You can find out more about switching your dog’s food here.

FAQ Fresh Dog Food

Here we answer important questions about fresh dog food.

Is there something missing? Then feel free to contact our editorial team!

redaktion@luckychef.com

Häufige Fragen zu Frischfutter für Hunde

Frischfutter ist für alle Hunde geeignet – ob Welpe, ausgewachsen oder Senior. Viele Hunde schätzen das frische Aroma und die natürliche Textur. Hunde mit empfindlicher Verdauung profitieren von der schonenden Garung. Frischfutter ist außerdem eine praktische Alternative für Hundehalter, die gerne selbst kochen, es aber zeitlich nicht immer schaffen.

Das kommt drauf an. Bei hochwertigem Frischfutter werden die Zutaten mit ernährungsphysiologischen Zusätzen so abgestimmt, dass der komplette Nährstoffbedarf eines Hundes gedeckt wird. Ein Blick auf die Deklaration schafft Klarheit, ob es sich um ein Allein- oder nur um ein Ergänzungsfuttermittel handelt.
Ja. Wenn du darauf achtest, dass es sich bei dem Frischfutter um ein Alleinfuttermittel handelt. Die Angabe dazu findest du auf der Verpackung.
Da Frischfutter grundsätzlich hochwertiger ist und aufwendiger hergestellt wird, lässt es sich kaum zum Discounterpreis anbieten. Wer sparen möchte, profitiert von Abo-Modellen oder größeren Gebinden.
In der Regel mehrere Tage. Die Haltbarkeit kann je nach Hersteller variieren, achte auf die Empfehlungen auf der Verpackung 

Frisches Hundefutter selbst ist nicht die Ursache einer Bauchspeicheldrüsenentzündung. Entscheidend ist der Fettgehalt der Mahlzeit. 

Bei Hunden mit bekannter Pankreatitis oder erhöhtem Risiko sollte die Fütterung immer mit dem Tierarzt abgeklärt werden – unabhängig davon, ob Trocken-, Nass- oder Frischfutter gefüttert wird.

Overview of Dog Food Types

Fresh Dog Food is one of many options for your dog’s bowl. If you want to get a complete overview of all types of dog food, take a look at our comprehensive Dog Food Check.

  • In our Dog Food Check on dry food for dogs, for example, we explain what types of dry food are available and what you should look out for when feeding your dog.
  • What exactly makes sensitive dog food special? You’ll find out in our Dog Food Check on sensitive types of dog food.
  • We explain what a natural, raw diet for your dog can look like in our Dog Food Check on BARF for dogs.
  • If you want to know how you can feed your dog a fresh and natural diet without cooking yourself, take a look at our Dog Food Check on fresh dog food.