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11/20/2017, 05:48 PM | #1 |
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DIY Food - Freezing - Nutritional decay over time
Hi all,
Q) If you freeze DIY food mix (shellfish,squid etc) - at the point of freezing it's at 100% of it's nutritional/vitamin value. As it sits - frozen - what is the decay curve to 0% nutritional value? |
11/20/2017, 05:53 PM | #2 |
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Although there are many variables, I would treat it just like you would human food.
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11/20/2017, 11:17 PM | #3 |
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If frozen quickly, frozen food retains almost all nutrients. An example is frozen vegetables you buy at the market; they are frozen so quickly the nutrition is basically the same as fresh vegetables.
If you keep the food frozen solid, it will retain nutrients. The secret is quick freezing and making darn sure it is sealed well. Do not let food get freezer burn. I store everything in very thick ml. fish bags from Angels Plus. As long as its frozen it will stay viable. I use the same technique for vegetables from my garden; We eat two and three-year-old frozen corn which tastes like it was harvested yesterday. While I had my aquarium service, I made all food for my salt water customers. I would not let them used processed food for FOR SALT WATER FISH. Many times I have seen frozen food at LFS which had obviously been thawed and refrozen. It was a pain in the rear to make my own, but it paid off in the long run. I never saw disease related to lack of nutrients or spoiled food, the fish looked good, and I knew all food was fresh and never thawed and refrozen. I used squid-based (whole squid) frozen mash with spirulina, blue algae and nori for veggies and clams, scallops, fish oil etc. for protein (and enzymes, which heat destroys). I used to buy fish with HLLE at a discount from the LFS, feed them my food for a few weeks, and take them to customers when they healed. |
11/20/2017, 11:38 PM | #4 | |
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11/21/2017, 12:04 AM | #5 | |
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11/21/2017, 01:07 AM | #6 | |
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I always boil the frozen seafood mix that I get from Asian stores (cuttlefish,squid,clams,shrimp,muscles in a bag). Then put in food processor, then freeze. I guess fresh is the only way to go? Where do I get blue algae and fish oil? Last edited by Coffeeinbed; 11/21/2017 at 01:17 AM. |
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11/21/2017, 06:01 AM | #7 |
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I lifted this off the site that can't be mentioned. Just wondering if adding preservatives might be good practice.
Citric acid (to acidify-- most bacteria we are worried about do not reproduce under a pH of 4.5-- and as an antioxidant): .5% by weight Ascorbic acid (vitamine C, for stability): .5% I use pills and grind them because it is cheap and easy to measure. Calcium Proprionate (Mold inhibiter): .1% (may want to cut this in half or more) Sorbic Acid (mold, yeast, fungi): .1% (may want to cut thins in half or more)
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11/21/2017, 09:16 PM | #8 |
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11/21/2017, 09:38 PM | #9 | |
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• Heat is the enemy of nutrients. I used to chew out my freshwater customers for keeping pelleted/flaked fish food on top of the aquarium lights. Heat destroys nutrients - the fish can starve with a full belly! • In the "wild," ALL food is raw. • As long as the food has never been thawed, you don't have to worry about bacteria. It can't grow while frozen. And, actually, it's not the bacteria which causes the problems, but the waste products from the bacteria. That's what causes food poisoning in people - bacteria poop. • I've used UNPROCESSED and RAW fish foods for decades with great success. A big reason we (humans) have health issues is because of processed food. Our dogs and cats don't live as long as they should because we feed processed food - there's currently a strong movement towards feeding raw meats to dogs and cats. Canned (processed) reptile food is known to cause fatal complications. Processed food is bad food. Show me a professional bodybuilder who eats pizza and hot dogs. • When you add preservatives to ANY FOOD, you are making processed food. Preservatives are a very bad idea. The only good preservative is freezing (freeze drying is a close second.). • Any decent home freezer unit freezes food quickly enough to prevent bacteria production. Just wrap it well and pop it in the freezer - no need for liquid nitrogen or anything fancy. • You can buy spirulina, blue algae, garlic and many other wonderful foods at any good health food store. Just open the capsules, and pour the contents in the blender with the rest of the mash. No need to add vitamins - the nutrients are already there. BTW - I quit using Selcon because I found fish oils at the health food store which were much more nutritious and a fraction of the price. We've been brain washed into believing processed food is acceptable, whether it's for our us, our children or our pets. Not so. Even when I was a preteen, I spent hours with a home-made net (Mom's worn out pantyhose and a bent clothed hanger) in the woods collecting daphnia, mosquito larvae and what-have you for my fish. I'm now in my 60's and I still use raw food every chance I get. |
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11/22/2017, 03:40 AM | #10 | |
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You mentioned earlier that you had a special formula for HLLE recovery. Do you have the ingredients? Also, do you use binders or thickening gels such as Pectin since the mash is soupy and the algae is in powder form.... |
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11/22/2017, 04:50 PM | #11 | |
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I used no binders. The powdered algae stuck to the gooey seafood. The squid turned green when dusted with spirulina. I recommend BRIEFLY placing this food in a net and running water over this stuff to get some of the liquids off, especially if you have invertebrates. I usually had to turn off the skimmer for 30 minutes or so, or it would foam like crazy. Of course, with FOWLER tanks it won't matter. Fish get huge this way. I eventually took the fish from my FOWLER to a LFS, and the owner about had a cow over how large and beefy they were. You sure don't need to go through the trouble I went through. You can buy a can of oysters, freeze 'em and chop them up, live black mussels, or simply chop up frozen New Zealand squid (the kid at the store didn't know what I was talking about until I told him a wanted calamari.... ). The point is, any raw seafood beats dry food. |
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