Freezing food?

[firebird96ta]

I was wondering about freezing portions of Bunn's veggies, and if that would be harmful in any way. He's an 'only bun' at the moment and with a varied diet, I worry that some of the veggies could go bad/go to wastebefore we get through them. Besides, it would be easier to buy a lot of the things like carrots, pea pods, green peppers, celery, broccoli leaves/stems, things like that in larger amounts and then freeze them (seperately on a cookie sheet so they don't stick together). Then I could portion them into bags and set a couple day's worth of feedings to thaw in the fridge at a time. Can you think of any downsides to this? Any feedback/advice is appreciated.

And yes, I could get a second bun both to keep him company and go through the fresh veggies faster but I want to wait a few months and make sure I have everything down pat before I add another one to the family.


Edited to add: I apologize, I must have missed that there was a'Nutrition' section earlier. Mods, feel free to move this thread. Thanks!

 

[Hazel-Mom]

I don't think you can freeze lettuces and other "salad greens" (including dandelions), they just go limp and gooy.
Any vegetables that are going to be frozen, need to be "blanched" first (cooked for 1 to 4 minutes). They all tend to be a bit "soggy" when thawed.

You could try freezing carrots, maybe cabbage, kale, but after you thaw them they won't be like "fresh" greens, because they will be partially cooked.

That works fine for humans, of course, especially if you cook them, but I don't know whether your bunnies will be happy with them.

If you Google for "freezing vegetables" I'm sure you can find several sites with tips and "how-to's"

 

[firebird96ta]

Yeah I don't think the lettuces would work, either. Can I ask why I would have to blanch the veggies? Just curious.

 

[Hazel-Mom]

According to what I have read, it's to stop certain enzymes in the vegetables, so they won't keep on "decaying".
If you don't blanch them, they'd become tough and loose their flavour and nutrition, even when frozen. Not as fast as fresh perhaps, but fairly fast.

 

[Pet_Bunny]

The only thing I froze was canned pumpkin. I would spoon it into ice trays and freeze them until solid, then pop them out into a plastic bag for storage. One cube is a good portion size for my bunnies.

 

[firebird96ta]

That makes sense. Thanks, Hazel-mom.

Pet_Bunny, do you thaw it before giving it to your bunnies?