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Partially Cooking Raw

John Popp

Site Supporter
Just was reading about partially cooking raw food before it goes through the grinder. As I understand it's to remove the possibility of surface bacteria and only cooking the meat to 20% or less done.

My concerns have risen just thinking things through with the fragility of our older cats. Not that they aren't in good health, but when they do get sick it's no longer just a day or two before they regain their health. A bacteria incident could have far greater consequences than the benefits of feeding raw.

Anyway, just was wondering if anyone has partially cooked their raw, or if anyone has any steadfast reason they don't.
 

WitchyWoman

Admin
Staff member
The bacteria present on the surface of raw meat can be washed off prior to grinding by just rinsing the meat off under your faucet. Or you can soak it in pure (not bottled) grapefruit juice for 30min. Or you can blanch it in boiling water. FWIW I never did any of that for my girl who had IBD, thyroid cancer, & kidney disease. She lived to be 18.
 

Sunny

Loyal Servant
Freeze meat first, then thaw and serve the following day. This kills off most bacteria and if you are concerned about the bacteria left behind, give it a minute or two in boiling water. The nasty bacterias are killed in the freezer, so you are only getting less harmful bacteria in the environment.
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
Thanks for the response!

Rinsing the surface of raw meats only removes a modest amount of whatever surface bacteria may be present. Certainly better than without rinsing although when the raw food gets back to near room temperature an environment where it can take off. The Grapefruit juice sounds interesting, just not sure if it would impart flavors that would keep my sometimes finicky cats away.

Blanching might be an option and I wouldn't think a whole lot of nutrients would be lost in the boiling water. Hard to say though and perhaps requires a bit more intervention than a quick bake.

Anyway, thanks for the information to consider and I'll keep this on the back burner for my next batch of raw food.
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
Some bacteria is killed by freezing but much just lies dormant until the meat is thawed. I know this is the case with salmonella bacteria and I'm sure some others.
 

Kristine

Moderator
Just was reading about partially cooking raw food before it goes through the grinder. As I understand it's to remove the possibility of surface bacteria and only cooking the meat to 20% or less done.

My concerns have risen just thinking things through with the fragility of our older cats. Not that they aren't in good health, but when they do get sick it's no longer just a day or two before they regain their health. A bacteria incident could have far greater consequences than the benefits of feeding raw.

Anyway, just was wondering if anyone has partially cooked their raw, or if anyone has any steadfast reason they don't.
My only concern with partially cooked raw would be if there is any bone in it it could cause problems as cooked bone can splinter and injure the GI tract.
 

John Popp

Site Supporter
That's a valid concern and one to keep in mind. Not sure how much actually would get cooked in 5-10 minutes and the parry concern would be the outside layer.

Definitely not enough confidence on my end to give this a go, but definitely something I want to have figured out by spring.
 
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