# Frozen Chicken



## Newfdad (Sep 6, 2010)

This is a question for those of you who have been there and done that. Today I bought 40# of chicken backs and 40# of split chicken breasts from a local meat distributor. Problem is, both boxes are just one huge block of frozen chicken. Is there a trick to splitting up this icy chicken chunk without defrosting the whole thing? This is a problem that I hadn't anticipated, but it is kind of funny.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Well, you could take a saw to it but that could get messy! LOL.... :tongue:

What I do when I order in bulk like that is thaw the meat-burgs in GIANT rubbermaid containers. This usually takes a few days at room temp. As the meat thaws on the outside, I take it off and repackage it up in 12 quart containers. These containers hold between 10-15 pounds of meat which lasts my five big dogs a day or two. You can do it this way or come up with your own routine. We have to order in bulk to make it affordable, some people don't want to deal with this amount of work and just buy in smaller quantities at the grocery store every week. You just have to figure what works for your routine and family! 

Good luck :wink:


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## whiteleo (Sep 7, 2008)

No way to get around it! You pretty much have to thaw the whole thing out and package it how you want as Natalie said, I use Gallon freezer bags and package it that way. As the box defrosts though you can pick at it and bag the few items you can get loose. Good Luck!


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## RawFedDogs (Jun 16, 2008)

It's funny. When I buy chicken parts, they are never frozen. Always cold but never frozen. Parts of other animals are always frozen. I can bring home chicken parts and immediately bag them into meal size ziplocks. Other animal parts I have to let thaw and in the winter it can take 4 or 5 days out in the garage.


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## magicre (Apr 7, 2010)

i do what danemama does....when i'm buying frozen cases and they're encased in ice, they go into bagged trash cans, although i think they are sterlite, since i'm too cheap to buy rubber maid for this purpose.

as they defrost, i separate and bag...

i've got a 45 lb. case of venison hearts that defrosted in the garage....and then were bagged and refrozen..


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## Ania's Mommy (Feb 8, 2009)

If you want to speed up the thawing process, cover the chicken in cold water while they are in their thawing receptacle (ie: Rubbermade container). This should cut the thaw time down a lot.


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## eternalstudent (Jul 22, 2010)

Once you get to know the distributors (and them you, your dog) you may find that they will cut them up for you. I by the chicken carcasses in 8 kg blocks which they run through a band saw and give me 8 frozen cubes of chicken. 
But like the op I had the same dilemma and did think of using my own band saw for it!!


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## AdrianVall (Aug 26, 2010)

Well this is good to know. I am picking up 80 lbs. of chicken back and chicken leg quarters this weekend, so I was wondering how the heck I am going to thaw them out. Now I know!


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## sassymaxmom (Dec 7, 2008)

Ania's Mom has it right. I was so frustrated thawing out a box of tendons. I pulled and nothing would come off even after 8 hours. Put the bag under cold water and they slithered apart right away.

So sit the big box in something so juices won't be a bother until you can start moving the meat a little then try the cold water. I do this outside but if it fits in your kitchen sink good or maybe the bathtub.

My tendons were 10 pounds I think so this might be a repeat process for a 40 pound lump.


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## SideKick (Jan 25, 2011)

lol wish i found this thread before hand. Took me from 8 in the morning to 11 at night to defrost my 40lbs of chickens.


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## CavePaws (Jan 25, 2011)

When I picked up my chicken the other day, it was also in a 40 lb block, it was still completely frozen. I just let it sit out for a few hours while I packaged...Then I ran out of packaging material and so the chicken had time to defrost for another few hours. In total, it took from around 3 p.m. to 9 p.m. for me to be able to peel them apart from each other, all it did was sit in its box at room temperature. 

When I buy more I might do as has been suggested and pour cool water on it to defrost quickly. :]


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## Liz (Sep 27, 2010)

We throw the boxes into the bathtub and it defrosts there. As it defrosts I take tot he kitchen and repackage. It's easy to clean the tub too.


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## luvMyBRT (Mar 8, 2010)

I have a couple big rubbermaid tubs that I put the 40 pound boxes of chicken backs in (or whatever I'm thawing out). I do just as the others do. Package it up as it thaws.

Here's Duncan back when he was a little pup....wishing it would thaw so he could have his dinner.


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## Chocx2 (Nov 16, 2009)

Turkey necks are so hard to get apart when they are frozen, its like one at a time come off the chunk lol


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## Grandiose (Apr 2, 2011)

I just put four 40 lb cases of backs out to thaw last night...they are sitting in the big sterilite containers in the garage, and are still mostly frozen solid  I pulled what was thawed out and easy to remove off first thing this morning and packed it up and put it in the freezer....and will go check again for thawed stuff in a few hours. Short of running it under water - how the heck do you guys get that much frozen solid blocks of meat to thaw out so quickly? I figure it will take me until tomorrow night to get all this chicken thawed out, packed up, and put in the freezer again. Maybe if I only thawed one case at a time it would go faster.....


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## jdatwood (Apr 13, 2009)

Here's a post we did a while back about bulk prep :wink:
http://dogfoodchat.com/forum/pictures/4591-raw-bulk-order-prep.html


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