At Butternut Box, we want to ensure your pup's fresh meals are kept in tip-top condition. Proper storage and handling keep the food safe, highly nutritious, and delicious for your dog. Below is the essential guidance to help you safely store your dog's Butternut and keep their meals fresh.
How do I safely store Butternut Box meals?
Butternut Box meals are cooked fresh, flash-frozen to lock in nutrients, and delivered frozen straight to your door. To store our meals safely, please follow these storage timelines and guidelines:
Place the majority of your delivery straight into the freezer upon arrival. Unopened pouches can be kept safely in the freezer up until their Best Before Date show on the front of the pouch.
Transfer a few pouches into the refrigerator ahead of time so they can thaw. Unopened pouches can be kept in the fridge for up to 7 days.
Once a pouch has been cut open, it must be stored in the fridge and fed to your dog within 2 days. We highly recommend popping open pouches into a sealed plastic container, such as a Tupperware box, to maintain freshness.
What should I do if I am struggling with freezer space?
If you're worried about having enough freezer space, you do not have to worry about your meals taking over your kitchen. To manage your storage limits and adjust your account, you can use the following steps:
Log into your online Butternut Box account and navigate to your delivery plan settings.
Edit the plan to fit your needs, with the following options in mind:
a) Change your delivery frequency so that you receive fewer pouches per delivery, which means you will need less physical space in your freezer at any one time.
b) If you find deliveries are coming before you’ve been able to use your current pouches, you can change the delivery frequency, pouch size and number of pouches to suit you.
c) If you just need to delay the current order, as long as you make the change before the cut-off, you can change the delivery date in your account to push your order back.
How long does it take to defrost Butternut meals?
To safely defrost Butternut meals, you must allow them to thaw slowly inside the refrigerator. The exact time it takes to defrost depends directly on the physical weight and size of the pouch:
For our smaller pouch sizes, which include the 125-gram, 200-gram, and 300-gram packs, it takes roughly 24 hours to fully defrost in the fridge.
For our larger pouch sizes, which include the 400-gram, 500-gram, and 600-gram packs, it takes at least 36 hours to fully defrost in the fridge.
To maintain a seamless routine, simply swap a fresh, frozen pouch from the freezer into the fridge every time you open a fully defrosted one.
What can I do if I have forgotten to defrost my dog’s meal?
If you have forgotten to defrost your dog's meal overnight, do not panic! If you have microwave at home, you can safely use the following method to get dinner ready in no time:
Retrieve the frozen pouch directly from the freezer.
Place the pouch into a microwave-safe bowl.
Set your microwave explicitly to its designated defrost setting and run the cycle until the food has thawed.
Always stir the food thoroughly after defrosting and check the temperature is not hot, before serving to your dog. It’s important to ensure that the meal is completely evenly warmed and contains no localised hot spots that could burn your pup's mouth.
Note: Please ensure to check the pouch regularly whilst defrosting and be careful not to overheat the pouch.
Can I microwave the meal in the pouch?
Yes, you can safely microwave the meal while it is still inside the pouch, provided you use a defrost setting. At the heart of our mission is the safety and quality of our dogs' meals, which is why our pouches are carefully designed to withstand extreme temperature changes during both the cooking and freezing processes.
Portioned Freezing and Refreezing
Can I divide my meals into smaller amounts and put them back in the freezer?
While we can guarantee the safety and quality of our meals when they are kept sealed in their original packaging, we cannot guarantee their safety once a pouch has been opened and transferred into new containers for freezing. Because of this, we do not recommend manually dividing defrosted meals at home.
If you require smaller daily portions for your dog, the safest and easiest solution is to update your plan to our smallest pouch size, which is just 125 grams. This allows you to serve small, perfectly fresh portions without the hassle or risk of manually dividing the food back into the freezer.
Can I re-freeze a pouch that has been sitting in the fridge?
The short answer is no. While it might seem a bit confusing, there is a big safety difference between a pouch that defrosted on its way to you versus one that has been sitting in your fridge.
It all comes down to temperature control and the "shelf-life clock":
Thawed in transit (Safe to freeze): If your pouches arrive defrosted (within our 50-hour safety window) but are still cold to the touch, they are perfectly safe to put straight into the freezer. Because they stayed at a safe, bacteria-stunting temperature inside our insulated boxes, they only just defrosted, meaning we can safely "pause" their shelf life by freezing them immediately.
Thawed in your home fridge (Do not refreeze): Once a pouch is placed in your fridge at home, its 7-day shelf-life clock officially starts ticking. If a pouch sits in the fridge for a few days, it experiences normal, slow bacterial growth. If you were to refreeze it and thaw it out again later, you would be adding even more days to that clock, pushing the meal into unsafe territory and altering its texture.
To keep your dog's meals perfectly safe and fresh, please feed any pouches placed in the fridge within their standard shelf life rather than putting them back in the freezer.