Freeze-dried raw dog food is raw meat, organ and bone, usually with some produce, that has had its water removed by freezing it solid and drawing the ice off under vacuum rather than by cooking. What's left is a light, shelf-stable nugget you add water to at mealtime. For anyone in a flat with a small freezer who has looked at raw feeding and thought "where would I even keep it", this is the practical version. Here is what's actually in the bag, how to serve it and whether it's worth the price.
What freeze-drying actually does
The food is frozen, then placed in a low-pressure chamber where the ice turns straight to vapour and is pulled away. Only gentle warmth is used, so the food is never cooked; it's the same raw recipe minus the water. That's the difference from kibble, which is cooked under high heat and pressure, and from dehydrated food, which uses warm air over many hours.
Two practical consequences. The bag feels suspiciously light for the price, because you're not paying to ship water. And the food swells back up when you add water, so a bag goes further than its size on the shelf suggests.
What's in the bag: reading two labels
We stock two freeze-dried raw meals as Mitodo Picks. They're other brands, chosen by us and sniff-tested by our furry panel, and we describe them from what's on the label.
Steve's Real Food Freeze-Dried Raw Dog Food (20 oz, S$72). An 80/15/5 recipe: 80% meat, organs and bone, 15% non-GMO, pesticide-free produce, and 5% what Steve's calls superfoods, which are raw goat's milk, New Zealand green-lipped mussel, salmon oil, flaxseed and kelp. It's formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages (except the Whitefish recipe, which is for supplementary or intermittent feeding alongside other complete foods; check the pack). The pieces are tater-tot-sized nuggets that scoop easily. No grains, corn or soy, no artificial colours or preservatives, and Steve's says every batch is tested for salmonella and other bacteria before it ships. Flavours are beef, chicken, turducken (turkey, duck and chicken together), pork, turkey and whitefish.
Small Batch Freeze-Dried Raw Sliders (14 oz, S$58). A complete, balanced meal made from humanely raised meat, organs and bone plus certified organic produce, up to 88% meat, organ and bone depending on the recipe (lamb is 78%). One protein per bag. It's formulated to meet AAFCO nutrient profiles for all life stages except the growth of large-breed puppies, so a golden or labrador puppy needs something else as the main meal. No synthetic vitamin packs; Small Batch says nutrients come from whole foods such as organs, bone, fish oil, kelp and chia. Flavours are chicken, turkey, duck, beef, pork and lamb.
Both brands note that exact ingredients vary slightly by flavour and batch, so the back of your pack is the final word. We photograph the back of each bag we stock and put it in the product gallery for that reason.
Complete meal, topper or treat?
Freeze-dried raw is sold three ways and the same bag can do all of them.
- As the whole diet. Only if the bag says complete and balanced, as both of these do (Steve's Whitefish aside). The feeding guide on the pack gives the dry amount per day for your dog's weight.
- As a topper. A few nuggets crumbled over kibble or fresh food. This is where most people start, and for a bigger dog it's where the budget usually lands.
- As a treat. Dry nuggets, straight from the bag, broken into pieces. Very high value for training.
Because most bags have one main meat (Steve's turducken aside), rotating flavours bag by bag is simple. If your dog has a food allergy, check the full ingredient list with your vet, since Steve's recipes also include goat's milk and fish ingredients.
How to serve it
- Weigh the dry amount from the feeding guide on the pack for your dog's weight. Use a kitchen scale the first few times; a "scoop" of nuggets varies a lot.
- Add warm, not hot, water, following the ratio on the pack, and wait a few minutes. Steve's nuggets rehydrate quickly; Small Batch sliders can be crumbled first to speed it up.
- Serve. Lift the bowl after 20 to 30 minutes. Throw away what's left, or cover it and put it in the fridge straight away and use it within a day.
- Treat it like any raw meat: wash the bowl, the scoop and your hands after each meal. If you have a baby, an elderly person or anyone with a weak immune system at home, ask your vet before you start feeding raw.
You can feed the nuggets dry, but a dog on a mostly dry diet needs to drink more, so rehydrating is the easier habit. Switch over gradually, mixing a little more of the new food in each day over about a week to ten days (both brands give a schedule on the pack), and watch the stools. If your dog has a kidney, pancreatic or other health condition, or is a large-breed puppy, have your vet confirm the diet before you change it.
Storing it in Singapore's humidity
Freeze-dried food is dry, and humidity is its enemy. Once a bag is open, press the air out and seal it fully every single time; a bag left open on the counter during a rainy week goes soft and stale. Keep it in a cupboard away from the stove and the window, not in the fridge, where condensation forms each time you take it out. Use within the period stated on the pack after opening, and never put a wet scoop back in the bag. Our dogs can hear a bag being opened from two rooms away, so a clip that actually seals is also a sanity measure.
Is it worth it?
Honestly, it's the most expensive of the common options per gram of dry food, and there's no point pretending otherwise. Where it earns its place:
- Small dogs. A toy poodle or maltese goes through a bag slowly enough that the daily cost is modest.
- No freezer space. Frozen raw in an HDB fridge is a constant negotiation. This sits in a cupboard.
- Travel and boarding. It weighs almost nothing and needs no cold chain.
- Picky eaters and toppers. A handful over kibble changes how a bowl is received without changing the whole diet.
For a 30 kg Singapore Special on freeze-dried alone, the maths gets steep, and a topper approach or a mix with another food makes more sense. Our companion article works through the actual cost per day against kibble and fresh-cooked. Mix-and-match bag deals on Small Batch and Steve's apply automatically at checkout, which helps if you rotate.
Why these two are on the Mitodo shelf
We're a bed company first, and we only started stocking food because we were already feeding it. What we look for in a Pick is a label we can read without a dictionary, sourcing the brand is willing to put in writing, and a complete-and-balanced statement. Small Batch says it works directly with its farms, audits them in person and uses no added hormones or antibiotics in any of the meat. Steve's says it tests every batch before shipping and puts its 80/15/5 split and superfood list on the pack. Both are shelf-stable, which matters more in a flat than in a house with a chest freezer. Yes, we sell them. We also open a bag most evenings.
Tonight, find the feeding guide on whatever you feed now and weigh out one day's portion. Then look at the feeding guide on a freeze-dried pack for the same weight. That comparison tells you more than any article, including this one.