Are you looking for natural, nutritious dog food?
You may be looking to make a fresh change to your dog’s diet by moving away from store-bought kibble in favour of some fresh meals.
Some traditional dog food options can have confusing labels that don’t clearly display additives and nasties added to the food.
Obesity is a big problem amongst dogs in the USA and many pet parents are unable to even tell that they’re canine companion is overweight.
Fortunately, there is a range of fresh dog food companies that have created balanced and complete meals that can be shipped direct to your door.
Website: openfarmpet.com
Open Farm is one such pet food company who have a simple idea that your dog’s food can be good for your pup as well as farm animals and the environment.
In this article, we’re going to take a close look at Open Farm’s Gently Cooked range to see how this dog food company create their fresh meals, what recipes they have on offer, what customers are saying and give our verdict.
Editor's note: The content on this website is meant to be informative in nature, but it should not be taken as veterinary, medical or professional advice. The content of our articles does not constitute veterinary advice. It’s always best to speak with your vet or a certified pet nutritionist before making any changes to your pet's diet or feeding routine.
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Open Farm – The Basics
Website: openfarmpet.com
Open Farm Gently Cooked (Photo: hellobark.com)
Open Farm are a dog food company with a few key philosophies to their business.
Their website explains that they source the highest quality ingredients, support farmers and provide full transparency to customers.
Transparency, premium nutrition and ethical sourcing are themes that run through the Open Farm business irrespective of whether you’re looking at their gently cooked food, freeze-dried raw food, customized kibble or bone broth.
Dog owners who decide to place their faith in Open Farm are able to track each ingredient in every bag of Open Farm pet food back to its source so you’ll have complete clarity about what your feeding your canine companion.
Their recipes are created with humanely raised meat free from antibiotics and growth hormones. So your dog will be getting premium protein nutrition alongside non-GMO fruits and vegetables as well as functional superfoods.
Unlike some traditional kibble brands, Open Farm ethically source the ingredients in their recipes. Their website explains that they partner with family farms that raise their animals humanely with kindness and respect.
For the purposes of this article, we’ll be delving into Open Farm’s Gently Cooked recipes.
How Open Farm Gently Cooked Works
Open Farm Grass Fed Beef (Photo: Open Farm)
Longtime readers of helloBARK! will know that we prefer fresh dog food ahead of kibble or wet food.
Open Farm offer a Gently Cooked range for pet parents who want to try this particular pet food format.
This dog food company keep their cooking process to a minimum and at low temperatures for optimal taste.
Open Farm are one of a couple of dog food companies who use a sous vide method to retain flavour, nutrients and minerals.
Once cooked, their Gently Cooked recipes are flash frozen to preserve freshness.
You won’t be surprised to learn that Open Farm only use human grade ingredients in their recipes that have been sustainably sourced.
If curious dog owners want to track the ingredients in the Gently Cooked recipes, Open Farm provide you with the opportunity to do so.
Open Farm have a quiz section on their website that dog owners can complete to learn what the dog food company recommends for their pet.
However, your dog’s food won’t be pre-proportioned so you’ll need to follow their feeding guide to ensure you don’t overfeed or underfeed your pup.
Ingredients
Open Farm Grass Fed Beef (Photo: hellobark.com)
Open Farm offer four Gently Cooked recipes to dog owners in the USA.
• Grass-Fed Beef Gently Cooked Recipe – Humanely raised beef and non-GMO leafy greens.
• Surf & Turf Gently Cooked Recipe – Humanely raised beef and wild-caught salmon.
• Harvest Chicken Gently Cooked Recipe – Humanely raised chicken and non-GMO leafy greens.
• Homestead Turkey Gently Cooked Recipe – Humanely raised turkey and non-GMO leafy greens.
Meal Preparation
Open Farm Gently Cooked recipes are really easy to prepare which is an added bonus to adopting their fresh dog food meals.
You simply take it out of the freezer, thaw and serve direct into your dog’s bowl. Open Farm describe it as “home cooking without the cooking”.
Their meals are stored in pouches so you’ll just need to rip and serve once you’ve defrosted their meals.
You can rinse the pouches and send them off to TerraCycle, while the box can be recycled in your blue recycling bin.
Price And Delivery
Dog owners who are interested in giving Open Farm a try can select between eight 16 ounce pouches and eighteen 16 ounce pouches.
If you make a one-time purchase, eight 16 ounce pouches will cost $79.99 and eighteen 16 ounce pouches will cost $149.99.
However, if you decide to subscribe to an Open Farm plan you can save
5%.
So eight 16 ounce pouches will cost $75.99 and eighteen 16 ounce pouches will cost $142.99.
What Are Customers Saying?
Open Farm (Photo: Open Farm)
We were unable to find Open Farm on independent user-based review websites such as Trustpilot. However, Open Farm have a review section under each of their recipes so you can get a sense for the experiences of other pet parents with their food.
Open Farm’s Harvest Chicken Gently Cooked recipe has an average rating of 4.9 stars based upon over 50 reviews. Jerri explained her picky Afghan hounds love this meal.
My two Afghan hounds love the Open Farm Harvest Chicken Gently Cooked recipe. I haven’t given them any other recipe but I will try another so I can alternate if they like more than one flavor, just so they don’t get tired of eating only the chicken recipe. I definitely recommend trying the Open Farm dog food.
Their Grass-Fed Beef Gently Cooked recipe gets 4.9 stars based upon nearly 70 reviews. Nikki shared the experience of her two Frenchies eating the beef recipe.
Our two Frenchies love the food. We serve the lamb kibble with ancient grains and alternate between the slow cooked turkey or beef as a topper. Exceptional quality of food and nutritious. Most importantly the meat is sourced humanely and as a vegan that helps me sleep better at night.
Continuing the glowing reviews of Open Farm, Jennifer revealed her two senior dogs were extremely motivated at mealtime when presented with some Surf & Turf.
I have two senior dogs that are picky eaters. One has a sensitive digestive system and the other is missing a couple teeth. My boys love this stuff! I feed it as a supplement to their dry food. They won’t even entertain eating their meal if it does not contain this or the chicRead more about review stating Senior picky eaters love this stuff!ken version. Highly recommend. It is a bit expensive but you get what you pay for!
However, Open Farm’s top-rated recipe with 5 stars out of 5 based upon over 40 reviews is Homestead Turkey. Susan’s 16-year-old dogs love their balanced and complete turkey-based meals.
I have two very picky seniors, both 16 yrs old and they loved all of the Open Farm products we have tried so far. Plus, I like knowing that I am giving my fur babies the very best from a company that practices sustainable, regenerative farming and humane animal treatment.
Any Negatives?
We couldn’t really find any negatives where Open Farm Gently Cooked is concerned.
If we were being hyper critical, Open Farm don’t portion their meals so you’ll have to follow their feeding guide.
Some dog food companies require pet parents to fill out a questionnaire before tailoring your dog’s meals in pre-portioned packaging.
While Open Farm don’t use pre-portioned meal pouches, their feeding guidelines are easy to follow.
Our Verdict
Open Farm Grass Fed Beef (Photo: hellobark.com)
We recruited Alaskan Klee Kai Sesame to try Open Farm. Her owner Carmen provided us with her review of Open Farm Gently Cooked based upon Sesames’ experience.
I ordered the Grass-Fed Beef Gently Cooked Recipe and this is the first time I’ve ever seen Sesame whine and begged so hard for food. It was absolutely delicious as she cleared her bowl spotless.
It comes in a 16 oz package and I can use it for multiple meals. Shipping was fairly quick and they came frozen, so I just plop the extra in the freezer and a package to defrost. It looks so good that it can almost be mistaken for human food.
Is This The Best Dog Food Delivery Service?
Open Farm are one of the most versatile dog food companies based in the USA with a variety of dog food formats, whether you’re looking for fresh meals, dry food, wet food, freeze-dried raw or kibble.
If you’re looking to adopt a fresh approach to your dog’s diet but not at the expense of the planet, Open Farm are a great option.
You can check out our updated guide to the best dog food delivery companies in the USA right now via the link below.
RELATED: The eight best dog food delivery companies
Anything Else To Consider?
If you’re thinking about making a switch to a new dog food format, it’s a good idea to speak to your vet to get their advice and feedback.
It’s not a good idea to make an immediate change to a new type of dog food because you could risk upsetting your dog’s digestive system.
In our experience, dog food companies such as Open Farm will provide dog owners with guidance on how to make a smooth transition.
It’s worth noting that Open Farm have partnered with Certified Humane, Global Animal and Ocean Wise to adhere to sustainable practices.
Open Farm Gently Cooked – Our Final Thoughts
We’ve reached the end of our review of Open Farm Gently Cooked.
They’re a dog food company who have a wide variety of dog food options for pet parents in the USA.
Their Gently Cooked meals use a sous-vide cooking method to ensure all the nutritional goodness is locked in along with an enhanced, flavorful taste.
Open Farm are transparent about how they source their ingredients and cook their meals so pet parents can have peace of mind that their furry friend is getting the very best in pet nutrition.
They have a sustainable approach to their business with responsible sourcing of ingredients and completely recyclable packaging.
You can save money by subscribing to Open Farm rather than a one-time purchase.
