What's the difference between freeze-dried and air-dried raw dog food?

Freeze-drying (sublimation under vacuum) and air-drying (slow warm-air dehydration) are both gentle drying methods that preserve raw nutrition substantially better than high-heat extrusion. Structural differences: freeze-drying takes 18-30 hours under vacuum at low temperature, preserving nearly all raw nutrition but producing a fragile end product that benefits from rehydration. Air-drying takes 12-24 hours under low warm-air temperature, preserving most raw nutrition (slightly more nutrient retention than extrusion but less than freeze-drying) and producing a denser, less-fragile end product that can be fed as-is. Smallbatch is freeze-dried; Sundays is air-dried.

Is Sundays beef USDA-inspected?

Yes. Sundays explicitly markets USDA-inspected beef at every primary position in the formulation — USDA beef, USDA beef heart, USDA beef liver, USDA beef bone. The USDA inspection mark verifies federal hygiene and safety standards at slaughter and primary processing for every beef-derived ingredient. This is a higher sourcing-transparency standard than ‘pet-grade’ raw meat sourcing used by some competitor brands. Smallbatch sources pasture-raised meats with strong sourcing-transparency claims but doesn’t carry explicit USDA-inspected status at the same emphasis level across every primary position.

Smallbatch vs Sundays: Which Is Better for Your Dog?

Q: Is Smallbatch or Sundays better for dogs?

Both score A/90 on the v15 rubric — tied. Smallbatch delivers freeze-dried chicken with twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients, true prey-model carcass portions (chicken necks + backs), and single-source-farm Pacific NW production. Sundays delivers air-dried USDA-inspected beef across all primary positions, no-prep feeding option (eat-as-is), and direct-to-consumer subscription model. Pick on format (freeze-dried Smallbatch vs air-dried Sundays), protein preference (chicken Smallbatch vs beef Sundays), and prep preference (rehydration model Smallbatch vs no-prep Sundays).

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The short answer: Tie at A/90. Both are A-tier whole-food raw recipes from independent direct-to-consumer-focused brands — but the format and protein anchor differ. Smallbatch is freeze-dried chicken with twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients, true prey-model carcass portions (skinless chicken necks at #1, chicken backs at #2), and single-source-farm Pacific Northwest production. Sundays is air-dried USDA-inspected beef with quinoa as the only grain inclusion, all-natural ingredient sourcing, and direct-to-consumer subscription model. Pick on format preference (freeze-dried vs air-dried), protein preference (chicken vs beef), and produce-sourcing priority.

The scores

Smallbatch Freeze-Dried Raw Chicken Sliders for Dogs: A (90/100) — Skinless Chicken Necks, Chicken Backs, Chicken, Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards.

Sundays Air-Dried Beef Recipe for Dogs: A (90/100) — USDA Beef, USDA Beef Heart, USDA Beef Liver, USDA Beef Bone, Quinoa.

How the ingredients compare

The top-five ingredients reveal the formulation split between these two products:

Smallbatch: Skinless Chicken Necks, Chicken Backs, Chicken, Chicken Livers, Chicken Gizzards

Sundays: USDA Beef, USDA Beef Heart, USDA Beef Liver, USDA Beef Bone, Quinoa

Both products earn effectively the same v15 score, but the ingredient lineups tell different stories about how they got there — that is where the actual pick decision lives.

Where Smallbatch pulls ahead

Twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients (highest organic load in category): Smallbatch Chicken Sliders includes organic carrots, sweet potatoes, squash, broccoli, kale, collards, parsley, blueberry, kelp, wheatgrass, rosemary, and basil — twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients in a single recipe. Sundays Air-Dried Beef includes whole-food produce (carrots, blueberries, apples, ginger, kelp, mushrooms) but without the same explicit USDA-certified-organic status coverage. For owners specifically prioritizing certified-organic produce sourcing, Smallbatch is the structurally aligned pick. Shop on Amazon →

True prey-model carcass portions: Smallbatch leads with skinless chicken necks at #1 and chicken backs at #2 — bone-in carcass portions delivering whole-prey calcium / phosphorus ratios directly through carcass-portion bone content. This is closer to true ancestral prey-model formulation than ‘ground muscle + ground bone’ assembled approaches. Sundays uses USDA beef + USDA beef heart + USDA beef liver + USDA beef bone — an excellent whole-prey assembly approach but a step removed from carcass-portion delivery.

Freeze-dried format (faster rehydration, less prep): Smallbatch is freeze-dried with rapid rehydration (1-2 minutes with warm water). Sundays is air-dried (slow warm-air dehydration over multiple hours) and can be fed as-is (no rehydration required) or moistened lightly. Both formats are valid; freeze-dried rehydrates faster and delivers a moister meal post-rehydration; air-dried is denser and travel-portable without rehydration. For owners who prefer the rehydration-to-moist-meal model, Smallbatch is the format-aligned pick.

Where Sundays holds its own

USDA-inspected beef across all five lead positions: Sundays explicitly markets USDA-inspected beef at every primary position — USDA beef (#1), USDA beef heart (#2), USDA beef liver (#3), USDA beef bone (#4). The USDA inspection mark verifies federal hygiene and safety standards at slaughter and primary processing for every beef-derived ingredient. Smallbatch sources pasture-raised meats with strong sourcing-transparency claims but doesn’t carry explicit USDA-inspected status at the same emphasis level across every primary position. Shop on Amazon →

Beef-led recipe for owners avoiding chicken or during H5N1 outbreak surveillance: Sundays Air-Dried is beef-led; Smallbatch Chicken Sliders is chicken-led. For owners feeding beef as the protein anchor — chicken intolerance, palatability preference, or avoiding raw poultry during active H5N1 outbreak windows — Sundays is the structurally aligned pick. Smallbatch offers beef, lamb, duck, turkey, and pork variants but the slider product reviewed here is chicken-based.

Air-dried format (denser, travel-portable, no-prep feeding option): Air-drying is slow warm-air dehydration over multiple hours — structurally distinct from freeze-drying (sublimation under vacuum) and from extrusion (high-heat compression). Air-dried produces a denser, less-fragile end product that can be fed as-is or moistened lightly. For travel (no rehydration step needed at remote destinations), kibble-replacement transitions (texture closer to crunchy kibble than rehydrated raw), or owners who feed in the bowl without prep workflow, air-dried is the format-aligned pick.

The bottom line

Tied at A/90 on the v15 rubric — structurally similar A-tier whole-food raw recipes from independent direct-to-consumer-focused brands. Pick on the trade-off you weight more heavily. Smallbatch delivers freeze-dried chicken with twelve USDA-certified-organic produce ingredients, true prey-model carcass portions (necks + backs), and single-source-farm Pacific NW production. Sundays delivers air-dried USDA-inspected beef across all primary positions, no-prep feeding option (eat-as-is or moisten lightly), and direct-to-consumer subscription model with subscribe-and-save pricing. For freeze-dried chicken + organic-produce priority, Smallbatch. For air-dried USDA-inspected beef + no-prep feeding, Sundays.