mixing

Keto Chow and COVID-19

We all understand that for many people, Keto Chow plays a significant role in their success on a ketogenic diet and is particularly vital in stressful times like this. Several customers of ours are nurses and doctors that really have no time for any other food right now and we are humbled to play a small part in helping them. We wanted to give everyone an update on how COVID-19 is impacting Keto Chow, so here you go! =)

Your ability to get Keto Chow

For many people, their primary concern is: “hey, can I still get my Keto Chow?” Currently, the answer to that is a resounding “Yes!” We have ample inventory of Keto Chow on-hand at our Draper Utah warehouse, with a good supply also dispatched out to Amazon fulfillment centers (and “grocery food” like Keto Chow is currently prioritized going into Amazon’s warehouses). Although you can buy Keto Chow on Amazon, it is far less expensive to get directly from us which also gives you the bulk discounts, loyalty program and other benefits that are not available on purchases through Amazon. We actually have enough inventory on-hand to last for several months even with a complete shutdown of our upstream production and we JUST got a new shipment of Chocolate, our most popular flavor. We’re doing exceptionally well in this regard.

Both carriers that we use (UPS and USPS) have indicated that they are still moving packages and are doing a great job handling the increased number of shipments. I haven’t seen statistics but I’m guessing it’s a lighter load than the week before Christmas.

We have an amazing team of people that are working at our Draper warehouse, shipping the orders, handling local customers that are picking up orders, and generally being awesome. The members of the Keto Chow team that can work outside the office are doing so to limit the exposure. If you call about an order or send us an email, we can help you out wherever we are.

Keto Chow – shelf stability, how long does it last?

As noted in a recent blog post, the shelf life of unopened Keto Chow is 2 years with no detectable change to the flavor or nutrition. Each package has a “best by” date printed on the package that lets you know how long it will last. We work hard to maximize the shelf life and cycle through the oldest product out first. The “Flavor of the week” program aids in this. If you have Keto Chow that’s past the “best by” date, you are still unlikely to notice any change; the main issue you might see is a slow degradation of certain vitamins that would make it unsuitable for ALL of your food for an extended period of time. In other words: don’t use ‘expired’ Keto Chow for 3 meals a day for weeks or months at a time with no other food; but using ‘expired’ Keto Chow for 1 or 2 meals a day is something that I have done in the past and will do in the future.

Mixing Keto Chow in difficult circumstances

By far, the easiest way to mix up Keto Chow is with heavy cream. It requires a simple shaker bottle and little else. Heavy cream is also somewhat readily available right now. Based on my own observations, it’s been difficult to find many everyday essentials but heavy cream has been in-stock at every grocery store I’ve been to this week.

Butter is more work to mix, but stores longer, is less expensive, has fewer carbs, and is delicious. I highly suggest you give it a shot if you can find butter. Personally, I use the cheapest salted (or unsalted but I like the salt) butter I can find. I don’t worry about grass-fed or anything else – you’re welcome to use that if you like the flavor more, but I haven’t seen compelling evidence of any metabolic advantage to grass-fed butter. You can also use the same method as butter to use other “hard” fats like coconut oil.

Avocado oil is a good choice if you have no access at all to refrigeration, I have a great write-up on my own experience using it while camping. Avocado oil is very shelf-stable and the sort of thing you could put in your basement with a bag of Keto Chow and rest assured that with some water, you’re set for days!

Powdered cream is also an option if you account for the particular issues it brings along: it’s shelf-stable but also costs more, is bulkier, has more carbs, and does not taste as good as liquid heavy cream.

Could I be infected by COVID-19 via a package?

The short answer is “probably not.” A NIH study found that the SARS-CoV-2 virus survives up to 24 hours on cardboard, which is shorter than the 2-3 days a typical package we ship takes. UPS simply says on their COVID-19 page that “The World Health Organization (WHO) and U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) have stated that the likelihood of novel Coronavirus contaminating cardboard or other shipping containers is low.”

Having issues with Keto Chow Clumping? We have some solutions for you!

In version 2.1.1 of Keto Chow, we changed the protein powder to one that tastes a little better but does not have lecithin in it. Lecithin slows down how quickly the protein absorbs water making it more forgiving to mix. In version 2.5.0 we are/will be going back to a lecithninated/instantized protein powder. If you have v2.1.1 or 2.1.2 and are having problems with clumping, here are some tips to help you mix easier.

The most effective way to handle the problem is to go straight for using butter as the fat source.

Because you are using warm water and melted butter, all of the issues with clumping simply go away. On top of that, you get all of the additional benefits of butter:
- Butter costs less than Heavy Cream or Avocado Oil. Using pricing from my local grocery store I get $1.229 per 1000 calories for HWC, $0.981 for AO, and $0.796 per 1000 calories for butter. That same 1000 calories of butter have 0.08g of total carbs compared to 8.35g for the HWC.
- Butter does not contain any controversial carrageenan or other emulsifiers you find in Heavy Whipping Cream. Personally, I don’t care about them but some people get quite “excited” about them.
- Butter has a better impact on my blood markers.
- Butter is easier to store, it freezes exceptionally well and is compact.
- Butter is easier to transport. The salted variant is quite stable without refrigeration for a good amount of time, it won’t spill (unless you get it too warm =), it’s not in a glass bottle that will shatter. Should also be noted that TSA currently doesn’t care about butter, unlike a bottle of oil.
- Butter tastes amazing. Personally, I prefer the salted butter because of the additional sodium and salty taste, especially in the chocolate flavors of Keto Chow (Chocolate, Mint, Toffee, Peanut butter, etc…
Avocado Oil tends to be more difficult to mix than Heavy Cream, if you want to use Avocado Oil you’ll likely want/need to use either a blender or an immersion blender
When you go to mix Keto Chow, if you’re using a blender bottle, you need to have the water nearby so you can immediately mix it. You need to add the water and begin vigorous mixing within 2-3 seconds of adding the powder to the bottle. This is covered in rather exhaustive detail on the “How to Prepare Keto Chow” page and the accompanying video.