How to keep chocolate from melting

AlyceInWonderland

So, I have a dilemma. I'm traveling down to Texas this Christmas to stay with my boyfriend's family, and being an incredibly poor student, I'm making everything they're getting for Christmas. However, a lot of the things I'm making for them are chocolate covered (mmm...).

How in the world would I keep them from melting into a mound of chocolaty goop?
I know, I know "Keep them cold, you dumbass!", you're saying, BUT...that's kind of hard to do when they're in a suitcase inside of a plane on their way to Texas with me.

Does anyone have any ideas on how I can keep things insulated inside the bag to keep the temperature down, do I even have to really worry? Am I even allowed to bring foodstuffs like that onto a plane even if it's not in a carry-on?

Your help would be appreciated!

(Is a gift basket of completely home made stuff even a good gift? I hate not having money )

VisionOfClarity

Mail them. It will be way easier that way. Pack them into something airtight with a piece of bread and send them priority mail.

AlyceInWonderland

That sounds like a great idea. We're leaving NY and getting to Texas on the 23rd. If I ship it out on Monday, do you think it'd get there by the 23rd? I've been so busy for the past month, that I was hoping to finish everything this weekend.

Edit: Thinking about getting a nice big box, so I can assemble the basket of goodies (Homemade blankets, treats, some store bought items like movies or games they'd like, etc), and wrap it up in clear gift basket plastic (You know the stuff), put it in the box and just ship it out. Would that be really expensive?

Phisti

Plane cargo holds are pretty cool so it should be ok if it isn't in your carry-on. Mailing stuff is expensive - especially heavy / large / odd shape items. It might be worth just boxing up and bringing it with you on the plane if you don't have a ton of other luggage. If it's in the realm of "you'll need to pay for this extra piece of luggage" then mailing is probably the better option. Both post and luggage handlers can be brutal on delicate items so make sure it's boxed up good if it's pretty fragile.

Home made baskets are the best gifts. Sure they don't last as long as generic_item_01 purchased at the store, but they take a lot more love and effort to make. I love to give and get gift baskets of home made stuff.

1) Refrigerate your chocolate before you go - then as you're packing up to go pop it in a cooler with an ice-pack or insulate or wrap it in some towels to keep it cool
2) If possible store the chocolate away from people and other heat sources - ie the cargo hold, or the trunk of the car once you get there.
3) Dispense awesome home-made gifts to love ones

VisionOfClarity

Check out the priority flat rate boxes, if it fits it ships! I use it for all my cookie exchanges. Priority tends to take 2-3 business days domestic, you can ask the people at the post office if it will make it. I think priority medium is only like $11 or something and it's totally worth it.

If it won't you can try express (overnight) flat rate or FedEx. Depending on the size/weight of the box FedEx may not be too costly and you can get a rate quote online.

Iruka

They make these gelpacks you can freeze, I would just make a seperate suitcase of your goods and check it, perhaps you can find a Styrofoam box thats small enough to fit in a suitcase and throw the chocolate+a gel pack in that.

If its a small enough quantity and theres no liquid involved, I would refrigerate them the night before and simply buy a lunchbox, one of the insulated soft ones, and you can carry that on. You could go to the airport with a gel pack in the lunch box and simply leave the gel pack in your car (you cant carry that on). You can also use a lunchbox for checking if you cant find a cooler to fit in a suitcase.

TSA has a list of what you can take on a plane here:
http://www.seatguru.com/articles/tsa_prohibited_items.php

Comahawk

Pack them in Styrofoam insulation containers with dry ice?

Call the airline and ask, you may be surprised how helpful they can be. Be wary though, when working at a restaurant in an airport I routinely had to stop Westjet employees from storing live lobsters in our freezer.

MagicToaster

VisionOfClarity wrote: »

Mail them. It will be way easier that way. Pack them into something airtight with a piece of bread and send them priority mail.

I second the mailing. On more than one ocassion I've mailed Godiva chocolates to Japan, 2 weeks later, they arrive unmelted!

Comahawk

MagicToaster wrote: »

VisionOfClarity wrote: »

Mail them. It will be way easier that way. Pack them into something airtight with a piece of bread and send them priority mail.

I second the mailing. On more than one ocassion I've mailed Godiva chocolates to Japan, 2 weeks later, they arrive unmelted!

It is Christmas time, I would not expect those chocolates to arrive on time. Couple that with the package likely being heavy and any expedited service costing lots of money, mailing is going to be expensive.

MagicToaster

The post office has a new flat rate shipping box. "If it fits, it ships!" I really don't think there is much performance difference on the holidays, the post prepares its manpower accordingly. I've shipped packages on the holidays and off season, I've never seen delays due to it being x-mas.

VisionOfClarity

MagicToaster wrote: »

The post office has a new flat rate shipping box. "If it fits, it ships!" I really don't think there is much performance difference on the holidays, the post prepares its manpower accordingly. I've shipped packages on the holidays and off season, I've never seen delays due to it being x-mas.

Exactly, sending it prority flat rate will get it there. Even express flat rate isn't bad cost wise and it's one less thing to worry about the day you travel. I'm shipping all my gifts home ahead of my this year.

Improvolone

Shipping with dry ice is a pain, I would use ice packs and bring it on the plane with you.

Hevach

The signs at my local post office are saying guaranteed arrival before Christmas on anything dropped off by this Friday. My experience from last year was that even a day or two after the guaranteed cutoff they'd still get there in time. The cutoff was the 18th last year, I think, and I mailed a package from Michigan to Florida the Monday after that, and it still got there on the 23rd or 24th.

Don't worry about dry ice, good ice packs should do it. Coming form New York it's going to spend half of its trip in freezing air anyway.

NightDragon

Iruka wrote: »

They make these gelpacks you can freeze, I would just make a seperate suitcase of your goods and check it, perhaps you can find a Styrofoam box thats small enough to fit in a suitcase and throw the chocolate+a gel pack in that.

If its a small enough quantity and theres no liquid involved, I would refrigerate them the night before and simply buy a lunchbox, one of the insulated soft ones, and you can carry that on. You could go to the airport with a gel pack in the lunch box and simply leave the gel pack in your car (you cant carry that on). You can also use a lunchbox for checking if you cant find a cooler to fit in a suitcase.

TSA has a list of what you can take on a plane here:
http://www.seatguru.com/articles/tsa_prohibited_items.php

If you'd really rather not mail it, I was going to suggest something along these lines...and maybe you even freeze it as opposed to just refrigerating it.