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Shipping frozen food or flying with it?
superhappypanda
Zug Island Sport FishingSeattleRegistered User regular
Zug Island Sport FishingSeattleRegistered User regular
So I have a couple pounds of leaf lard that I wanted to bring back with me from Seattle to Detroit so I can use it while making Christmas dinner this year. Anyone have any experience flying with frozen food (fish, game, etc.) or with shipping it? I'm thinking I'd rather take it with me on the plane since it won't sit around in a delivery truck or a warehouse for days. I've never done anything like this before so I wasn't sure where to start or what I'd need to get it from point A to point B. Also, the lard is frozen currently. I have soft cooler that can hold a few pounds of the stuff and possibly some dry ice but I'm assuming they wouldn't allow dry ice as a carry on.
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My biggest concern with taking it carry-on is that the TSA may peg it as being a gel/liquid, even though it's technically not.
Shipping using dry ice is a pain in the ass, and depending on the shipper you may need to take certain training.
Not sure about flying with it checked / carry on, but it's probably a pain too. Make sure you read your airline's policies ahead of time.
I would assume that it's easier to go with gel packs and a cooler than to mess with dry ice if you are checking it - I'd be surprised if you can carry on.
My g/f and I have brought frozen steaks back from her parents (who own a cattle ranch) in checked luggage, and they were still basically rock-hard by the end of the flight (and that was after a missed connection and a couple delays)... We just wrapped them well in garbage bags (just in case anything started leaking), and then wrapped them in a towel or two for insulation (deep frozen blocks of meat basically ARE ice packs, so as long as you insulate them pretty well they'll stay pretty frozen for a while). I believe she's also checked (on an airline) a styrofoam cooler w/ meat before (sealed/wrapped with packing tape), but you might want to check w/ the airline on that (which is easier, though may be more expensive, than just shipping it)
Dry ice is likely a big no-no, as zagdrob said - if you seal a package with dry ice too tight you basically create a bomb, so I wouldn't want to risk it unless you actually know what you're doing (I know some labs here have gotten pretty big fines for shipping things with dry ice without training)
If you do check the lard rather than shipping it, just pack it in that cooler and then inside a suitcase with everything but what you actually want to use on the plane. As long as you're going through the hassle of checking a bag you may as well lighten the rest of your carry-on load. If I have things that need to be checked I do this, and it really makes a difference to the amount of stress in getting on and off the plane and oh look the overheads are full because they overbooked so they're taking your bag to check anyway but your pills are in there and where are they taking it, anyway, and is that the right label they're putting on it?
Fucking.. flying, man. I hates it.
UPS will accept it if it's packaged properly. The recommended packaging is:
One styrofoam soft cooler, filled with food and dry ice, 100% circumnavigated with clear tape. I mean totally f'ing sealed. This not only helps prevent leaks but it helps keep the cold in.
Then, you take the soft cooler and you put it INSIDE of a standard UPS box with about 3 inches of crumped paper buffer. They will throw your box. It will be punctured. I've gotten soft coolers with entire corners taken out. Take this seriously.
In terms of amount of dry ice, I recommend at least 20% of the total volume of the styro cooler, you might be able to get away with 15% if you want your stuff to be soggy when it arrives
Finally, survivability. If the shit it ALREADY FROZEN before you pack it (highly recommended), then you've got basically 48 hours to get it in a freezer again before it begins to melt. Keyword is "begins". 60 hours it will get slushy, and after 72 hours it will be mostly liquid.
The problem here is that a cooler of really any size inside of a box is expensive as hell to mail 2-day air. But that's the price you pay.
If you like not receiving soggy wet boxes on your doorstep, I recommend 2-day. I've done 3 day. It ended up being edible, but I'll never do it again. Plus the box takes more of a beating. The heavier the box, the more likely the UPS 3-day and ground crews will chuck that thing like a football. When I did 3 day the styro cooler took a huge beating and ended up leaking badly. 2 day it always comes *mostly* in tact
You're looking at a bare minimum of $70 for 2-day air. Probably more.
no idea how an airliner would treat you, but the obvious answer is to just call them and ask
we also talk about other random shit and clown upon each other
Don't try bringing it on board.
I say this due to several cases where I rescued live lobster from the walk in freezer, you really need to emphasize how the items need to be stored.