Frozen food in checked luggage

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jzmom

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 11:48 am

We are flying to florida and bring several frozen pans of food that we have precooked and frozen. I am looking for some suggestions on how to pack the food. Should I wrap the food in towels? Should I put them in a suitcase or a box? Any suggestions?

Thank you.

smiledr

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 11:54 am

When I took frozen food I double wrapped and everything went in its own ziplock bag or Tupperware if possible to prevent any leaking

MimiMommy

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 12:00 pm

I'd wrap the pans really well in plastic bags and then pack them among my clothes.

Liba

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 12:43 pm

Wrap well, put in large ziplock bags (there are two gallon bags that fit more 9x13" pans IIRC) and then pack insulated with clothing and/or newspaper.

jzmom

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 1:28 pm

Thank you. We have enough room to take the food in its own suitcase/box/not sure what.

Any other advice?

OOTBubby

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 2:08 pm

jzmom wrote:

Thank you. We have enough room to take the food in its own suitcase/box/not sure what.

Any other advice?

I've done that. I bought a soft sided foldable insulated bag and put the food in that (I have 2; one holds around 4-9x13 pans and one holds around 8) and then put that inside an appropriately sized suitcase.

greenfire

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 2:47 pm

frozen food is heavy

frozen food leaks [unless you send a kooler]

they sell kosher food in florida - try Publix

Barbara

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 3:21 pm

greenfire wrote:

frozen food is heavy

frozen food leaks [unless you send a kooler]

they sell kosher food in florida - try Publix

I'd be concerned about the safety of the food unless it is packed with ice or in an insulated cooler. I don't know where you're starting out, but the flight from NY to Florida is close to 3 hours. Add in time to the airport, checking in, picking up luggage and getting to destination, you're talking about 5 to 6 hours without refrigeration. And if there are delays, the problem will be worse.

Liba

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 3:38 pm

Barbara wrote:

greenfire wrote:

frozen food is heavy

frozen food leaks [unless you send a kooler]

they sell kosher food in florida - try Publix

The airplane hold is really cold, so the only real issue is the wait times before and after the flight. It will be refrigerated or frozen in the middle. I wouldn't be surprised if it was still frozen on arrival.

mommyhood

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 4:42 pm

Barbara wrote:

greenfire wrote:

frozen food is heavy

frozen food leaks [unless you send a kooler]

they sell kosher food in florida - try Publix

I take 9x13s out of my freezer at night, put them on my counter and 10 hours later they're still cold. 5 or 6 hours with several pans packed together in any sort of insulation should be more than fine.

33055

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 4:50 pm

We have taken cases of frozen chicken on eleven hour flights and it arrives frozen.

bird

Wed, Dec 05 2012, 11:41 pm

I took frozen cheese 17 hours and it was still frozen on arrivel

Chana Miriam S

Thu, Dec 06 2012, 12:21 am

The belly of the aircraft goes to minus 70.

yaelinIN

Thu, Dec 06 2012, 3:29 am

I take food (meat,chicken, and cheese from the east coast US to Japan and as long as everything is rock-hard frozen and put snuggly into a insulated cooler, everything will be cold if not still frozen for up to 3 days.

I had that happen one time when our flight was delayed for a whole day from DC to Japan and we had it sent from the airport to our new home on the THIRD day in the middle of the summer! Every block of cheese was still frozen.

This trip all the meat, chicken, fish and cheese were all still frozen on the second day when I brought it home from the airport.

These flights go very high up in the air and also go over the Arctic, but I wouldn't worry. Just wrap things well and get XL ziplock bags to seal them.

Mrs Bissli

Thu, Dec 06 2012, 11:57 am

As others said (and I have done the same), I won't be worried about food in the checked luggage spoiling during the flight, UNLESS airlines/airports misplaces the suitcase for more than a few days. I also second the idea of wrapping in a plastic bag or ziplock bag in case of leakage/smell, and also a good idea to wrap towels or T-shirts or PJ around to keep the condensation.

IF departing from Israel, be prepared to open the suitcase and actually show the food at the security check. A friend of mine had frozen something in metal foil wrapping, in the x-ray machine it looked suspicious so she had to take it out and show. (Thankfully the operator understood that Sabta's yerushalmi kugel wasn't explosive).

tizunabi

Thu, Dec 06 2012, 12:10 pm

Make sure you freeze everything well before hand. Stick it all in the same suitcase wrapped up in a a big towel (line the suitcase with the towel and then stick everything inside and cover with the towel again). Feel free to throw in ice packs and stuff like that. It'll stay.

jzmom

Thu, Dec 06 2012, 1:11 pm

Thank you all. Its very much appreciated.

honeybunches

Thu, Dec 06 2012, 9:47 pm

if you have anything fleishigs, make sure you double seal with some kind of siman--words in hebrew or something (masking tape and permanent marker work well) otherwise it can be basar shenisaleim min ha'ayin and problematic..

MiracleMama

Fri, Dec 07 2012, 12:57 am

I always pack in a separate cooler. I would never want to risk packing food with my clothes.

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