Driving with frozen food

[natasha5687]

We are going on vacation next week and I was wondering about taking frozen food along. We typically fly so we norally just buy food when we arrive. Our drive will be about 8 hours. I have some of those insulated bags but they only advertise to keep food hot or cold for up to 4 hours. Is it even realistic to think that I can just take my frozen meats with me on this trip? If I can what is the best method for storing them?

 

[Passepartout]

If you REALLY want to keep it frozen, use a good, solid cooler, pack it full, and put dry ice on top of the food. Using those bags will just amount to somewhat controlled thawing. Your food will be ready to cook when you reach your destination.

Jim

 

[natasha5687]

If you REALLY want to keep it frozen, use a good, solid cooler, pack it full, and put dry ice on top of the food. Using those bags will just amount to somewhat controlled thawing. Your food will be ready to cook when you reach your destination.

Jim

Any suggestions on where I would find dry ice?

 

[rapmarks]

one local grocery store carried it when we needed it.
I think if you pack your cooler very tightly with ice and for example, have a tray of frozen lasagna in it too. you would have something for dinner that night and some partially frozen items you could use the next day and another day if refrigerated in meat drawer promptly on arrival. wouldn't pack much beyond that though.

my son n law flew with a cooler packed solid with frozen items, was about 8 hours total, and nothing thawed at all.

 

[pedro47]

one local grocery store carried it when we needed it.
I think if you pack your cooler very tightly with ice and for example, have a tray of frozen lasagna in it too. you would have something for dinner that night and some partially frozen items you could use the next day and another day if refrigerated in meat drawer promptly on arrival. wouldn't pack much beyond that though.

Walmart and Kroger

 

[DeniseM]

You probably have a local ice company that sells large quantities of ice to large events and bagged ice to grocery stores - they should carry it. You need to pack it in a heavy duty ice chest - that will make all the difference.

 

[javabean]

traveling with frozen food

We frequently travel with frozen food from NY state to Hilton Head or Orlando.
We have found that using the thick walled coolers from Omaha Steaks or similar businesses that deliver frozen foods to your home work very well. If I don't have one, a shout out to friends via email or Facebook usually finds one.
We cut lasagna into "bricks" after baking and chilling, and then freeze the bricks. Butter/spread is also frozen, as are the meats. We also use ice packs if needed. If we have to stay somewhere overnight we will try for a hotel that has kitchen such as Residence Inn or SpringHill Suites and put the food in the freezer over night. Many travel hotels that provide breakfast will allow you to put your frozen food cooler into their walk in freezer, at least until early morning breakfast.
We have been very successful with this approach. As you are traveling a shorter distance you should have little problem keeping the frozen stuff frozen. Safe travels.

 

[Tahiya]

dry ice

Baskin Robbins sells dry ice. We usually just freeze ice for the ice chest in half gallon milk cartons.

 

[Elan]

You need to pack it in a heavy duty ice chest - that will make all the difference.

Agree. I have a massive Igloo cooler (150 quarts, IIRC; can't even remember why I bought it) and it's impressive in it's ability to keep ice as ice. Many days after packing it, I still have ice. In this regard it performs much better than my smaller coolers.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

It might be a good idea if transporting dry ice in a car to make sure that you are bringing in fresh air rather than setting the climate control on recirc. The reason being that as you drive, you will be converting pounds of CO2 into a gas inside of the car. Probably not something that is going to cause you problems as long as you are aware of it and take a few proper precautions.

Just for the heck of it, I did some calculations relying on what I learned in chemistry class (that I took a hundred years ago :rofl, you can figure that 10 pounds of dry ice (CO2) equates to 4,536 grams. Each mole of CO2 weighs 44 grams. So, that is 103 moles of gas. Each mole of gas occupies 22.4 liters (at standard temperature and pressure). So, 10 pounds of dry ice will vent about 2,300 liters of CO2 gas.

1 cubic foot includes 28.3 liters (I looked that up). So when the dry ice sublimates (if that is the right word), it will give off about 82 cubic feet of pure CO2. But according to wikipedia, at a concentration of only 1% CO2, some people will feel drowsy. So, if you mixed the 82 cubic feet of pure CO2 with air to get a 1% concentration, that would occupy 8000 cubic feet.

So, keep fresh air coming in to your car as you drive and if you stop for an hour for lunch/dinner, open the car doors for perhaps a minute or two before resuming your driving. (Or buy your meat at your destination? )

 

[Chrispee]

I would have no problem driving 8 hours with a hard shell cooler packed with a big bag of regular ice. I'd bet it will stay completely frozen, but if you're worried you could just stop and buy another bag of ice at the halfway point?

 

[klpca]

We are going on vacation next week and I was wondering about taking frozen food along. We typically fly so we norally just buy food when we arrive. Our drive will be about 8 hours. I have some of those insulated bags but they only advertise to keep food hot or cold for up to 4 hours. Is it even realistic to think that I can just take my frozen meats with me on this trip? If I can what is the best method for storing them?

We camp a lot, thus we are dealing with keeping food cold for a week at a time. I would get one of the super cold coolers by Igloo (they are called MaxCold). Usually they are blue, but sometimes white. Costco had white ones for awhile earlier this year. First, solidly freeze all of the food that you can (it needs to have been frozen for 2+ days), put some ice in the bottom of the cooler, then the food, then cover the whole thing with more ice, close the lid and don't open it until you get to your destination. When loading the food in the cooler, I would put things like hamburger near the bottom, casseroles near the middle, and solids like steaks nearer the top - but still under a good layer of ice. I would be willing to bet that everything will still be frozen when you arrive.

In all of our years of camping using this method, I have never lost any food to spoilage, and have never had anyone get sick from food poisoning. (knock on wood). In the world of camping, 8 hours is nothing. Your food will be fine.

 

[SueDonJ]

We've done it Boston to Hilton Head, about 18 hours straight through, and had no problem. Make sure everything is frozen solid (I like to do at least four days prior to packing the cooler) and like others have said, use a good quality hard-walled cooler and jam-pack it tightly with ice packs in any spaces. Don't open it along the way, and put it underneath other items so that the sun coming in the car windows won't hit it.

 

[pacodemountainside]

If you have to go out and buy expensive ice chest and ice may be cheaper to buy meat at WalMart, large supermarket near resort.

Just pack non-perishables including condiments which are expensive to buy.

Also, generally cheaper to buy soda, booze, bottled water, etc. at local discount store.

 

[dougp26364]

If your on,y driving 8 to 10 hours, forget the dry ice. IMHO it can be danfpgerous and is an unesessary risk. We drive out to CO, which is a 10 hour drive for us. A decent cooler, freezing the food ahead of time and ice or even those frozen blue ice packs work fine. This past trip we took 4 steaks and 4 premade gourmet hamburger patties in what amounted to a six pack style igloo cooler with the blue ice blocks in it. Everything was still frozen when we arrived after a 10 hour drive.

We have. Mini van so our cooler is in the air conditioned car, not in a hot trunk. That probably makes more of a difference in the summer when outdoor temps can get into the 100's more so than in the spring/fall when temps tend to be milder.

 

[BJRSanDiego]

Has anyone used one of those 12 V. electrical coolers on trips? The type I am referring to is one that has no moving parts but relies on thermal-electric cooling (Peltier-effect to be specific).

 

[WinniWoman]

Is there a reason you can't shop for the frozen and cold food items nearer to your destination?

 

[dioxide45]

GFS (Gordon Food Service) sells dry ice.

 

[Passepartout]

Has anyone used one of those 12 V. electrical coolers on trips? The type I am referring to is one that has no moving parts but relies on thermal-electric cooling (Peltier-effect to be specific).

In a former life as a long haul trucker, I had a succession of those. Igloo, Coleman, others. I tried 'em all. Bottom line, they will keep the inside about 30 degrees below the ambient temp. That is to say if it's warmer than 80ish, your food will be cool, not cold. And about the best you can hope for is to keep stuff cool, not to cool warm foods. They just dont have the power to do that. My experience it that they need a kit to replace fans and thermoelectric units about yearly $40-$50. They draw at least 10 amps of power. A big truck has usually 4 BIG batteries, and without running the engine, a cooler would suck down the batteries over a weekend. In a car with one battery, you would be fortunate to be able to start the engine after a night of keeping a thermoelectric cooler running.

They really work best while the engine is running.

Jim

 

[mdurette]

I'm going to 2nd the Omaha Steak coolers. I buy from them from time to time so we always have one around. I have taken several 6 hour trips in 80 degree weather with that filled with frozen and refrigerated items, topped with ice. Never an issue. (an the cooler is in the back of a pick-up!) The frozen items are still frozen and the refrigerated items are still cool enough. There is actually still a bunch of ice left! Those coolers are great for stuff like this. A bit bulky to deal with, but they work.

 

[ronparise]

My routine drive is only 4 hours, but Ive done 8-10. I use the frozen stuff in the cooler to keep the rest of what Im bringing cold. Ideally the meat will be thawed,but still cold and ready to cook, when I unpack the cooler.

Im not packing for a whole week, only the first day of so...There will be a trip to the local Costco,or Walmart, to buy for the rest of the week.

 

[natasha5687]

Is there a reason you can't shop for the frozen and cold food items nearer to your destination?

Many of the things that I would like to take are make ahead and freeze kinda things like chili, meat sauce, and lasagna. When I purchase steak (which we eat often) I clean, season, and then freeze it so that it can be thawed and cooked immediately when ready. I just find it easier and more cost effective to travel with my frozen stuff if I can. More time for vacation less time grocery shopping and cooking.

 

[WinniWoman]

Many of the things that I would like to take are make ahead and freeze kinda things like chili, meat sauce, and lasagna. When I purchase steak (which we eat often) I clean, season, and then freeze it so that it can be thawed and cooked immediately when ready. I just find it easier and more cost effective to travel with my frozen stuff if I can. More time for vacation less time grocery shopping and cooking.

Then, I think you can make this work with the right cooler and the dry ice for an 8 hour drive- keep the car AC on, park in the shade, etc. I am sure some of it will defrost, at least a bit, but you can stick it in the fridge/freezer right away when you get there and be good to go...

 

[MuranoJo]

As others have said, use a good hard-bodied cooler chest with ice and you'll be just fine. Normally, the solid ice blocks last longer--or you could use plastic milk jugs filled with water and frozen. For foods you'll use later in the week, make sure they're frozen solid.

We take enough food for a week on our rafting trips and have never had problems. But we do invest in higher-quality coolers for those trips (i.e., Yeti, etc.).

 

[DaveNV]

If you REALLY want to keep it frozen, use a good, solid cooler, pack it full, and put dry ice on top of the food. Using those bags will just amount to somewhat controlled thawing. Your food will be ready to cook when you reach your destination.

Jim

And if you want to take it a bit further, after you put the dry ice in the cooler, tape the lid shut with duct tape, especially along the horizontal gap edge where the lid sits into the base. Makes it essentially air tight, and your food will stay frozen much longer.

Dave