Advise needed: how to keep meat from spoiling

[SFROMAN]

Not sure if this belongs here or not but I need some help.

How do I transport meat with out it spoiling for a few days while I travel.

My first thought is to freeze the meat and put it in a cooler with dry ice. That should work for a few days right?

Any suggestions?

[Black Dog]

The best way I can think of would be to seal it as air tight as possible and keep it cool (if not frozen). Vacuum bags like foodsaver brand usually work well, or you can wrap it in a couple layers of plastic wrap then in butcher paper. Ground meet seems to go bad faster than steak and roasts and stuff, I think it has something to do with surface area or something, I'd have a better explanation if I was Alton Brown.

[HillbillyfromAL]

What kinda meat are you talking about? I never liked fish that was frozen, but it keeps well smoked/dried. For your beef and stuff like that it should be fine frozen for a long time. If its fresh and just a few days I'd keep it cold but not frozen. JMHO

[SFROMAN]

I will be traveling on a cargo plane to a 3rd world country and would like to bring some flank steak and make some fajitas for my friends once I'm there. I won't have any electricity so a cooler with dry ice is the only way I can think of keeping the meat from going bad. The travel days are about 3 or 4 days as long as the plane has no issues.

After some research I found out that 10 pounds of dry ice lasts 24 hours. So I figure I can get 20 pounds for 48 hours and if I freeze the meat I can hopefully get another 24 hours in the cooler.

[dwh]

SALT! Lots and lots of SALT! :P

(Sugar works too.)

[SFROMAN]

What if I season the meat before I freeze it?
My fajita seasoning is plenty salty I would think...

Thanks for the suggestions..

[TACODOC]

The right cooler will help too, not all are created equal. Engel makes a bad mamma jamma and then there is Yeti

http://www.yeticoolers.com/

http://www.engel-usa.com/index.php?o...hk=1&Itemid=60

The new Coleman Extremes are decent too.

[kevint]

When camping we put frozen meat in a cooler with a frozen jug of ice and it will last that long. With the dry ice you should be in great shape I would think. Be sure to wrap the dry ice in a towel or something to keep it from touching the cooler. We ruined a cooler with dry ice. The plastic froze and cracked.

We have the Coleman extreme.

Pack the cooler full of something frozen.

[Hafwit]

The key to making things stay cold for a long time in a cooler is:
Get a cooler appropriate for the job--the same principles apply to any cooler, but a well made/well insulated one like a Yeti will keep things cooler longer than a cheap one
Do not open the cooler any more than absolutely necessary! Each time you open it, the temperature inside will try to equilibrate with the temperature outside
Pack it full to leave as little air space as possible. Solids and liquids are slower to heat up than gas. This is why you shouldn't empty the water in a cooler with melting ice. As long as ice remains, the water will remain at just above freezing temp.
If you don't need to open it at all for a long time, tape around the lid seam with duct tape

[Black Dog]

This is why you shouldn't empty the water in a cooler with melting ice. As long as ice remains, the water will remain at just above freezing temp.

Is there any reason why you couldn't add a little rock salt to the ice to make the freeze point lower, like when making ice cream? That will keep the ice from melting for a little longer.