Bringing Your Own Meat

A friend told me to do this. We are flying San Diego-San Juan (one overnight) then to Tortola (spend one more night bc we can't sleep aboard), then heading out. How do you pack the meat? Will it be OK waiting 2-3 days before boarding? Thanks for any help.

2-3 days is a long time for meat. Perhaps with some dry ice (can have up to 5 pounds on airlines).

I have traveled with 24-28 hours door to boat, without dry ice, using Polar Bear cooler. Still frozen upon arrival, with minimal softening. Pack as full as possible so no dead space.

If you check with the hotel you are staying, they may have walk in freezer that they can allow you to store container...

But 3 days would be pushing it.

As much as I like my Polar Bear coolers.....I would not travel 2 or 3 days with one full of frozen meat. Most we've done is maybe 12-15 hours and everything remained solid, but overnight or multi day travel I wont be trying that.

That distance I would just buy local.
G

I have made it 48 hours with a dozen 10-12oz ribeyes hard frozen, wrapped in two beach towels with 4 lb of dry ice in a Polarbear 24 pack soft cooler. Still hard when unpacked. Once on island ask the restaurant where you are staying to put your cooler in their walk in over night. I have done that at Ft. Burt and Peg Legs at Nanny Cay. (But Peg Leg's cooler is no more.)

We take prepared meats/meals in vacuum sealed bags. Although it's not necessary, it really does help if something thaws, no cross contamination.

We freeze everything on a cookie sheet as flat as we can, so that everything stacks together well. Helps keep it frozen longer.

Pack in a wheeled 50 qt cooler on dry ice the night before we leave. We actually left the dry ice in this year, the airline allows 5#'s or less. If the airline does not allow dry ice, we throw it away when we get to the terminal. We check it as a piece of luggage and pick it up in STT.

We stayed at Rhymers for several days before we got on the boat. They offered to put the cooler in their walk in freezer for us. Worked great, everything was frozen solid when we got on the boat.

I travel with frozen meat on all my trips there, anything from steaks, shrimp, alligator and bison. I vac pack and freeze solid. Pack your cooler tight with a few frozen gel packs and place the whole cooler in the freezer until you walk out the door for the airport. I have done this where I get to the hotel, line the trash can with a clean plastic bag, put your meat in there and get ice from the machine...keep adding ice as it melts. Even better yet is if your cooler is not too large and you can put it in the can and cover it with ice. One time I purchased a styrofoam cooler at Riteway (14.00...ouch) and did this until I was able to get into the villa the next day. Where I was staying was limited on freezer space. Repack in the am and repeat at the next place.

It is a long time but may be doable with a lot of effort. I mainly do this because we want specific cuts or things. If you are doing this just for chicken / pork chops etc Riteway has a nice selection of meat and the prices are not too crazy so buying there may be easier.
Lunch meat and cheeses are also fairly reasonable in price....I would not bring those down again like we have the first few trips.

I think vacuum sealing helps greatly as things are air / water /leak proof and seem to stay frozen longer and also keep longer when thawed. You will have to be flexible in your menu and eat things in the order that they thaw.

I have traveled many times with a cooler (legit medical dietary requirements, need to meal plan, preference, etc.) and in my experience, proper packing is the key.

Freeze everything as cold as you can get it, for as long as you can freeze it. Don't wait until the night before to package and freeze items, do it a week in advance.

Vac- packing makes the meat/meals very dense, eliminating air pockets. Having a densely packed cooler is key to keeping it frozen.

Use a high quality cooler. I like Polar Bear brand. Using a layer of techiice ice around the food gives another layer of protection. More than once, we did 36 hours with everything still frozen solid.

As long as the meat maintains a safe temp, a little thawing is fine.

I think the important question is why do you want to bring meat? To save money? To bring better quality? Bring meat that isn't available? If it is only to save money, then I'd consider whether or not you will truly be saving if something goes wrong and it spoils.. Just something to consider. If it was just one day of travel I wouldn't see it as a problem - just more of a risk with such a long time between departing and getting on the boat.

There are a couple reasons we do this, the main one is convenience in the galley, the other is availability of quality meat. There is quantity meat in the islands, but it can be hard to find, especially when you are buying for 8 people.

I cook bacon and sausage at home. Makes breakfast so much easier, just warm up the meat and make pancakes, or eggs. Also good for BLT's (no messing with all the grease)

I make homemade spaghetti sauce, just boil noodles and you have a nice dinner.

I marinate a pork tenderloin, bacon wrap filet mignons, per-make hamburger patties and season. Everything is done, ready to throw on the grill.

I also make taco meat, again, no messing with grease, just heat up, add some cheese, lettuce and tomatoes, dinner is done.

Colleen ~ we do the same....whole goal is to make it easy on the boat with as little actual cooking and clean up as possible. Taco meat for tacos' or nachos, brats, pulled pork and this hunk of turkey breast that Costco has. Everyone makes a meal or 2 so we share the burden of carrying it

Yep, we do the same staying in a villa. It’s a huge time saver to be able to whip out breakfast or a picnic lunch when I have everything prepped. When my parents travelled with us, my parents had everything they needed to cook at the villa (their choice) while we went out for dinner. I would provision whatever I needed to fill in. I cook two meals (sometimes three) everyday in my real life, I want easy on vacation. And I am a bit of a snob about meats due to where I live.

Will pack in a shipping container (insulated) with dry ice. I am not clear about dry ice "ventilation" requirements though. Will call Southwest.