using frozen veggies as ice pack

[cruise cruise cruise]

What veggie stays frozen the longest?
We are planning on using veggies to keep some food cold on the plane. By best guess it will be 7 hours between the time we leave the house and when we get to the hotel. Am I silly to think any veggie pack will keep cold that long? what are you best suggestions?

 

[tinytink]

I would think peas or corn because they are small and will conform to whatever you are trying to keep cold.

 

[Frye7127]

I keep dry beans in the freezer to use as a cold pack for bumps. They stay colder than frozen veggies and they don't sweat. You could try that too.

 

[scrapquilter]

Why not just use one of those blue freezer packs?

 

[mickeymaker2003]

The blue freezer packs won't be allowed through security at an airport since they are a frozen liquid.

 

[pamjb]

I have a bag of peas in my freezer that I use for ice packs on injuries. Usually within 20 minutes of use, they are starting to defrost. I highly doubt they will go for 7 hours.

 

[BuzznBelle'smom]

Peas and corn work best for injury ice packs since they are moldable.

For your purpose, you might do better with a "block" of frozen stuff, like spinach. You could possibly use two, if you have the room. Assuming an insulated cooler, I would think the vegetables would still be cold after 7 hours. Maybe thawed, though--you might consider doing an experiment before you go. I would also consider freezing the foods you're travelling with.

 

[Kellydelly]

Were you planning on putting the food in your suitcase or in your carry-on? I would use the solid freezer packs that you'd put in a cooler. Frozen veggies will not stay frozen for more than a couple hours at most. I don't see why you couldn't use those solid freezer packs in a suitcase, but for a carry-on I guess it's an issue.

 

[Green Tea]

dry ice

Or freeze everything before hand, then it all stays cold in the freezer.

 

[phins_jazy]

I don't think veggies will keep it cold enough...unless they're the block veggies like another poster said. Good luck!

 

[BrettS]

dry ice

This actually might work, but there are a lot of rules about it. This is what Delta's web site says. If you do decide to go this route you probably want to check with the airline you're actually flying first as this is one thing that might vary from carrier to carrier:

Delta will accept packages containing 5.5 lbs. (2.5 kgs) or less of dry ice when used to cool non-hazardous perishables in carry-on or checked baggage. The package must:

Meet carry-on baggage restrictions.
Allow the release of carbon dioxide.
Be plainly marked with: "Dry Ice" or "Carbon Dioxide Solid," the net weight of dry-ice material, and the contents being cooled.
Packages containing more than 5.5 lbs. (2.5 kgs) may not be accepted as carry-on or checked baggage.

Or freeze everything before hand, then it all stays cold in the freezer.

This is probably the best idea... if everything starts out frozen then you should have no problem keeping it cool in an insulated cooler for a while.

 

[Justsyd2]

I know of no frozen veggies that will stay frozen that long. I would not count on veggies keep food cold. That's too long. If it's for medical purposes call the airlines and ask what is allowed.

 

[mountdew1]

You need blocks. The more exposed surface area, the faster things thaw. Veggies have lots of exposed surfaces. Frozen blocks will help better. And obviously starting off with cold items will help. Smallest coller possible so less to keep cold. As PP's have said, maybe dry ice, or look into buying the items at your destination?

 

[cruise cruise cruise]

Darn, I had thought most of you would tell me veggies would not keep long enough.
I like the idea of freezing ahead of time, but unfortunatly cheese does not freeze.
I had not thought about dry ice, but that may be more trouble than worth.
I guess I will look into delivery.

Thanks everyone

 

[BrettS]

I like the idea of freezing ahead of time, but unfortunatly cheese does not freeze.

Actually, it does. My wife and I do the whole stockpiling thing with groceries and buy a lot of stuff when it's on sale. We freeze blocks of cheese and shredded cheese all the time and you can't tell that it's been frozen when you defrost it and use it.

 

[Mr Ears]

Frozen things abosorb the heat from what you are cooling. Start with whatever it is you must bring with you being as cold as possible to begin with, and it will stay cooler much longer. I would think anything frozen in your carry-on would become suspect going through the screeners at the airport.

What is so necessary you need o bring it from home?

 

[MichaelColey]

I would think that most vegetables would defrost at about the same rate. The composition of most vegetables is very similar (90-95% water). It takes a certain amount of energy (heat) to transform a solid into a liquid (called the latent heat of fusion) and then a significantly smaller amount of energy to raise it each degree. Water has about the highest latent heat of fusion of any substance, so anything with a high water content (like veggies) should work about as good as anything. (Dry ice works more than twice as good only because it goes through a double transformation simultaneously - from solid directly to gas - at about -110F.)

Far more important than the ice substitue that you use would be the insulation value of the container that it's packed in. The better insulated and more airtight that it is, the less heat that would be able to leak in, which is what causes the frozen stuff to melt.

One suggestion in a previous post (and mentioned in passing in this post) was to use dry ice. I would make sure to read the TSA and airline restrictions, as that might not be allowed. I got by with it once, bringing how a box full of Giordano's pizzas from Chicago packed in a styrofoam cooler in a cardboard box (specially made for Giordano's) with dry ice, but after reading some restrictions online since then, I'm not really sure if they were supposed to let me bring dry ice on the plane. (Although it really shouldn't be a problem -- it's just frozen carbon dioxide, which is one of the things we exhale!)

 

[daisy2]

Just another idea I work at a preschool and we use marshmallows. Not the big ones but the smaller sized ones. They stay frozen long enought to take pain away. They form to the area that is hurt. And as the kids say they smell good...LOL

 

[PinkRhombus]

You guys are making this too complicated. Just put a ziploc of ice in your cooler.....throw that bag out as you go through security...and then have another empty ziploc and get some more ice after you go through.

 

[BuzzandAriel'smom]

You guys are making this too complicated. Just put a ziploc of ice in your cooler.....throw that bag out as you go through security...and then have another empty ziploc and get some more ice after you go through.