Anyone know how to send frozen meats through the mail?
 

I have had alot of interest in our homegrown pork products from people in other states. I'd like to offer frozen shipping to those customers. Is there any way to do this? I don't know anyone who has ever tried this.

Dry ice and next day air would probably work.

My boss goes on a fishing excursion each year and their salmon is sent to them in a cooler (just an ordinary styrafoam beer type cooler) with ice packs and they are shipped by air and the fish is sealed in the cryo packaging to prevent it. You may want to also research shippers and see what they can tell you, you made need a food inspection certificate to sell and ship but I'm sure you've already thought of that.

We've gotten gift packages of frozen meats sent via FedEx Overnight -- I believe they use the guaranteed by morning delivery option. Express Mail could also be used as well as UPS overnight shipping options. I guess price and total time from shipping to delivery would be the final deciding factor.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ :)

the styrofoam must be air tight and hopefully packed in a cardboard box if you want to use dry ice. i think the post office would require overnight shipping too.

Did this option include dry ice? I would prefer not to have to bother with dry ice, unless absolutely necessary.

dry ice needs to vent, sealing it up tight is a bad idea and make sure you let the shipper know it dry ice because they need to keep it in a separate cargo bin from animals. the dry ice sucks o2 out of the air and could kill the animals.

I do cargo shipments at work for the airline, i've done the Hazmat shipping class every yr for about 10 yrs now ..

oh yeh, dont pack it in styrofoam coolers, they are so easy to break it's amazing...we wont allow styrofoam coolers at all I'm not sure about the places like Fed ex

Dry Ice Info
Dry ice is classified by DOT and IATA as a 'miscellaneous' hazard, class 9. Dry ice is considered hazardous during transportation for three reasons:

1. Explosion hazard: dry ice releases a large volume of carbon dioxide gas as it sublimates. If packaged in a container that does not allow for the release of the gas, it may explode, causing personal injury or property damage.

2. Suffocation hazard: a large volume of carbon dioxide gas emitted in a confined space may create an oxygen deficient atmosphere.

3. Contact hazard: dry ice is a cryogenic material that causes severe frostbite upon contact with skin.

No, never got one with dry ice. They did use those vinyl bag types of frozen ice blocks in them. They use those types in medicines, etc. that are shipped to hospitals, also.

Ken in Glassboro, NJ :)

Here are some folks who have been very successful selling meat fish and poultry via the mail.

I know Omaha Steaks has been doing it for over 20 years.

http://www.omahasteaks.com/servlet/O...ping?PCR=1:100

http://www.kansascitysteaks.com/

https://www.livelob.com/lobstergram/...tid=WEBSPECIAL

http://www.ukfoodonline.co.uk/allreg...llpoultry5.htm

Generally, I've gotten Omaha Steaks in a very heavy duty styrofoam cooler (not the $5 coolers you get at the supermarket) which is in turn packed in a heavy cardboard box. It is packed with frozen gelpaks that keep everything cold for 2 to 3 days.

Usually delivered via FedEx or UPS.

i guess you are right about the explosive nature, i forgot about the plastic soda bottle effect. i do know this...if it vents too fast, it will totally sublimate too quickly and you will lose any cooling benefit from it. it does release carbon dioxide so it does push the air out of the local atmosphere as it sinks to the bottom of a confined space. i worked in an environment where dry ice was used to cool an ice cream topping as it was packaged and an co2 monitor needed to be mounted to protect the workers in that area from co2. the company also shipped ice cream via overnight shipping to the corporate office thousands of miles away. it was shipped in a glorified strofoam cooler in a cardboard box.

my only experience with dry ice came when i bought a few bricks so that i could take ice cream on a camping trip. i put it in a chest freezer that had a bad seal,waiting until the next day to pack up and leave for the trip and the next day all i had was the newspaper wrapper. all of the dry ice had sublimated away.

When I was younger and could go get them we used to send lobster all the time in the mail to family up north. Buy a cheap cooler pack what your shipping in there with some dry ice and it will last a couple of days easy.

Medical supply companies should be able to provide the cooler in a box you'll need. Definitely use ice or gel packs, no dry ice. More bother than its worth.

I had 30 lbs of deer jerkey shipped to South Korea in a heavy duty styrofoam shipping contain that my dad had recieved a live lobster in. It took 10 days to get there by boat and we packed it with dry ice and it turned out fine.

Granted jerky is not as pershiable but it still needs to be kept cool.

[QUOTE=silverbackMP]I had 30 lbs of deer jerkey shipped to South Korea in a heavy duty styrofoam shipping contain that my dad had recieved a live lobster in. It took 10 days to get there by boat and we packed it with dry ice and it turned out fine.QUOTE]

At the same time 5 Korean cargo workers mysteriously passed out in the cargo hold. Investigations could not identify any pathogens and there was no odor of any toxic vapors.....:D

I was told by our local postmaster that we could not ship meat by the mail.
So is Omaha STeaks shipped overnight with the post office? Cindy

"My boss goes on a fishing excursion each year and their salmon is sent to them in a cooler (just an ordinary styrafoam beer type cooler) with ice packs and they are shipped by air "

I live in an area where folks from all over the world come to fish.They used to have their fish shipped by air with them(cargo) but now the airlines(Air Canada) won,t allow dry ice.And now the cost of shipping the fish has skyrocketed. weight restrictions etc.

We used to ship frozen and fresh fish all the time.
The fish was sealed of course.
We shipped in a cardboard box with 3/4 in styrofoam lining. We put in at least 2 of the Polar gel packs.
http://shop.tps-online.com/prodimg/6706.jpg
http://shop.tps-online.com/browse.cfm/4,1854.htm
Usually shipped second day air, sometimes ground, but it'd be ok in all but the hottest weather for 3 or 4 days.

This is a timely question, since I need to send some goat lab samples with a cold pack.

Where can I find packs like the Polar gel packs is a small quantity? Like less than 5? Wal-Mart?

uline.com sells styrofoam chests with the boxes for shipping them. We purchase salmon and buffalo, and both folks use uline.com and it comes UPS and Fed Ex. Another gal just uses the med shipping containters she gets her vaccines in to ship me elk last year. Vicki

Dry ice and strofoam

Great question,, considering our screen names are very close in mine has simple in front of it,, we also are getting our pork sales going,, things are picking up,, we are looking to ship out of state. was going to post office tomorrow to see what was the best way to ship to GA. Have alot of interest in meat cuts,, not whole pigs,, so trying to specialize in different cut they want. No one seems to have freezer any more. Not sure why,, guess its that instant society we live in.

Use fedex second day air and dry ice.

Look up other internet meat sellers and examine their sites. You'll glean lots of useful info there.

There are insulated boxes, which are basically boxes with styrofoam cut to fit to make a box in the box. They aren't cheap and neither is the shipping. You must have dedicated customers who are willing to pay as much they are for the meat just for shipping.

Good luck.

Jena

PS...and this is a big one!!!

You must have USDA inspection to ship across state lines!!!!! I have a friend who got hit hard by that one...they can and will shut you down.

Jena

Last month Pelenaka's family had a birthday party for her grandmother at the family homestead in rural Puerto Rico. Her aunt packed a frozen ham in a styrofoam lined box and had it with her baggage. Her baggage got lost for two days. This was in the tropics in 90 degree weather. While not still frozen all the way through, the ham was still partially frozen. And the thawed parts were still below 40 degrees. It was pretty good eating.

Fed Ex over night. In wax board card board boxes. Get some Tyvek and cut it down to insulate the insides of the box. cut for each side, top and bottom.

Using the same size boxes make the cutting easy. You can cut many sections out of a 4x8 sheet.

Then freeze your product down to -20 degrees.

This will give you a safe 2 day travel time. You can send Ice cream this way just fine. So frozen meat should work fine.

Dippin Dots Ice Cream was sent this way back years ago.