Frozen Meats

[gobucs]

So since you have to pay for every single thing that you travel with on a plane would my frozen meat that i would wrap really well do ok on my flight from FLL to STT or do we have to check in a cooler
Thanks

[JJShaw]

We fly from Myrtle beach thru FLL and have a layover in Fla...our frozen items make the flight just fine...I have a back pack thats also a cooler...so nothing to check as far as frozen items go...Last year I had a frozen bottle of water in the bag...it went thru fine...TSA said it was fine as long as the water was frozen.. it helped keep things colder...and by the end of the day I still had a cold bottle of water to drink...

[gobucs]

Great Thanks
We are only coming from the west coast of florida onto FLL so i think it will be fine as well

[Dome526]

Buy a Poar Bear Cooler. the 24 pack size qualifies as Carry-on. Fill the cooler all the way with meat. You won;t regret it! I had frozen steak 3 days later! Ground beef was still froaen in the middle when I cooked it 2 days into our trip. Meat was very expensive in STJ.

[Knolmom]

If you freeze two or three items together, i.e. steaks, or frozen foods, you can do just as well with them in a brown paper bag in a suitcase as with a cooler when traveling from Florida. I'm thinking forget frozen water, bring frozen quart containers of OJ from Florida as 1/2 gallon ran us $10 on STJ once. Used to bring frozen butter also. Wouldnt bring the Costco steaks anymore as we had some great ones from the St John Market that were just as good and not much more expensive. Substitute frozen bacon instead.

[Dome526]

Knolmom, 3 days of food won't cut it for a 2 week trip... I did bring butter, and it was a good move. Bacon will not stay frozen, but it will be cold enough in a Polar Bear Cooler. I got the Polar Bear Cooler tip from this forum, and it was an EXCELLENT suggestion. I do like your OJ idea...as long as I can pack enough meat! I was traveling from CT, so the cooler worked fantastic starting at 4:30a.m. all the way to our arrival in STJ. We traveled on a Sunday, stayed at Cruz Bay Boutique Hotel on Senday night, and took a taxi to Cinnamon Bay Campground on Monday. Our meat was still frozen on Tues, and still frozen on Wed. Paper bags won't do that! Get a Polar Bear Cooler on sale in Dec. with a 2 for 1 special.
Tom in CT

[Knolmom]

Thought the OP was coming from Florida. We dont't do frozen anymore. After 30 trips, and if we go just as a couple, we eat out. There is so much available on island today as opposed to years ago. In 2000, before Starfish was starfish,and the rats were running wild through the Marina Market, I brought frozen meat for 32 people for a week for our wedding moon! Hams, a turkey, 200 burgers and dogs ,cheeses and frozen appetizers and desserts as they were not available on island then. No real TSA at the time, but security at Newark Airport made us empty out each of 3 rolling coolers and the screening area looked like the Armour Meat Packing Plant. Thank goodness it was a 7 AM flight. My cooler days are over.
I am packing today to leave Wed. Plastic bags with instant coffee, tea bags, sugar, iced tea mix, large bag of cereal, small containers containing bbQ sauce, mayo and homemade salad dressing. 2 boxes Breton Crackers. Extra zip lock bags. Will splurge at Starfish for the cheese.

[gobucs]

Thanks Guys!
I sucked it up and payed for 2 check in items so i can pack a cooler with the frozzen stuff and that way we will have a extra cooler for the week as there is 8 of us going
Great suggestions about the butter, never thought of that
I always designate different items to the deifferent couples to bring and it works out great
I was just being cheap in trying to save the extra $$ so i could spend it have more fun in the islands.

[Knolmom]

If you are going with a group of 8, I would go to Costco , Sams or BJ and get multiple butter, bacon, Costco NY strip steaks and containers of OJ. We usually try to bring dry cereal too as we find the selection and freshness to be questionable. If you can get a 5 pack box of crackers at the warehouse store you will be assured of the freshness. Surely among 8 peeps someone could fit these in. We did pay almost $10 per pound for fresh asparagus last summer, but it was for a special occasion dinner.

[gobucs]

We probably wont be at the house that much so we are bringing enough meats for a few dinners, breakfast stuff like that
We always pack coffee filters, baggies,garbage bags ect....so we dont have to buy them there

[fmzip]

Good suggestion!

We are going for two weeks.

I was thinking making one bag strictly for food! Beside steaks and butter, what would you suggest packing from the states?

[coconutmom]

Techni ice is great to keep all frozen. If you want to bring it back home just remember if not frozen it is a gel and TSA in STT will take it.

[Knolmom]

Meats, bacon, butter, gourmet cheese if you like it, any other cheese that is expensive, packaged drink mix( iced tea and lemonade) crystal light individuals for bottled water, cocktail mix dry, like sour mix, rice if you can put it in a plastic bag, specialty rice like spanish rice for pork chops or wild rice for chicken , dried cranberries and nuts ,condiments from 'McDonald's even if only relish for hot dogs, bring your favorite hot dogs, I bring a head of garlic, bring a sewing kit for minor tears and button replacement. Also if you like fish and you can get Phillips Crab Cakes(Costco), even the mini's are great to bring frozen.Cereal and cookies are often to always stale dated on the island, especially off season so bring your favorite cereal in plastic bags if you can.

[Lindy]

fmzip - When we go with a large group I like to bring lots of "snacky" things like cheeses, sausages, crackers because they can be VERY expensive when buying enough for everyone. Lunchmeats too. I also like to make a batch of meatballs to freeze in a large ziplock bag so that we can pick up some marinara in a jar and some dried pasta and have a quick delicious meal after a day at the beach. I also get my hubby to debone turkey breasts and they make an easy grilled dinner and the leftovers make fantastic sandwiches for the beach. One year I mailed a flat rate box full of chips, crackers, cookies, etc (get rid of all the boxes to maximize space). Sure it cost a little, but how far does a $10 bag of potato chips go with nine people????

[Knolmom]

Good point. Traveling with 2 teenage boys last summer nearly broke the bank. They burned up so much energy in the water that we were looking at 4 meals a day plus snacks.Lunch before the beach and lunch after. Dinner after we got home from having a meal in Cruz Bay.