I am wondering if a person can have fish flash froze in Alaska, pack in ice chests and safely bring home to the lower 48, with out spoilage? Also if we turn our RV refrig. on high and fill it with quick froze fish, will that work? Suggestions from you experienced hands.
A couple of comments... i think frozen fish, packed in a cooler will stay frozen for about 48 hours, maybe a little longer. If you're planning to drive back down and that trip takes 5+ days, i predict you'll have thawed fish when you get home. Putting frozen fish in your frig will keep them frozen much longer. I've heard of folks buying a small chest freezer up here at Sam's or Costco and running it all the way home. The obvious problem with that is finding space for the freezer. FedEx works great, but is spendy!
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What I did a few yrs ago was package and freeze (had friends that had a freezer) then pack in coolers like you said and shipped on plane, 3days later the fish was still frozen solid. Not sure how it would work now, check with airlines..No dry ice on airlines...
It will work fine if you place it in the freezer compt in the RV too. Good luck... BTW I caught a halibut that weight 167lbs...Hope you had good luck..
I have returned on three trips with at least one chest freezer packed with fish. We leave with the contents fully frozen and the frezer set as low as possible and shoot for at least electrical hook-ups and run the freezer each night. I believe everyother nitht or possibly every third night would work. A full chest freezer is very efficient keeping its contents frozen.
As far as space for the freezer goes, when pulling a travel trailer, I have had two chest freezer in the bed of the truck, and with the fifth wheel, I felt the freezer was more important than the second easy chair.
If you take an empty freezer up with you, be sure to pack something in it for ballast. I saw one family arive with a destroyed 5 cf chest from bouncing. In '06 we took our favorite brand/flavors of ice cream and as we ate it, replaced it with fish.
We shipped a lot by overnight either UPS or FEDEX. Cost about $2.50/lb. to ship plus $1/lb. for processing and vacuum bagging. Had so many fish we were calling friends and shipping direct to them.
I drove 4500 miles with a cooler full of frozen salmon in my trailer from Alaska. Rock hard still at final destination (Ohio).
The key is to make the trip when the average outside temperature is -20 below. True story.
Kidding aside. Dry Ice and a cooler is the way to do it. I recommend vacuum pack the fish, then wrap in freezer paper, replace your dry ice every couple days as it evaporates til you get home. All should be well.
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True story.
