Keeping food cold without ice or gel packs

[StormyNight]

This has been my dilemma since airlines will not let you take liquids with you as you fly. With such tight connections these days, and many airlines that don't even Offer you to pay ridiculous amounts of money for awful food...many times we've ended up not being able to eat for many hours when we travel

So, I would like an option to bring my own sandwich and cheese, etc. from home but need a way to keep it cold in a cooler without ice or frozen gel packs. I tried once to take a super heavy duty sealed small gel ice pack with me - even with super tough plastic I was not allowed to take it and had to pitch my carefully packed gourmet lunch

Last time we flew I froze a banana solid and packed that right before we left the house. That did work to some extent...frozen bananas don't stay frozen all day and liquify to such a mess. It did keep my food cold through almost all day (when we travel to family we leave at 5:00 am and don't arrive until 10:00 pm) but I would LOVE an acceptable alternative to the frozen banana (or I think I used two!)

I did purchase one of those lunchbags that you actually put in the freezer, with the cooling agent inside, though I have no idea if that will pass muster. I am continuing to look for options so if any one has any other ideas I'd appreciate it.

 

[Dawgluver]

Airport rules can be such a pain. What about bringing several small empty ziplocks and filling them with ice AFTER you clear security to use as makeshift ice packs. You can keep refilling with ice on the plane. Freeze any ingredients that can be frozen beforehand. Use frozen grapes in a zippy as an ice pack. If your freezable lunchbag contains gel, they might take it away from you unless you put the gel pack in your 3:1:1 bag.

The snacks we bring don't require refrigeration: cheese and crackers, granola bars. We carry them in our backpacks.

 

[medtran49]

Actually, it's not the airlines, it's the TSA. They do have a website that explains the rules. 3-1-1 Liquids Rule | Transportation Security Administration . Apparently, you could fill multiple bags with each up to 3.4 oz with clear water as long as they all fit in a quart bag, or do as Dawgluver suggested and get ice after you go thru security. I'd take extra bags with me if you decide to go with ice from home though just in case they do take them away from you.

 

[Aunt Bea]

I would focus on things that do not require refrigeration.

Cheddar Cheese
Rolls
Trail Mix
Granola bars
Fruit
Nuts
Crackers
Peanut Butter
Cookies
etc...

 

[Andy M.]

We face similar issues when we go on vacation in the winter. It's 5:00AM to 3:00PM for us. SO packs dry stuff - peanut butter and jelly crackers six-packs, trail mix, etc. After we go through security at the airport, we eat breakfast and buy sandwiches for the flight. They keep until we eat lunch on the plane.

 

[jennyema]

Just get ice after you go through security.

 

[GLC]

Cantaloupes and honeydews are just fine after being frozen. Cut melons in half (to make it easy to see that there's nothing nefarious hidden inside) and freeze hard. Assuming you like melon, you have them for cooling and eating. Watermelon works, too, but probably leaves you more wet as it thaws.

Nominally, whole fruits pass TSA just fine, and eaten/cut fruits have to be wrapped. I'm saying cut the melon, simply because, if I were screening, I'd worry about something that size that could be filled with whatever liquid. It will al have to be x-ray scanned anyway. But a cut and seeded melon is plainly just what it appears to be and should pass without a problem, frozen or not.

 

[Dawgluver]

In some countries, you aren't allowed to bring in whole fruit in order to prevent bringing in parasites or diseases. Same with meat. When we fly into a little airport in Mexico, they actually have fruit-sniffing dogs.

You might want to cube the melon and freeze, using like ice cubes.

 

[GotGarlic]

Cured meats and hard cheeses are preserved already and are intended to be eaten at room temp and keep fine for hours, probably even days, at room temp. Bring rolls and small packets of condiments like mayo, mustard, etc., then stuff the rolls with some combination of salami, sopressata, bologna, country ham, cheddar, Monterey Jack, mozzarella cheeses, and sliced cucumber, then add nuts, olives, cut fruit, as Aunt Bea suggested. You could use hummus or white bean dip as a sandwich spread instead of condiments.

Not everything needs to be cold when it's for short-term storage. Freshly cooked foods like soups, etc., need to be chilled and reheated, but most whole foods (even if they're cut up, like carrots) don't need to be.

 

[Dawgluver]

^^This. We often take a box of Laughing Cow cheese wedges, they're not even chilled when you buy them, and contain surprisingly few ingredients and preservatives.

 

[creative]

I am wondering whether a small, hand sized carton of fruit juice (frozen) would be allowed?

 

[GotGarlic]

I am wondering whether a small, hand sized carton of fruit juice (frozen) would be allowed?

Only if they're 3.4 ounces or less. I don't buy those, so I don't know their capacity.

 

[Kayelle]

Millions of people for generations packed their lunch for school or work in a brown paper bag without a thought of keeping it cold. Why is it so important on an airplane?

 

[Andy M.]

Millions of people for generations packed their lunch for school or work in a brown paper bag without a thought of keeping it cold. Why is it so important on an airplane?

That's what I did. However, the OP is talking about a much longer unrefrigerated period.

 

[GotGarlic]

Millions of people for generations packed their lunch for school or work in a brown paper bag without a thought of keeping it cold. Why is it so important on an airplane?

Lots of those people suffered from, let's say, gastrointestinal distress and didn't know the cause before germs were discovered in the 1800s. This is a wonderful book that includes that topic, among other interesting facts of life before 1900: The Good Old Days: They Were Terrible!

I think it's also that we're conditioned in the U.S. to think everything has to be refrigerated - food safety is emphasized a lot, not to mention extreme fear of microbes, which is why people use bacterial soap to the extent that we do. And many people don't actually know a lot about food. After a hurricane here 11 years ago, we were without power for 5 days. My neighbor cleaned out her fridge and threw out all the jams, jellies, pickles and other stuff that would have been just fine, because she knew nothing about preserving.

 

[Mad Cook]

We face similar issues when we go on vacation in the winter. It's 5:00AM to 3:00PM for us. SO packs dry stuff - peanut butter and jelly crackers six-packs, trail mix, etc. After we go through security at the airport, we eat breakfast and buy sandwiches for the flight. They keep until we eat lunch on the plane.

Don't they feed you on planes these days? Admittedly, I haven't flown for some years but they always fed us as part of the deal. Even on a very short flight such as Manchester - London (about 150 miles as the crow or BA flies) they offered free coffee and biscuits.

 

[Dawgluver]

Don't they feed you on planes these days? Admittedly, I haven't flown for some years but they always fed us as part of the deal. Even on a very short flight such as Manchester - London (about 150 miles as the crow or BA flies) they offered free coffee and biscuits.

Sure. For about $8-$10 you can get a dried out sandwich with no flavor, and a small packet of nuts. Unless you're seated in first class, most airline food is nearly inedible, IMO. You can still get free (for now) coffee and soft drinks, and some offer pretzels, peanuts, or a cookie.

 

[GotGarlic]

Don't they feed you on planes these days? Admittedly, I haven't flown for some years but they always fed us as part of the deal. Even on a very short flight such as Manchester - London (about 150 miles as the crow or BA flies) they offered free coffee and biscuits.

Lots of airlines have cut back on food service. You usually get a free beverage (soda, juice, coffee) and maybe some pretzels or a cracker mix, but not a full meal unless the flight is really long - not the whole trip, but the flight. So if I'm flying direct from Norfolk, VA, to California, there will be a meal, but if there's a layover in Charlotte, NC, or Dallas, no meal.

 

[CharlieD]

The last few times I traveled I brought frozen Ice pack with me. I had no trouble bringing it on the plain until on of the legs of traveling I forgot to freeze the bag and then TSA made me dump it. I was told I can bring it as long as it is frozen. It was a medical purpose ice pack.

Personally I have no problem bringing cold cut sandwiches even if it is the whole day travel. As long as they are airtight packed nothing happens to meat for one day for sure. Of course I have an iron stomach. But any restaurant inside the gate will give yo ice for free, so zip-lock bag might be your cheapest and easiest solution.

 

[medtran49]

Depending on the airport, you can also get some pretty decent food to take on the plane after you pass thru security. Fort Lauderdale had some really nice selections the last time I flew and you could tell they were super fresh just by looking at them. It was definitely a bit pricey though and I'd hate to feed more than 1 or 2 at those prices.