Shipping Cooked Meat

[buddhaguy]

Any ideas for shipping cooked meat to friends and family in other states? In particular, I am talking about smoked pork, brisket, etc. I intend to vacuum seal and freeze it but am curious as to the most efficient way to ship so that the meat is preserved.

 

[Brisketexan]

I have shipped a couple of briskets to Macanudo in Alaska, where the quickest I can get them there is 2-day shipping. I don't even vacuum seal them -- I just trim it down (remove the major fat, because why pay to ship something that will just get tossed?), then wrap it tightly in foil (2 packets -- one contains the point, one contains the flat). I then freeze it, and put the foil packets into ziploc bags (sometimes I double bag it) with as much air forced out as I can.

I then get a small box, and line it with pieces of styrofoam (I bought a package of foam wall insulation at Home Depot, and cut pieces as I need them -- the package will last me a while, so I can ship a few more briskets yet). I crumble some newspapers or styrofoam peanuts if I have some, and put the brisket in there, frozen, the morning that I'm going to ship it.

Mac says that when he gets it 2 days later, the meat is thawed, but still very cold. And, because it is well-smoked, it's not anywhere near going bad. He just heats the foil packets in the oven for an hour or so, and it's good to go. It usually doesn't survive more than a day or two once it arrives, so it doesn't have a chance to go bad.

You don't have to get fancy, in other words. As long as it is packed in a leak-proof fashion, with some measure of insulation, it will arrive fine, even in 2 days. In one day, it won't even thaw all the way (I've travelled with one on a plane, and it was wrapped in very little insulation, and by that evening, the middle was still frozen).

 

[Macanudo]

Yes, listen to brisket. Ship it out on a Monday or Tuesday with 2 day delivery and it will be fine.