Smoked salmon - how long can it last unrefrigerated?
I'm spending a week in NYC and I really want to bring home some smoked salmon. The catch is, I'll be flying back to Seattle from NY and with travel to and from the airports and flight time (6 hours, blerrrg) I'm wondering if it's a futile endeavor? Obviously I can't keep it cold or anything.
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10 Comments:
On a visit to Ireland we visited Frank Hederman's smokehouse (had met him at a farmer's market) and we said we wanted some salmon shipped and he said we could get it at the airport and it would be no problem to take home. We didn't end up doing that, but evidently the 6 hours to the east coast wouldn't have been a problem.
lemonfair at 3:38PM on 09/11/09
Oh, and you could at least use an insulated bag. Buy some frozen food if you can't freeze blue things?
lemonfair at 3:40PM on 09/11/09
I don't even know if they let you; will they? I guess you're travelling within the Nation. I bet if you pulled it from the freezer right before you left and put it in ziplock inside your suitcase it might barely be fully defrosted when you get back to WA. 6 hours is a long time but I know for sure smoked fish packed with oxygen permeable screens (2,000 cc/ m2/24 h at 240C and 1 atm) needs no freezing and can be stored under refrigeration conditions.
In Canadian regulations the statement "keep frozen prior to use" is not required, however the statement "Keep refrigerated" must be present, and the shelf life indicated on the label cannot exceed 14 days. If that even helps :p
hungrychristel at 4:00PM on 09/11/09
If it's in your checked luggage, it will stay very cold assuming it isn't a hot day in NY or Seattle, and that the plane doesn't sit on the tarmac for a long time. (As another poster said, you can also pack it in one of the insulated bags that they sell at most grocery stores.)
You can carry solids through security, even if they are frozen. So if you aren't checking luggage, you could pack the salmon in your carry-on bag and include a couple ice packs. The key is that you want to keep the salmon cold, not frozen, so avoid using too many ice packs or putting them next to the salmon.
chgoeditor at 6:32PM on 09/11/09
My first thought was how about packing it with a bag of frozen peas or something similiar? Sometimes the security people can be real sticklers and might not allow ice packs....
chlamers at 7:08PM on 09/11/09
First of all, why in the hell would you take smoked salmon from NYC to Seattle? FAIL!
Atlantic salmon in my Pacific centric mind are subpar. Just get some in Seattle.
If you are taking some kind of special NYC only preparation from an outstanding proprietor, you are forgiven. There are wax coated cardboard boxes that have styrofoam on the inside. They are designed specifically for shipping fish. You can get them in many sizes. Pack the fish with some dry ice packs and check as a bag. No problem.
Honestly you could save yourself a headache and just Fed Ex that sh*%.
climbhighak at 11:00PM on 09/11/09
I second looking into Fed Ex or UPS. When we visit San Diego, we often ship stuff back to Boston where we live (another six hour plane trip) since we both tend to travel with only carry-ons for the week we are there. We haven't tried it with perishables, but I'd imagine they'd be able to accommodate you.
Amandarama at 10:30AM on 09/12/09
Is it the thin 'wet' smoked salmon? Or big chunks? If it's the pre-sliced vacuum packed stuff....I say just toss it in the luggage. We regularly take that as day two no cooler camping lunch. It's room temp by the time we slice open the vacuum pack and still perfectly delicious.
BananaMonkey at 11:25AM on 09/12/09
It was pre-9/11 but I took an entire styrofoam cooler home w/frozen fish from NOLA to KC. They only wanted to know if there was dry ice in the cooler. It came through just fine.
twosavoie at 2:08PM on 09/12/09
@climbhighak - of course the smoked salmon I want to bring home is from a specialty shop, I wouldn't waste my energy on some BS when we've got damn good stuff in Seattle too :-) I'd rather spend more on the fish than have to pay for fedex or ups.
Thanks for all the ideas everyone! I'll see what I can come up with from your suggestions.
violetcassis at 5:10PM on 09/13/09