Shipping frozen tuna: How?

[jjdbike]

Hello friends,
I’d like to ship some vacuum packed frozen blue fin tuna from my home in Oceanside CA (North San Diego County), to Indianapolis IN.

Is someone able to please share the step by step process? What packing materials do I need? Frozen cold packs or dry ice? What shipper? Anything else I should know?

As my fellow fishermen know, I’ve got a lot of time, money and work invested in these fish. I don’t want to risk wasting them, or the quality suffering.

Thanks in advance!
JD

[Jerod Broussard]

Dry ice over frozen gel packs.

We get sampling supplies with frozen gel packs in insulated containers and I would not trust food during this time of year with a gel pack set-up.

[PGH_RAM]

This might give you some ideas.

https://www.uline.com/Grp_93/Insulated-Shippers-and-Supplies

[Donw]

We have used FedEx to ship perishables before with success. Thy have a guide for this:

https://www.fedex.com/en-us/shipping/how-to-ship-perishables.html

[N227GB]

Someone here suggested obtaining used insulated medical supply shipping containers from a veterinary office. They are available at no cost since they would be disposed of anyway.

[Oak Smoke]

Good idea! With the daughter being a vet I get lots of those. They make a pretty mean minnow bucket too.

[Uncle Bob]

And to echo Jerod................gel packs suck! They may stay cold for a day or so, but not reliably for longer.

[58limited]

Overnight or 2nd day shipping, insulated container with dry ice.

[jjdbike]

Dry ice over frozen gel packs.

We get sampling supplies with frozen gel packs in insulated containers and I would not trust food during this time of year with a gel pack set-up.

Thanks bud,
I am wondering if I should wait a couple months for the temps to drop from 80s & 90s, to 60s & 70s. Do you think that would make any significant difference?
JD

[Jerod Broussard]

It would. When we ship samples out, if the high is much over 80, we have to put 3 gel packs. Rest of the year we only need 2. Them trucks get HOT.

[jjdbike]

Thanks everyone!
JD

[IowaGirl]

Not sure if I've ever mentioned getting insulated styrofoam containers from the vet's office, but that's what we use to ship frozen elderberries. The ones that work best are rigid white styrofoam shells slipped inside a cardboard outer box.

This type of container is really expensive to buy, and these shipping boxes from the vet are really clean so I don't have a problem reusing them for food.

You really, really want to use dry ice for the best chance of keeping the fish frozen -- gel packs just won't do the job.

Also go with next-day shipping, especially in warmer weather like now.

We find out when the shipping carrier will be picking up boxes from our local pickup point and time our delivery to be shortly before their arrival. We keep the finished package in our freezer up to that time so the package stays cold for as long as possible.

[N227GB]

Your tip was the one I referenced in post #5 here. :

[jfmorris]

Thanks bud,
I am wondering if I should wait a couple months for the temps to drop from 80s & 90s, to 60s & 70s. Do you think that would make any significant difference?
JD

I think it does make sense to wait a couple of months if you can.

My experience ordering liquid brewers yeast, which is perishable, says that gel ice packs don't work well in summer months. When its in the 80's and 90's, the delivery truck - especially the black UPS ones - gets even hotter inside sitting in the sun. They have no AC in those trucks, as the drivers will attest. I only order yeast, even with 1-2 day shipping, in the October to April timeframe, and just make sure I get plenty in April to carry me through until fall.

This is also what killed some of the good meat suppliers like Click Akashi. They had to issue way too many refunds due to spoiled shipments. I even had meat shipments from some suppliers that DID use dry ice arrive warm.

Also, I can't tell you HOW many times I saw a meat or yeast order ship out late in the week, and then sit somewhere like Nashville over an entire weekend, before moving on for delivery to me on a Monday (2 hours from Nashville). Ship on a Monday, with 1-2 day delivery, so you don't have the possibility of a 2 day delay while it sits over a weekend in a truck or non-air conditioned warehouse somewhere.

I quit buying meat online for the most part, as I just had too much bad luck with it, and it was pricey.

[jjdbike]

I think it does make sense to wait a couple of months if you can.

My experience ordering liquid brewers yeast, which is perishable, says that gel ice packs don't work well in summer months. When its in the 80's and 90's, the delivery truck - especially the black UPS ones - gets even hotter inside sitting in the sun. They have no AC in those trucks, as the drivers will attest. I only order yeast, even with 1-2 day shipping, in the October to April timeframe, and just make sure I get plenty in April to carry me through until fall.

This is also what killed some of the good meat suppliers like Click Akashi. They had to issue way too many refunds due to spoiled shipments. I even had meat shipments from some suppliers that DID use dry ice arrive warm.

Also, I can't tell you HOW many times I saw a meat or yeast order ship out late in the week, and then sit somewhere like Nashville over an entire weekend, before moving on for delivery to me on a Monday (2 hours from Nashville). Ship on a Monday, with 1-2 day delivery, so you don't have the possibility of a 2 day delay while it sits over a weekend in a truck or non-air conditioned warehouse somewhere.

I quit buying meat online for the most part, as I just had too much bad luck with it, and it was pricey.

Thank everyone!
jfmorris,
I have had to request refunds for a couple meat orders because they had thawed and were in the danger zone temp-wise.
I'm going to wait a couple months.
Best regards!
JD

[IowaGirl]

I know there are rules of thumb for how much dry ice (or cold packs) to use when shipping frozen (or refrigerated) foods.

The main thing I remember about this info is that one should use a lot more dry ice or cold packs than most people would assume they need.

It's been ages since I studied this, but I'm sure the info is still around.