Would appreciate suggestions/recommendations for the best(most reliable-cost effective??) method to ship a medium size box of salmon to a friend in WI? Overnight or slightly longer? Just needs to be solid when it arrives.
Thanks,
Jim

Great question...

I have sent and received fish in USPS Flat-Rate boxes insulated with styrofoam.

Gr8fulDoug sent a box of frozen tuna with a center of fresh tuna and it arrived in wonderful shape. It was incredible!

I have sent stuff frozen in deliberate, perfectly-nesting pieces via USPS Priority and have never had a problem. I use styrofoam panels from various packing boxes and assemble them with spray foam to keep the whole thing as tight as possible.

In a large Flat Rate box I can get about 15 pounds of protein...

i've done this also, only time i had a problem was when i sent leighton some hog backstraps, it was during dec. it showed up 2 weeks late and busted open. the smell was not pleasant.

Art has it dialed in, i'd add that you might want to ship it next day too.

Next Day may be safer, but it is way more expensive. When Priority works it is worth every nickel...

Like Art said , i to build my own boxes always finding new left over sheet foam, fill put the whole works in the frezzer, come monday mor'n close an seal than rite to the p office .

What is typical transit time via flat rate?

I agree that PM works, I use it almost every week but overnight gets it there while it's still frozen, btdt to the east coast. Just another option for the OP.

3-5 days, depending on destination.

Might as well flat rate. "Overnight" is about the same in my experience. In time., but costs more.

Or maybe that was just out in the Bush.

No postal sevice at all some days recently here in Slowdotna. Fires had the road closed. THE road.

Generally faster IME and if it is a block and sealed airtight inside the styrofoam it is still frozen at the other end.

Most of the time the Flat Rate boxes get there within three days.

I like to build the box and freeze the last couple pieces to fit together exactly. I also run my freezer as cold as it will go, always and it runs at -25 or so.

Thanks for the suggestion of using a Flat Rate box and the other pearls of knowledge I hadn't considered, such as using spray foam to seal and tighten it all up. I was planning on using a medium size fish box. I was also seriously considering 2nd day instead of overnight, since as las had noted overnight often becomes overnight(s) when shipping from AK. I had anticipated $120 give or take a Jackson to make it all happen. $19.95 for approximately half the volume is a bargain!

I will be playing a game of sockeye tetrus to pack it all in as tightly as possible and ship it on Monday to my buddies business address to improve the odds of success. I guess if it doesn't make it in good shape he can always use it for coyote or catfish bait.

I run my freezers at almost the coldest setting, -15 to -20. Slightly less "gooder" than -25 but also slightly less duty cycle on the freezer, which in theory should make it last longer.

My freezer has been run at the coldest setting since its infancy in 1980. Tetrus works better if you cheat and use fresh packed stuff frozen in place between already frozen pieces. It conforms to the mold on each side. You can get some really dense packages that way.

Gel packs freeze at a lower temp but have high latent heat so they will keep the fish colder while they are thawing, instead of the fish. Because I have been happy with the results so far I have not bothered to use them, but in theory they would help.

tetras sockeye, should I google?

The comment about freezer duty cycle was a bit tongue in cheek, which often doesn't translate in text. ( I r an en,ga,neer) haha. It does seem that the older equipment was designed with a much longer life cycle. As a kid my parents had a refrigerator and freezer that had been my dad's grandparents. The chest freezer lasted 40+ years, and the refrigerator was still going strong many years later when they finally "upgraded".

After the past couple of years of poor salmon runs I hadn't really considered shipping anything off. If this works as suspected it will, I was thinking about pre-freezing blocks of fish packages to ship. The only concern I had was with the time it would take for the entire block to freeze. Alternating frozen with fresh is a good idea to expedite the freezing time. Thanks again!! Will definitely be on the radar for next year.

rost495: "tetras sockeye, should I google?"

Manipulating to fit as tightly as possible...

Got me to thinking I might get me son to weld up a couple aluminum boxes just right to fit in a flat rate box after it is insulated. The fish would freeze quickly and could be added to over time and packaged and shipped when filled.

Hmmmmmmmm

Hmmm, interesting idea. I was thinking of maybe freezing a medium flat rate box and nesting it inside a large. A custom Al box definitely has merit. I guess I better jump on that patent application!

All joking aside, I would be willing to throw a few bucks your kids way if he would be interested in making a couple more Al boxes.

I will see what he thinks... The idea is to use it only for freezing to create a tightly packed and frozen block.

Yes, preforming only was my thoughts as well. A plastic bag could serve as a liner to eliminate freezing bags to Al box.

on a roll, here!

y'all are on a roll with good ideas.

Come to think if to tetras may have been a game? I never did much inside stuff like games as a kid, enjoyed outdoors way to much to do games, watch much TV etc...

But the AL box, keep adding too, new fish flexible etc.. its all a good idea.

Tetris was the game.

Tetras are little fish.

:-)

Update: Operation salmon shipment was a moderate success. USPS priority mail large box arrived 4 days later with salmon thawed, but still cold and very edible. Thanks for all of the input!

A couple lessons learned with this experiment. Pre-forming blocks as previously discussed would have worked better for increased quantity and maintaining temps. Despite a rigorous game of sockeye Tetr"I"s I was only able to get about 8 lbs. in the box. Next year I will plan ahead...

I had assumed that USPS flight out of AK would depart mid afternoon so dropped the package off early Monday a.m. at the main post office near the airport. The package was sorted at around 7:30 p.m. and scanned pre-flight at 2:15 am Tuesday morning. Dropping it off after work or even Sunday evening would have given it another half day in the freezer.

Not quite what I had hoped, but successful enough I will try it again.

I always had mine flash frozen & boxed at the processing plant, then paid the few extra $ to bring as extra baggage when at check-in at the airport. Cost was $30 and it arrived when I did! something to think about.

Yep, but knowing that usps is an option helps...

But so far we've always flown with fish or game. And I will again in a month. Hopefully cooler of moose and cooler of salmon generally speaking.

Have had fish shipped from Homer by one of their local packers, and it arrived in Oregon rock solid.

I get it shipped from a buddy on kodiak, via Alaska.. They keep it in cold storage for up to 3 days I believe, I roll up to the big city and grab it..

I suspect improving the block density and a little better delivery luck would have made all the difference in getting it there in solid...