Taking frozen cookie dough on a cross country trip - bad idea?
December 10, 2013 12:33 PM   Subscribe

I'm planning to spend Christmas at the family home, but apparently the task of Christmas baking falls to me when I get there. I was hoping to get started early and wondered if I could make these icebox-style gingersnaps, and tuck the frozen cookie dough logs into a ziplock bag in my suitcase. Gate to gate is roughly nine hours, though at this time of year, it seems best to consider potential weather delays too.
posted by peppermind to Food & Drink (16 answers total) 2 users marked this as a favorite
 
Response by poster: I guess I should've mentioned that I'll be travelling by plane.
posted by peppermind at 12:35 PM on December 10, 2013


Seems fine to me. Maybe add some of those freezable gel-pack dealies to extend the chill time.
posted by ottereroticist at 12:36 PM on December 10, 2013


I would skip the gel-packs because they're going to look weird in x-ray and get your bag searched and then mysterious disappearance of cookie dough.

I would totally do this, though I am pretty cavalier about food safety. Freeze for 2 days, wrap in cellophane, bundle in zips, wrap in towel or clothes for extra insulation.

Based on trying to thaw well-frozen gingersnap logs on the counter when I had a cookie emergency, they might still be frozen in the middle 24 hours later. Especially this time of year, in cargo/sitting on the tarmac.
posted by Lyn Never at 12:42 PM on December 10, 2013


Dry ice. Contact your airline to learn their policies.
posted by Tanizaki at 12:45 PM on December 10, 2013


I'd definitely do this. Also I am going to try that recipe, YUM.
posted by headnsouth at 12:49 PM on December 10, 2013


Will you be checking your bags?

I brought a frozen pint of pork barbecue from North Carolina to New York by plane. I just wrapped it in a few towels and stuck it in my checked bag. When I got home it was still solid as a rock.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:49 PM on December 10, 2013


You might do better making it an extra day or two in advance and then overnight mailing it ahead of you, simply because the TSA is so regularly unreasonable about things that are perfectly legal/allowable by their own rules which they do not know.
posted by elizardbits at 12:51 PM on December 10, 2013 [1 favorite]


I've done this multiple times with frozen loaves of leberkäse (in my carry-on!) and had no problems, though for shorter trips of about 3.5 hours. I carried them in a large insulated lunch tote, with a few bags of frozen peas as insurance. The peas were not necessary, though I think given your longer flight, you might want to add them just in case.
posted by homodachi at 12:54 PM on December 10, 2013


Best answer: Not on an airplane, but I just packed an entire frozen dinner for a 6 hour car ride including dessert. Nothing was even close to thawed after the trip and several more hours upon arrival.

With temperatures in the cargo bay, I'm sure your dough will stay very frozen.

I'd just make sure you wrap the dough so as not to dampen the rest of what you packed with condensation.

Elizardbits makes an excellent point -- maybe you could put the dough in a bag and label it well in your checked luggage. Or bring the dry ingredients pre-mixed?
posted by mamabear at 12:54 PM on December 10, 2013


Honestly, every time I've gone through security with anything dense like a roll of frozen cookie dough (or a burrito, or a wrap), my bag's gotten pulled for extra screening. I've taken to just putting any food aside in a small bag (insulated as necessary), then taking out that bag and sending it through security separately from my other bags. At least that way, it's only the food bag that has to get searched, and thus one less bag that gets unpacked in a way that makes it difficult to repack efficiently.

But yeah, I've done the cross-country frozen cookie dough schlep a few times now - especially since it's winter, it should be fine.
posted by Pandora Kouti at 12:56 PM on December 10, 2013


Why? I think this is far more trouble than it's worth. You could fed-ex them, but the cost of doing that is more than just buying cookies. If your luggage is lost, you don't save any time. Premixing the dry stuff makes more sense to me, and I'd triple bag it, so that all my clothes don't smell should the bags break. (If your luggage gets selected for a TSA inspection, be prepared to lose the bags of dry stuff and have a Q & A when you arrive.
posted by Ideefixe at 12:57 PM on December 10, 2013


Response by poster: Thanks for the great ideas so far! The plan is to tuck it into checked baggage, not my carry on, and I'm flying in Canada so I won't need to worry quite as much about TSA unreasonableness.
posted by peppermind at 1:02 PM on December 10, 2013


How much time will you have once you reach your destination? What takes time in this recipe is the refrigeration. Mixing the ingredients only takes a few minutes, and that is a simple enough task that you can do it while having a conversation.
posted by plastic_animals at 1:03 PM on December 10, 2013


Best answer: I'm flying in Canada so I won't need to worry quite as much about TSA unreasonableness.

Oh hell yes then go for it, wear it strapped to your head as majestic antlers. From a food safety POV I think you will be just fine.
posted by elizardbits at 1:14 PM on December 10, 2013 [8 favorites]


I may or may not be in the habit of freezing packages of hotdogs, and bagels, then putting them in my checked luggage when I fly from NYC to London. They are typically still frozen, more or less, when I arrive. Also, I'm still alive.
posted by tractorfeed at 3:06 PM on December 10, 2013


If you have a fleece pullover, or any warm sweater, wrap the cookie dough in it for extra insulation. mmmm, gingersnaps.
posted by theora55 at 7:27 PM on December 10, 2013


« Older Is there a term for this particular male singing...   |   How long for lab results for blood tests? Newer »
This thread is closed to new comments.