Keep a Steak Frozen??????

[DLH]

Ok here is what I would like to do;   I want to freeze a steak, wrap it up in something and keep it frozen for 3 days?   what can I wrap it in??  an ice chest is out of the question.  The outside temps. should be no higher than 60 deg,at any given time.

Thanks,  dried food is not bad but a steak for dinner on the 3rd day would make it better!!

[SHOOTALL]

first in alum foil , then lay a pcs of dry ice next to it then wrap it in alum foil then a thick towel then place in a large zip lock bag.

[Dixie Dude]

I take my deer meat which is wrapped in white paper, and then vacuum seal it.  Takes a long time to thaw at room temperature.  I say do that plus maybe wrap it in old newspaper about an inch or two thick.  Bubble wrap might also work.  Maybe some styrofoam cut out for the steak, then tape up the outside of the styrofoam.  They do make styrofoam coolers.  Can get styrofoam at arts and crafts stores or Walmart.  Styrofoam is lightweight.  I have taken steaks hunting, but kept them frozen in a cooler.  Took a few days to thaw out, but was good eating fried in a pan over the fire. 

[corbanzo]

Well you want it to thaw out at sometime right??  And shootall is planning on you bringing the BIG backpack.

I would use things you can use while you camp.  Plastic bag first. Then wrap it in paper towels for insulation, then aluminum foil for heat reflection.  That way after three days it should still be cold, but thawed enough to cook, and you can use everything it's wrapped in.  You can put your extra clothes in yor pack around it for more insulation.

[Dixie Dude]

The aluminum foil is a good idea.  Sill like to vacuum seal to keep it from leaking.  Sometimes plastic bags, like ziplocks can leak.  Wrapped in paper towels that can always be used.  Good idea. 

[SHOOTALL]

hey now ! first the towel could be used for a bath or swiming . the alum foil to make a hobo pan to cook in and since you have the big pack the remaining dry ice could cool down some adult beverage or ice tea .     

[SHOOTALL]

did I mention to use the DOUBLE lock ziploc bag for trash ? 

[corbanzo]

The aluminum foil is a good idea.  Sill like to vacuum seal to keep it from leaking.  Sometimes plastic bags, like ziplocks can leak.  Wrapped in paper towels that can always be used.  Good idea.

We usually vac seal steak, but usually take steak on raft type trips with coolers galore!  But with a vac sealer, chuck your steak in some marinade and freeze it!  The extra liquid of the marinade will keep it frozen longer too.

[corbanzo]

I'm not exactly an enviro freak.... So I just burn all the trash, including plastic and styro, and admittedly will bury burned out cans in cat holes, dug deep of course.  Why carry trash? 

[Victor3]

 I wouldn't worry at all about food poisoning after 3 days @ 60 degrees max ambient temp if you start out frozen solid and insulate half way decently. If it's a thin cut, might want to roll/tie it up into a 'beef log' before freezing; the center will stay cold longer.
 
 Don't unwrap to check it a day before you take it out to cook. Keep it wrapped to retain the temp inside the package.

[lakota]

I read somewhere that empty pop bottles filled and the frozen with a salt water solution inside will keep stuff frozen in the cooler for a long time. Anyone ever try this?

[corbanzo]

That is correct - salt water ice can get colder than regular water ice - it freezes at a lower temperature. After ice solidifies it can't get colder.

[SHOOTALL]

So if you have salt water ice and it freezes at around 26-28 degrees then even if ambiant temp goes to 50 below the ice will remain at 26-28 degrees ? 

[corbanzo]

That is correct!  Because the ice cannot condense more!  The molecules have slowed down enough to make it into a solid - and therefore it is not longer condense-able.  For it to drop in temperature, the molecules have to slow down more, and would have to condense more.


Since it is a solid this is not possible!  Crazy science. 


This is why you can buy things like dry ice.  If you could just take regular ice down to dry ice temperatures, there would be no need for dry ice! 


This is also one of the reasons that ice and snow are very good for building shelters in very cold temperatures.

[Empty Quiver]

That is correct!  Because the ice cannot condense more!  The molecules have slowed down enough to make it into a solid - and therefore it is not longer condense-able.  For it to drop in temperature, the molecules have to slow down more, and would have to condense more.


Since it is a solid this is not possible!  Crazy science. 


This is why you can buy things like dry ice.  If you could just take regular ice down to dry ice temperatures, there would be no need for dry ice! 


This is also one of the reasons that ice and snow are very good for building shelters in very cold temperatures.

I believe you are mistaken. Water can get colder than 32 degrees, as ice it can get to whatever temperature it is surrounded by. Similarly salt water can get much colder than whatever it melts at. I believe you are confusing melt temps and boiling points which are pretty much locked in at standard pressures.


As an example look at something you are familiar with as a solid, but do know it will melt. Steel , As a solid (ice) it does indeed get colder and hotter as the ambient temperature changes. It will continue to get hotter until it liquifies at an exact temp(melt). At which point it can get hotter until it turn to a gas (boil)

[SHOOTALL]

If Ice stayed the same temp. as the air around it got lower it would melt . The coldest ice can get is around 456 degrees F. There is heat in air down to this point .

[Empty Quiver]

Now to answer your question. Get yourself a wide mouth Thermos Bottle. Roll that steak up and stuff it in. Leave the lid off for a while ( 6hrs) and freeze that sucker in the deep freezer for a couple days. Were I you I would experiment to see how long it will take to thaw out. I'm betting you will be very surprised at how long it lasts. Freeze water in a coffee type and get an idea of whether this is something worth investing in.


For your own good I would freeze a thermometer into the steak. Find a plain old stick thermometer (I find them at the bigger truck stops) at a glance you will know if your steak is beyond bounds. The thermometer will find lots of uses around the house and shop mine reads from  -15 to 220 I believe.

[Ranch13]

Shrink wrap your steak and freeze  it. The put one of those small "folding" coolers in the freezer and freeze it. Then when you get ready to go put the steak in the "folding" cooler, wrap the cooler in an insulated jacket ,or heavy towel , or a sleeeping bag. By day 3 it will likely be still chilled well enough to not have to worry about the meat going bad.

[SHOOTALL]

that bottle is alot of weight

[Empty Quiver]

If Ice stayed the same temp. as the air around it got lower it would melt . The coldest ice can get is around 456 degrees F. There is heat in air down to this point .

Do you then agree that water will get lower than "freezing" point of 32?


There is much more going on with dry ice than simple temperature. The reason is to have a cold source that will not leave your food sopping wet. Commercial freezers won't get down to the starting temps of dry ice. You would play hell finding regular ice so cold simply because you could not store it, and bringing it to those cold temps would cost very nearly as much as dry ice as well.

[SHOOTALL]

It would depend on the impurties and evevation . also it would depend on the energy transfeer aval. to cause freezing. Or the simple ansewer is salt in the water can causes just that.
 
you would agree temp can only transfeer from hot to cold ?

[Empty Quiver]

Well drop your skivies and sit down on a frozen Mn. lake and then you tell me if temp is transfering from hot to cold or from cold to hot. I suppose what I'm saying is I cannot understand what you are asking. Is this some sort of thermodynamics question?

[corbanzo]

Well both technically. They even eachother out. Energy can neither be created nor destroyed only transferred.  Faster molecules excited the others around them and make them warmer...  They are giving energy to those slower molecules and slow down themselves.

[SHOOTALL]

Well drop your skivies and sit down on a frozen Mn. lake and then you tell me if temp is transfering from hot to cold or from cold to hot. I suppose what I'm saying is I cannot understand what you are asking. Is this some sort of thermodynamics question?

well it would be the heat leaving you butt , and yes its one of the laws of thermodynamics . heat (energy) can only travel from hot to cold.  . 

[corbanzo]

Yes, the energy transfer is hot to cold. But the hot losing the energy is becoming colder, so they are just evening eachother out. The hot cannot just give energy while staying in the same state, it must lose energy.

And you butt  is going to be gaining energy from the rest of your body at the same time it is losing energy to the ice.

[mcwoodduck]

Well drop your skivies and sit down on a frozen Mn. lake and then you tell me if temp is transfering from hot to cold or from cold to hot. I suppose what I'm saying is I cannot understand what you are asking. Is this some sort of thermodynamics question?

As you know nature likes to even things out.
So what ever source is greater is where the the energy is going to go.
So if you as a person sits in a cool bath tub at some point your body heat will raise the temp of the bath water.
In your case there is not enough energy in your body to warm the frozen lake so your energy will diapate into the lake and will not raise the temp enough to be registered.  But the lake will keep you at it's temp.

[mcwoodduck]

Ok here is what I would like to do;   I want to freeze a steak, wrap it up in something and keep it frozen for 3 days?   what can I wrap it in??  an ice chest is out of the question.  The outside temps. should be no higher than 60 deg,at any given time.

Thanks,  dried food is not bad but a steak for dinner on the 3rd day would make it better!!

When I go hunting in NC and bring some game back to CA I send it by 2nd day air.
I freeze the animal or parts in a Zip lock freezer bag. and then wrap the meat in newspaper and stick it on a paper grocery sack and then in a cardboard box.  The meat arrives frozen even if it sits outside my house in the desert at 75 degrees for the day.   Because I am shipping it I try to cut down on weight and do not add frozen blue packs or bags of frozen water.  You could wrap the steak and add double frozen sections of freezer zip lock bags to keep the steak dry. 
I would not stick it in salt water or any water as the idea of a great steak is for the beef flavor, You age beef to draw water out and give it a beefier flavor.  If you season (salt and pepper ) the steak ahead of time it will take on the consistance of Arbys roast beef.