totally frivolous stuffing question...save me from food poisoning, oh MN jury!

[NomadsLand]

My family, including my parents, are going abroad for Christmas to visit my sister who lives an 8 hour flight away.

My mum wants to make the pork stuffing (special recipe!) ahead of time and take it with her on the plane. I expressed over this and voiced concern about it "going off" on the way but she said: "Oh don't worry, I'll half-cook it first and then it will be in the hold on the plane and perfectly fine".

Hey, I've escaped norovirus in this country - I hardly want to travel away and get poisoned by not eating my mum's special stuffing!

She will not be told!

depends where you are going to but it may well be illegal for her to take meat products into the country you are visiting. Why on earth can she not just buy the ingredients there and make it there?

As hatgirl said, where is she flying to?

Is she even allowed to take food products on the plane? Check that first!

I would pull the illegal card if I could. As I am taking the ham with me, I can't argue the point!

My mother has form for "pre-assembling" food which drives us all mad. For example:

Me: "mum, delicious curry, you really shouldn't have gone to the effort"
Mum: "Oh, don't worry, I cooked the chicken a month ago and froze it. I just defrosted it and made the curry today".

!!

It's hard to buy sausage meat on the continent.

I bought some in the UK last weekend, kept it chilled in a small cool bag with a gel cooling pouch in my luggage. However we were an hour waiting for the plane, an hour flight and then 15 mins home. I'd never do it on a long haul.

Depending on the flight time she should take the sausage meat separately and make the stuffing there.

Half cooking pork, storing it in a freezing luggage hold, then warming it up on a baggage carousel is just asking for the squits on Boxing Day, IMHO.

No way should cooked or uncooked pork (or ham!!!) be taken on a plane like that. You both need to re-think IMO!

Cooking and then freezing chicken is fine though, as long as you only reheat it once.

In my defence, my ham will be shrink wrapped. They actually sell them at Heathrow. Last time I checked, they didn't sell half-cooded stuffing! Just saying

But don't they sell them in a fridge? They surely need to be kept chilled.

In my defence, my ham will be shrink wrapped. They actually sell them at Heathrow. Last time I checked, they didn't sell half-cooded stuffing! Just saying

Doesn't mean you can take it into a country. They may sell it at an airport because its legal to take out of the country. The country you land in may not allow you to bring it in.

The US for example would not allow shrink wrapped ham.

You are going to be 'that' family on the airport programmes that they film and laugh at the stuff they pull put of their bags. And then fine them.

I would be avoiding her special stuffing like the plague. If she is coming to US tell her no meat products are allowed in anymore and it's true. We get a grilling (ha ha see what I did?) when we get back from UK each time, my suitcase is bulging with chocolates and tea bags and they ask a few times about anything with meat in it, even OXO get tossed.
Back in the day, my MIL would freeze a 10lb caterers pack of bacon, wrap it in all sorts and bring it back to US, and it would comes through mostly frozen. But not anymore!
Maybe she can just bring the special spices in her luggage and get the pork and breadcrumbs when she gets there.

the hold of the plane will be freezing, it will be absolutely fine to take chilled foods and then reheat them afterwards providing the country you are going to allows meat to be imported.