Jim

The last time I bought some they sold it for about 5 dollars a pound but that was right before Hurricane Katrina and there was a huge demand. I tried it with strawberries once and it worked great, just dumped them right on top and stirred them around. Came out individually frozen like the kind you buy at the store. I am thinking of using it next time I want to freeze fish.

Dry ice at Publix is like maybe $1.25 to 1.50 a pound.

If you put the ice inside a styrofoam container or box lined with newspaper without breaking it up a bunch you can put a square of it on the bottom of your container and then put in your fruit etc. then put a piece on top of it (the container is something to keep the gases sealed in to make it last longer) a few pounds would work I would think to freeze smaller stuff. Because you could do the quick freeze, then take it out and put in your freezer, then add more stuff to the dry ice. If you break it up into smaller pieces, you will have a harder time fishing the produce out of it when it's done freezing. Plus it's easier for it to burn your hands if you have to handle smaller pieces vs a larger one that you can wrap in newspaper, grab it up, set it down, fish out your produce, etc.

When I've shipped lab samples on dry ice, 5 lbs will last up to 2 days during transit as long as it's sealed tight.

"Rapid freezing prevents large ice crystals from forming throughout the product because the molecules don't have time to take their positions in the characteristic six-sided snowflake."

Quick-freezing foods then packaging them in vacuum-sealed bags will then help prevent moisture in the food from migrating to the outside of the food and they will last longer in the freezer.

Are you blanching your vegetables before you are flash freezing them with dry ice?

-Grainlady