My Flying News

Probably not. Like many other pilots and flight attendants, I sometimes pack my food. There are so many positives to bringing homemade food and snacks on trips. After all, there is only so much airport food one can eat.

On a recent trip, my food made me sick. I know this has happened to me in the past as well, but I generally have a strong stomach. However, on this particular occasion, it was rough.

It was night 2 of a 3-day trip. My cooked chicken breast seemed cool but not cold. I packed my ice bags full of ice in the morning, but it was a long day. As you get deeper into a trip, your food starts to get sketchy anyway, and I was hungry, so I ate.

After putting the hotel’s plumbing system through a stress test, I started wondering? I wondered if my food needed to be colder. I remember from school that I should keep perishable food below 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I stopped wondering and purchased a thermometer.

Buy a digital thermometer if you want to monitor your food.

I have been impressed with the Govee wireless thermometer. It connects easily via Bluetooth. It is easy to download the data to my phone between flights. It also has a settable alert if the temperature reaches that value. You can even set an audible alarm, although I would not recommend that in the flight deck. The warning is a little loud.

It also can monitor humidity and dewpoint and has many other uses around the home. It has a free companion app to get all the reports you need and is easy to set up.

My first test was to check the ambient temperatures my cooler would generally be exposed to. I threw it in my flight bag before a multi-leg, 1 day turn.

I thought maybe I was exposing my cooler and food to higher temperatures, causing my food to spoil quicker than average. It was Summer in Las Vegas. The out side air temperature was just over 100 degrees.

I left my house at about 12:30 PM and returned close to Midnight. I flew 3 legs with a total block of 7 hours. I was surprised to see that the ambient temperature was relatively stable. The average temperature was 70.2 degrees. There was a spike when I took it out of my trunk at the airport parking lot.

Keep it cool!

Remember to keep your perishable food should be kept below 40 degrees. I can’t be the only pilot with cooling issues.