Rib-Ex

I have ordered parishable items over the internet and what they do is send it overnite or no more than 2 day delivery packed with some of those bags that freeze. That seems to keep them cool. I have orderd things like live lobsters. I'm shure UPS or FEDX will help you. But anyway all you have to do is keep them cool for overnight delivery.

By blue ice, I assume you mean some sort of gel filled ice pack. I'd take a look at using dry ice. Gel filled cubes or pouches could leak, and even though you are packing the ribs in plastic, the box could become a mess. Dry ice will melt into vapor instead of liquid.

This may not be cost effective for you, but there is an almost sure fire way to make sure your ribs arrive at thier destination well protected. If you have ever recieved mail order steaks, this is how they do it, and while I don't condone mail ordering steaks, I have used the cooler they came in to recieve ribs. My brother was testing a new smoker, so he sent some ribs to me, UPS 2 day guaranteed, in one of those shipping coolers. He froze the ribs, wrapped them well with plastic wrap, covered them with foil, then packed them with dry ice in the shipping cooler. The ribs arrived 2 days later, still frozen. We defrosted the ribs, and they were just about as good as fully-cooked reheated ribs could be.

As far as where to buy shipping coolers, I'm at a loss, but you might try www.uline.com. I've never ordered from them, and I'm not even sure if they carry those, but I get their catalog, and they have about as complete line of shipping supplies as I've seen.

Good luck to ya!

Two more quick thoughts:

You might want to SLIGHTLY undercook the meat, as it will cook just a little in the re-heating process. I would recommend a re-heat temp of no more than 325F. If your recipients want to heat the ribs on a gas grill, tell them to do it at the lowest setting, and to make sure the ribs are thawed before heating them up.

Also, a vacuum sealer is a good investment whether you pursue shipping or not. Do a search of this forum on "foodsaver" and you will find many posts singing the praises of vac-packing.

A friend of mine receive some steaks from a relative in Chicago. They were shipped in a foam cooler, with gel ice packs, by UPS 2-day ground transport to Miami in July.

Disaster! The ice had been thawed a long time, & when he opened the package the steaks were pretty ripe already.

Unfortunately, vacuum packing won't prevent spoilage from high temperature. Ship food fast and cold with dry ice to make sure it gets there safely and in the condition you intended.

Try pet stores that sell tropical fish for a source of used styrofoam boxes. Or you could make your own from 4x8 sheets of styrofoam from a builder's supply.

I vac pack water in pouches and freeze. I use two 1 litre pouches in a foam cooler with approx 5 kilos of vac packed, frozen ribs, chicken rear 1/4's etc. These will go easily 2 days without thawing in Venezuelan temps. My vacuum pump is a commercial unit so I don't know if you would be able to pack water in a pouch with the home use machines.
Good luck!