Condiments--refrigeration or not?

[Steve Kroll]

Horseradish, out of date. Dang.

Horseradish goes south surprisingly quick. Judging from the noxious fumes, you'd think that bacteria would avoid the stuff (ok, so they don't have microscopic noses). Not so. Even with all the vinegar that's usually added, it only has a shelf life of 4-6 months. Or at least that's the case with the prepared horseradish I've purchased. Same with many of the imported mustards.

 

[Timothy]

Horseradish goes south surprisingly quick. Judging from the noxious fumes, you'd think that bacteria would avoid the stuff (ok, so they don't have microscopic noses). Not so. Even with all the vinegar that's usually added, it only has a shelf life of 4-6 months. Or at least that's the case with the prepared horseradish I've purchased. Same with many of the imported mustards.

Just bought my jar of horseradish a few days ago and it has an expiration date of April 25, 2012.

So about 4 months or so. Who knows when they actually made that jar of it. It may have been in the store for a month or even two.

 

[Dawgluver]

Horseradish goes south surprisingly quick. Judging from the noxious fumes, you'd think that bacteria would avoid the stuff (ok, so they don't have microscopic noses). Not so. Even with all the vinegar that's usually added, it only has a shelf life of 4-6 months. Or at least that's the case with the prepared horseradish I've purchased. Same with many of the imported mustards.

My dad would make his own horseradish, and I left it in the fridge for years, using just a bit now and then. The store bought stuff lasts only a couple months! WTH?

Geez, how did we all survive without expiration dates?

Thanks, CWS, for starting an interesting thread!

 

[PrincessFiona60]

I'm slowly moving toward not buying those things that I can use up in short order. Catsup is one of those. Everything needed is likely in the kitchen of every active cook. Especially for the simply version using tomato paste and powders. And no sugar in the make-as-needed. Mayo kind of goes without saying for any picky cook. Of course, some things are difficult or impossible. I won't be making soy sauce from scratch any time soon, and I could easily make my own liquid smoke but won't bother. But sweet chili Thai sauce is easy enough and can be modified for different emphasis for different dishes. Pad Thai sauce is easy, too, so long as you keep tamarind paste and fish sauce, but those are real basics that you need to make up many things. Pastes like anchovy and wasabi and such last next to forever in the refrigerator and take up almost no space, so I don't mind keeping them on hand any more than I mind keeping a well-stocked supply of durable spices. And having all those ingredients frees you from the choices of manufacturers of ready-mades, so you can craft something special to suit. It's just cooking.

I wish I had the time for composing all my sauces from scratch. Just not feasible with my shifts at work, continuing education and hoping for some sleep and relaxation.

 

[Steve Kroll]

My dad would make his own horseradish, and I left it in the fridge for years, using just a bit now and then. The store bought stuff lasts only a couple months! WTH?

I wonder what your dad put in his. I've made it, too, and I would go along with the 6 months expiration. More vinegar or salt maybe?

 

[jennyema]

Prepared horseradish goes BITTER before it goes bad,

 

[cmontg34]

Though not a hundred percent accurate, if a condiment is high in either salt or acid then it can generally be left out of the fridge. When in doubt use your senses, if it smells off, looks off, and tastes off, then its probably off. If you can figure out how to incorporate hearing and touching into that, kudos.

 

[Andy M.]

Curious question.

How many of you would store an item out of the fridge if the label said to refrigerate it?

 

[pacanis]

On purpose?
You won't see me raising my hand to that one.

 

[GLC]

Curious question.

How many of you would store an item out of the fridge if the label said to refrigerate it?

I make a judgment as to whether the advisory is for safety or to preserve color or such. If I don't think it's a safety issue, and I'll use it before it suffers cosmetically or tastewise, it can stay out. Of course, you always want to think about the actual conditions outside the refrigerator. In a hot environment, a lot more things would do much better kept cold. Manufacturers naturally want their products to be well thought of, and a lot of them are just going to look better when kept in he cold and dark.

 

[jennyema]

I make a judgment as to whether the advisory is for safety or to preserve color or such. If I don't think it's a safety issue, and I'll use it before it suffers cosmetically or tastewise, it can stay out. Of course, you always want to think about the actual conditions outside the refrigerator. In a hot environment, a lot more things would do much better kept cold. Manufacturers naturally want their products to be well thought of, and a lot of them are just going to look better when kept in he cold and dark.

I agree

 

[Greg Who Cooks]

I can't find a "best before" date on my ketchup.

Some products may not even have any manufactured or use-by date, or the manufacture date may be coded. I'm uncomfortable not knowing anything about something that's been stored for who knows how long?

My solution: I use a permanent marker and put my own date on every bottled and packaged product I buy, particularly condiments. I use a 4 digit system, date then year. For example it's December 2011 so anything I buy this month is 1211. Next month I'll be using 0112.

This may seem a bit obsessive but it's so simple to do, and then when you find some condiment in your fridge that's been hiding in the back at least you'll know how long it has been there. I've found stuff 4-5 years old (and older) and at some point I think it's best to toss something really old and get a new one. Or maybe if you use it that seldom maybe you might decide to just not buy any more. Each can be their own judge, but with your own number at least you have some information beyond odor and appearance.

One additional benefit, you can adopt a first-in-first out (FIFO) system. For example if you have several cans of tomato sauce in your pantry you can use the oldest one instead of using a newer one and having one in the back that's been there gathering dust for years.