Storing Condiments
Read an article about storing condiments and found some that I have in the fridge don't need to be like catsup, mustard and worchester sauce. I question the worchester as the botlle says to refrigerate after opening. Vinegars and oils are stored in the pantry. Pickled items in fridge. How do you store your condiments?
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Also, use your eyes and sense of smell.
Last, sometimes it's a choice (some people swear by butter at room temp, others keep it only in the fridge) or a question of enough extra fridge space, as MMH suggests.
For good general information, see stilltasty, a site founded by a food safety expert and a journalist in 2009 with sources from USDA, CDC, FDA
http://www.stilltasty.com/Fooditems/food_storage_info
And here's an example of their advice on prepared mustard:
http://www.stilltasty.com/fooditems/index/17765
We combined households 3 years ago. We are both cooks. We had everything when we met and now we have more. I mean we had every Korean paste, Asian condiment, 10 mustards, 15 hot sauces, odd sauces, frozen herbs whole, chopped and puréed, , frozen stock, frozen meat etc.
I had 2 fridges when we met and that is the best solution. In our combined house we have a Samsung French door fridge with lower drawer freezer and middle snack drawer . We have it organized so that the items we use more frequently in cooking are there. Then, in the basement we have a fridge and a chest freezer. We can cool stock pots in the fridge and place all the things there that we don't use frequently. So all the odd condiments are there. I'm done with worrying about what needs to be refrigerated so the condiments we use less often are there. The chest freezer has long term frozen items.
I raised a child alone and had a full time job as a lawyer and packed lunches and learned that you can freeze more things than you would ever dream. I had the chest freezer and extra fridge when there were only 2 of us and it saved my life and kept me organized.
Don't get rid of your fridge if it's salvageable when you replace it or get a basic fridge as an extra. Some people put them in the garage - beer fridge I believe it's called. But you can always keep a case of wine cold, hold hors dvours, hold over leftovers, defrost something large. An extra fridge is a must at our house.