Tomato sauce in the fridge!

April 23rd, 2012

As much of Australia approaches the end of the barbecue season many a household will be left with half empty bottles and jars of tomato sauce, barbecue, sweet chilli, mustard and mayo.

How long do condiments last?

The openings are probably pretty gunky by now, but the sauces are still good to go and if you store them properly they might even stick around for next summer.

Due to their high acid content, both mustard and t-sauce will keep fine for a while in the cupboard but will loose their flavour, appearance and texture.

In fact many condiments don’t necessarily require refrigeration but they will last much longer if they are kept cold.

It seems that the saltier more savory sauces last longer and sweeter chutneys will go off sooner, with the exception of dairy based sauces such as mayonaise and some salad dressings.

By keeping the dead horse in the fridge you’ll get twice the milage, same goes for the mustard and mayo.

All bottles will have a used by date or best before date (what’s the differences between the two?) and will also recommend consumption within a time frame after the first opening.

Here’s a list of condiments and their recommended peak quality lifespan when stored in the fridge. Many will last even longer before they start growing fur and talking back to you!

Tomato sauce and chilli sauce: 6 months
Mayo and salad dressings: up to 2 months
Barbecue sauce: 4 months
Mustard: 12 months
Chutney: 1 to 2 months
Horseradish: 3 to 4 months
Pickles and olives: 2 weeks
Worcestershire sauce: 12 months
Jams: 6 months

Keri Algar

Having once had to sit on the washing machine to stop it from bouncing into oblivion, Keri is today delighted with the new (smoother running) technologies that make housework easier every day. A self-confessed lazy-bones, Keri seeks out quirky inventions that ease the human workload, such as the robotic vacuum cleaner (wow). And as soon as someone figures out a Jetsons-like self-cleaning house, she will happily lay her pen to rest and retire from appliance journalism. Until then, her pick is a fridge that will tell her smartphone when it's time to pick up more beer on the way home. Magic.