Does ketchup need to be refrigerated?

[Kycha]

We used to keep the ketchup in the fridge, then we allowed a young lady to move in with us, she puts it on everything, so it does not stay around long enough to spoil, so no longer gets put in the fridge and no one has gotten sick.

About the real butter, we have a 3 piece butter dish that you put cold water in the bottom, then it has a seperate section for the butter, then the lid, this keeps the butter cold enough to not spoil, yet spreadable and it does not melt on warmer days.

By the way have another dish for our chunk cheese, you run tap water over inside of the lid, the unglazed ceramic absorbs the cool water and keeps the cheese from getting rancid, yet is perfect eating temp. The outside is glazed and the cheese plate is glazed, just the inside of the lid is not.

Just thought I would share.

Where did you get both of these items...the butter dish and the cheese dish? I have never seen anything like you describe. But would love to use them, especially the cheese dish.

To the OP, I only refrigerate after opening. Most ketchups, and condiments for that matter, are shelf stable.

 

[SandrA9810]

I don't like cold condiments. I keep the BBQ sauce, salad dressing (balsamic vingarette), and the like in the pantry.

It would be cool to keep the butter out, but I don't use much of it often enough. Just last night, I had a stick sitting on the counter for a couple hours while cooking dinner and when I finally went to use it, it was nearly soft enough to put on popcorn.

 

[bumbershoot]

The butter thing is called a "butter bell".

 

[jandel]

I do refrigerate my ketchup, but my grandmother and aunts all live in the same area. When I go visit them I always get a shock when I open the cabinet and sitting there is an opened jar of Blue Plate mayo Skeeves me out every time - but they all swear it's the only brand you can do that with.

 

[ltzol]

I worked at a restaurant in high school and through college (a national chain) and we would consolidate ketchup every night. We used a big, plastic bucket with holders along the perimeter on top so you could dump the ketchup bottles in. It had one hole with a kind of lever on the bottom and you would put bottles under the hole and refill.

Beware of ketchup on the patio! That stuff would sit out in the heat (and I live in OHIO... not extremely hot compared to other states) and we would have more then one bottle explode. Those little bubbles on the sides become big bubbles and when you open the bottle to use it *pow* ketchup explosion! So gross. I never use restaurant ketchup unless it's in packets.

 

[beansmom]

Where did you get both of these items...the butter dish and the cheese dish? I have never seen anything like you describe. But would love to use them, especially the cheese dish.

To the OP, I only refrigerate after opening. Most ketchups, and condiments for that matter, are shelf stable.

www.butterbell.com ...you can just google 'butter bell'... i always keep butter in a ceramic dish on the counter...i hate hard butter. My grandmother never refrigerated her homemade butter and nobody died.

i haven't located the cheese thing yet but i'm looking.

Commericial mayo, while it needs to be refrigerated, spoils much less quickly that old-fashioned homemade mayo. We're just extremely 'food safe paranoid'.

 

[beansmom]

www.butterbell.com

my mistake... bells at butterbell.com are made in China.

for bells made in the USA

http://www.frenchbutterdish.com/

I buy american whenever possible and, frankly due to past issues, refuse to purchase anything made in China related to food.

 

[lovehoney]

I pretty much refrigerate everything, even peanut butter. It is so hot and humid here in SE Texas it doesn't take long for bacteria to grow. Some bacteria will grow in items with vinegar, although rarely.

My sister recently moved to Texas from Washington State. I used to freak out when I visited her up there because her kids would leave stuff out all of the time. Even milk. After living here a few months she had the worst case of food poisoning from her home. She is now refrigerating.

 

[DaniB]

I guess we go through stuff really quick here. I have never refrigerated ketchup. I refuse to eat ketchup when it's cold.

I don't refrigerate peanut butter either. To me that's just yuck.

Jams stay in the cupboard. For the summer months (3 months only really) they end up in the fridge, otherwise they will go moldy.

I always cut off a hunk of butter and have it in a tupperware container for us to use. Nice & soft. Now mind you, during the summer that hunk becomes much smaller as it will melt.

What else? Hmm.. oh yes, heinz 57 and A1 steak sauce are in the cupboard.

But mayo, pickles, mustard, relish, - those are in the fridge.

Been doing this since I moved out 20 odd years ago and no food posioning here!

Someone mentioned coke/pepsi. It got me wondering how many people can taste the difference. I know I can! To me, coke has a sweeter taste than pepsi. I prefer coke.

 

[tinkermom23]

My Mom and I just had a similar conversation.... she refrigerates her pancake syrup, she said her bottle says to refrigerate after opening. I checked our bottle and we are fine to keep in the shelf, which is good since we hate cold syrup.

Now, I know it says it's OK, but I can't use the little coffee creamers that sit in a dish on the table for how ever long...yuck!!

 

[Piecey]

Restaurants also use Heinz bottles, but fill them with inferior brand bulk ketchup. I worked for Heinz and worked with ketchup for quite a while and it is definitely not Heinz ketchup in any restaurant I've been in.

I worked for BK in high school and it was definitely not generic. It was bagged Heinz, but definitely always Heinz. We filled squeeze bottles and when the bottles were empty they were always washed before they were refilled. I have not so fond memories of scrubbing ketchup out of those bottles.

Customers got Heinz packets, no pumps at our location.


We refrigerate ketchup, all jams/jelly, A1, all salad dressings, pickles, relish, mayo, mustard, open BBQ sauce bottles...

I don't put peanut butter or syrup in the fridge.

 

[DeniseinNS]

My Mom and I just had a similar conversation.... she refrigerates her pancake syrup, she said her bottle says to refrigerate after opening. I checked our bottle and we are fine to keep in the shelf, which is good since we hate cold syrup.

Now, I know it says it's OK, but I can't use the little coffee creamers that sit in a dish on the table for how ever long...yuck!!

We used to keep our pancake syrup in the fridge. It was on one of the shelves on the door and the bottle ended up leaking EVERYEWHERE causing a huge mess, we even had to replace the seal around the fridge door because it got all in that as well. Syrup stays in the pantry now LOL.

 

[DeniseinNS]

Restaurants also use Heinz bottles, but fill them with inferior brand bulk ketchup. I worked for Heinz and worked with ketchup for quite a while and it is definitely not Heinz ketchup in any restaurant I've been in.

I waitress in a chain restaurant and we use only heinz and always have. We have plastic bottles and as they are empty we throw them out and use new ones, we have never filled them up with generic brands.

 

[Schotz]

Most brands have enough salt in them to keep for month, I would guess it gets used is much less time. Tomatoes are perishable but adding a lot of salt would preserve them.

 

[SDSorority]

We refrigerate like... everything. Ketchup included

 

[msmollyshaw]

Ever since we had a really bad ant outbreak a few years ago everything goes in the fridge. Even pancake syrup. And I do agree cold pancake syrup is kind of gross.

I have vivid memories of combining half-empty bottles of ketchup at closing time from my waitressing days. We used to call it "marrying" the ketchup bottles!

 

[NMW]

I basicly follow the advice on the bottles. If it says to put it in the fridge after opening, that's exactly what I do. I don't put syrup in the fridge or soy sauce, but that's really about it.

 

[EllenFrasier]

I wrote to Heinz to ask them the question, so we'll see what they have to say. My Mom used to refrigerate peanut butter when we were growing up - it's very difficult to spread peanut butter that's cold. So when I grew up I contacted Jif (choosy mothers choose Jif ) and asked them - think I wrote a letter because it was pre-computer days. They sent me some coupons and told me I didn't have to refrigerate their product unless it was extremely hot out as that might cause the oil in the peanut butter to separate but it would not be dangerous to eat it, just stir it back up. No problems here in the summer, it gets eaten too fast!

 

[Dismom55]

Where did you get both of these items...the butter dish and the cheese dish? I have never seen anything like you describe. But would love to use them, especially the cheese dish.

To the OP, I only refrigerate after opening. Most ketchups, and condiments for that matter, are shelf stable.

The Cheese dish I bought when we lived in Holland, the butter dish I bought from a store called Jungle Jims in Cincinnati, the butter bell is available online tho different would do the same, I have never done a search for the cheese dish, will try when I get home from work. Just went back full time and am I beat when I get home and getting the teen son off is a challenge in the evenings. Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but that is why.

 

[eliza61]

This. Plus I just don't like cold ketchup on hot food.

this is us. we never refrigerate ketchup.