On Sat, 23 Jan 2010 09:48:41 -0600, Melba's Jammin' wrote:

> In article >,
> "Bigbazza" > wrote:
>
>> How long can a bottle of ketchup stay in your fridge before it goes bad?
>> I'm thinking 5 or 10 years, but if you want an expert opinion, go to
>
> <grin> I keep both ketchup and mustard in the cupboard and have never
> had a problem with either. Because I mark my stuff when I buy it, I
> know hold old pretty much everything is.

i've taken to doing that, too.

>Both ketchup and mustard in
> the cupboard have been open for at least 3 months‹we don't use much of
> either. The only mustard I refrigerate is some excellent Duesseldorf
> mustard from a friend. It keeps a long time there, too ‹ more than a
> year, easily.
>
> I don't refrigerate soy sauce, either. :-) Or Tabasco. Or
> Worcestershire. Oddly, I do refrigerate homemade hot sauce ‹ I have a
> couple bottles from Jorge that have been in there since February 2004.

i usually go by what the packaging says (except for soy sauce, which i
don't refrigerate). ketchup says nothing; mustard says refrigerate, and i
do.

home-made sauces and the like i refrigerate, because i don't have the
preservatives to put in them (though the constituent ingredients might).
also, my kitchen is probably not a sterile environment.

your pal,
blake