I've got some BBQ sauce I made a few months ago. Do you think it can
go bad? It is a mustard based sauce from a "Smoke and Spice" recipe.
The book says it will keep 2 weeks refrigerated. Now, I know that two
weeks is conservative. But, what about say 4 months?

I've tasted it and it tastes the same as ever to me, except maybe more
vinegary.

Let me know if you think it will kill me. I have a bunch left over
and don't want to waste it. I'm firing up my WSM for the first time
in a long time over Memorial Day. I only have a 4 lb pork butt to
smoke, but it is better than nothing. (I'd like to do a lot at once
but didn't plan for it.).

Thanks for the advice in advance.

- Bobby

p.s. My wife thinks the sauce is fine, but then again she defrosts
meat by leaving it on the counter and eats raw cookie dough with raw
eggs in it so she isn't that worried about things going
bad...admittedly she hasn't killed me yet, so maybe she's right!

wrote:

> I've got some BBQ sauce I made a few months ago. Do you think it can
> go bad? It is a mustard based sauce from a "Smoke and Spice" recipe.
> The book says it will keep 2 weeks refrigerated. Now, I know that two
> weeks is conservative. But, what about say 4 months?
>
> I've tasted it and it tastes the same as ever to me, except maybe more
> vinegary.
>
> Let me know if you think it will kill me. I have a bunch left over
> and don't want to waste it. I'm firing up my WSM for the first time
> in a long time over Memorial Day. I only have a 4 lb pork butt to
> smoke, but it is better than nothing. (I'd like to do a lot at once
> but didn't plan for it.).


I haven't seen the recipe, but most bbq sauces are very high
acid and don't contain protein. They generally won't go "bad"
in that they will develop pathogens. However, even high acid
sauces will eventually develop mold, *even* if refrigerated,
eventually. Refridgeration will slow down the mold process
considerably, which is why it's always recommended. Be careful
of reusing sauces that have been brushed on the meat where
the brush has been reintroduced back into the container. In
that case, always chuck it.

Given all that, if you don't see anything growing on the
surface you probably aren't going to end up eating any
mold.

> p.s. My wife thinks the sauce is fine, but then again she defrosts
> meat by leaving it on the counter and eats raw cookie dough with raw
> eggs in it so she isn't that worried about things going
> bad...admittedly she hasn't killed me yet, so maybe she's right!

No doubt she comes from tough stock. Got some badass
white corpuscles.

Defrosting on the counter is fine. Just don't allow it to sit
long enough such that the meat goes above 40 F. No enhanced
risk there. Raw eggs? Well, nothing wrong with rolling the
dice once in awhile of it's worth the risk. I eat steak tartare
with uncooked yolk from time to time.

On May 26, 6:50 pm, "Nunya Bidnits" > wrote:
> RegForte wrote:
> > wrote:
>
> >> I've got some BBQ sauce I made a few months ago. Do you think it can
> >> go bad? It is a mustard based sauce from a "Smoke and Spice" recipe.
>
> Which one?
>
> >> The book says it will keep 2 weeks refrigerated. Now, I know that
> >> two weeks is conservative. But, what about say 4 months?
>
> Most published recipes seem to be very conservative on storage times if they
> state anything at all. They seem to prefer to keep their lawyers unemployed
> as much as possible.
>
>
>
> >> I've tasted it and it tastes the same as ever to me, except maybe
> >> more vinegary.
>
> My barbecue sauce has slightly greater acidity than ketchup. You can keep it
> in the fridge for a year if its not being used. I can attest to that based
> on a small test bottle I left in the bottom back shelf of the fridge for
> that long. I put it up with the hot water bath method and even in use, it
> will keep for months in the fridge.
>
> However I *never* dip out of the jar for serving or basting, I always pour
> some down into a smaller container and then serve and baste out of it
> instead. Besides the cold sauce is not nearly as flavorful and doesn't help
> those slices of brisket you are trying to keep warm.
>
> Its the acidity that is important. Mustard has a lot of vinegar in it.
> Tomato based sauces are similar, and usually contain vinegar in addition to
> the acidic tomato ingredients. But there are also bbq sauces with bases of
> molasses, fruit, and other stuff, and sauces which may be vinegar or mustard
> based but have enough other non-acidic stuff added to reduce their acidity
> considerably. So its dangerous to assume that most barbecue sauces will have
> about the same keeping power.
>
>
>
> %<---------
>
> >> p.s. My wife thinks the sauce is fine, but then again she defrosts
> >> meat by leaving it on the counter and eats raw cookie dough with raw
> >> eggs in it so she isn't that worried about things going
> >> bad...admittedly she hasn't killed me yet, so maybe she's right!
>
> I am one of those purists who demands a raw, or at most coddled, egg in my
> Caesar salad. Otherwise, it ain't a Caesar. Crumbled hard boiled egg makes
> it something else. Personally I worry more about salmonella developing on
> hard cooked egg that has been left out too long or allowed to get too warm,
> than I do raw egg out of the shell, in which case salmonella is quite rare.
> Contamination comes from the outer shell surface of a healthy egg, not
> inside, and careful cleaing before cracking takes care of that. I have had
> restaurants refuse me my breakfast eggs "over real easy", but it hasn't
> killed me yet. I flip them and cook the other side just long enough to turn
> the surface white, and its on my plate.
>
> I can sympathize with your wife's position, since I believe in the principle
> that we are all going to eat several pounds of dirt before we die, so it
> doesn't hurt to be a little bit used to it. <g>
>
>
>
> > No doubt she comes from tough stock. Got some badass
> > white corpuscles.
>
> Comes from eating dirt!
>
> MartyB in KC

white corpuscles suck when you think about them. lol.
no really, what's the topic here anyway? i'll have to look. i'm so
scatterbrained it's not funny. ok i got it.
bbq sauce will not go bad if you freeze it for no more than 6 months.
the reason for this is because of the vinegar in it. there is no such
thing anywhere in any country on earth that does not put vinegar in
their bbq sauce. you might make a ketchup based sauce, but remember,
ketchup has vinegar in it! you should know this anyway. i'm
wondering if you're kind of stoopid.

On May 26, 6:50*pm, "Nunya Bidnits" > wrote:
> RegForte wrote:
> > wrote:
>
> >> I've got some BBQ sauce I made a few months ago. *Do you think it can
> >> go bad? *It is a mustard based sauce from a "Smoke and Spice" recipe.
>
> Which one?
>
> >> The book says it will keep 2 weeks refrigerated. *Now, I know that
> >> two weeks is conservative. *But, what about say 4 months?
>
> Most published recipes seem to be very conservative on storage times if they
> state anything at all. They seem to prefer to keep their lawyers unemployed
> as much as possible.
>
>
>
> >> I've tasted it and it tastes the same as ever to me, except maybe
> >> more vinegary.
>
> My barbecue sauce has slightly greater acidity than ketchup. You can keep it
> in the fridge for a year if its not being used. I can attest to that based
> on a small test bottle I left in the bottom back shelf of the fridge for
> that long. I put it up with the hot water bath method and even in use, it
> will keep for months in the fridge.
>
> However I *never* dip out of the jar for serving or basting, I always pour
> some down into a smaller container and then serve and baste out of it
> instead. Besides the cold sauce is not nearly as flavorful and doesn't help
> those slices of brisket you are trying to keep warm.
>
> Its the acidity that is important. Mustard has a lot of vinegar in it.
> Tomato based sauces are similar, and usually contain vinegar in addition to
> the acidic tomato ingredients. But there are also bbq sauces with bases of
> molasses, fruit, and other stuff, and sauces which may be vinegar or mustard
> based but have enough other non-acidic stuff added to reduce their acidity
> considerably. So its dangerous to assume that most barbecue sauces will have
> about the same keeping power.
>
>
>
> %<---------
>
> >> p.s. My wife thinks the sauce is fine, but then again she defrosts
> >> meat by leaving it on the counter and eats raw cookie dough with raw
> >> eggs in it so she isn't that worried about things going
> >> bad...admittedly she hasn't killed me yet, so maybe she's right!
>
> I am one of those purists who demands a raw, or at most coddled, egg in my
> Caesar salad. Otherwise, it ain't a Caesar. Crumbled hard boiled egg makes
> it something else. Personally I worry more about salmonella developing on
> hard cooked egg that has been left out too long or allowed to get too warm,
> than I do raw egg out of the shell, in which case salmonella is quite rare..
> Contamination comes from the outer shell surface of a healthy egg, not
> inside, and careful cleaing before cracking takes care of that. I have had
> restaurants refuse me my breakfast eggs "over real easy", but it hasn't
> killed me yet. I flip them and cook the other side just long enough to turn
> the surface white, and its on my plate.
>
> I can sympathize with your wife's position, since I believe in the principle
> that we are all going to eat several pounds of dirt before we die, so it
> doesn't hurt to be a little bit used to it. <g>
>
>
>
> > No doubt she comes from tough stock. Got some badass
> > white corpuscles.
>
> Comes from eating dirt!
>
> MartyB in KC

Well, the sauce didn't kill me so that's good.

Unfortunately the pork wasn't falling off the bone tender even after 8
hours (4 lbs of pork). I have a feeling it was still frozen in the
middle. We defrosted it in water in the sink, but it was in a plastic
freezer bag. I'm wondering if the bag insulated it too much from the
water. I'm thinking that next time I'll defrost it in the fridge in
water with no bag. Better yet - don't freeze it in the first place!

- Bobby

wrote:
<snip>
> Well, the sauce didn't kill me so that's good.
>
> Unfortunately the pork wasn't falling off the bone tender even after 8
> hours (4 lbs of pork). I have a feeling it was still frozen in the
> middle. We defrosted it in water in the sink, but it was in a plastic
> freezer bag. I'm wondering if the bag insulated it too much from the
> water. I'm thinking that next time I'll defrost it in the fridge in
> water with no bag. Better yet - don't freeze it in the first place!
>
> - Bobby

I always have a container of my "Hawaiian style" sauce in
the refrigerator. Sometimes it's probably been in there for
a year or so before we go through it all. Always been fine.

Of course the orange juice and whiskey that's in it may help ;-)

--
Steve