Which Foods Need To Be Refrigerated?

To refrigerate after opening or not to refrigerate? That's a question that many of us don't reflect upon enough. We often just revert to whatever our parents did -- refrigerate soy sauce but not teriyaki, leave opened jam in the pantry but not peanut butter. But, we might be doing it all wrong.

Some condiments deteriorate in the fridge and others will quickly go rancid if left in your cabinet -- are you storing your food in the right place? Click through the slideshow below to see how accurate your knowledge is.

And please keep in mind that when it comes to food, it is always wise to err on the side of caution. If you aren't sure how to best store an open item, it's safer to refrigerate it. And if a food item smells off or has changed in appearance, it is safer just to discard it.

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Comments

[camanokat]

02:52 AM on 06/04/2012

I freeze all whole grains, seeds and all nuts as well. I've tossed rancid whole wheat flour, brown rice. walnuts and flaxseed. When in doubt, it goes in the fridge or freezer.

[magal118]

02:03 PM on 06/03/2012

Wrapping celery completely in tin foil to keep it fresh for a much longer time!

[bdgrizcp]

11:47 AM on 06/03/2012

Here's a funny one. Velveeta. Target super centers keep it in the refrigerated section with the real cheese. I found it there by accident once. In every other store, it's on the shelf with the jarred and canned shake cheeses. It says refrigerate after opening.

[rdschuler]

01:38 PM on 06/03/2012

I can understand if the instructions are in English .

[Trisha Lynn Dragon]

08:22 PM on 06/03/2012

It's a store by store thing. Depends on who is managing it and where the space is. The market you are in matters as well.

Stuff like that is always well thought out. Lots of research on how consumers buy and region of the country, income level of the neighborhood everything is thought about when they lay the store out. It's kind of crazy.

Our Target actually has the Velveeta in 3 places. Near the chips, in the fridge and with the canned and jar cheeses.

[bdgrizcp]

11:40 AM on 06/03/2012

How about: if it says to refrigerate after opening, I'd take that advice. If you live in a hot climate without A/C, there are a great many more things you might want to refrigerate, such as flour. I admit I did not know about nut oils, but is peanut oil a nut oil? Peanuts are legumes. Bisquick I keep in the fridge. Bread crumbs in the freezer.

[keith w oliver]

01:24 PM on 06/03/2012

"I ᴀᴅᴍɪᴛ I ᴅɪᴅ ɴᴏᴛ ᴋɴᴏᴡ ᴀʙᴏᴜᴛ ɴᴜᴛ ᴏɪʟs, ʙᴜᴛ ɪs ᴘᴇᴀɴᴜᴛ ᴏɪʟ ᴀ ɴᴜᴛ ᴏɪʟ"

------- its classified as a groundnut oil, which is classified as a vegtable oil :)

[Canefighter]

10:22 AM on 06/03/2012

If in doubt, Refrigerate as our cooking teacher in high school said. To this day I still go by that rule.

[rdschuler]

01:40 PM on 06/03/2012

You mean "ice box"? Just kidding ! In my high school days it was ice box .

[joyfulworld]

12:15 PM on 06/04/2012

I still say "ice box"...and get some very strange looks from some of my younger friends!!!

[Robin Donovan]

02:10 PM on 06/02/2012

I never used to refrigerate soy sauce and often ended up throwing out half-full bottles that had gone bad. Then my then new boyfriend (now husband) pointed out that right on the bottle (Kikkoman, as pictured above) it says "Refrigerate after opening." I just checked my current bottle and it still says the same thing.

[bdgrizcp]

11:33 AM on 06/03/2012

I keep all those little bottles (and I have most of them) on the door shelf of my fridge. Makes them easier to find in my hellhole of a kitchen.

[Trisha Lynn Dragon]

08:24 PM on 06/03/2012

Some bottles actually say "Refrigerate after opening for best results" (something like that). You don't have to keep it in the fridge, but it will last longer and taste better if you do.

I, like bdgrizcp, leave it in the fridge so I can find the darn thing the once in a blue moon I actually use it.

[BeerLover]

01:36 PM on 06/01/2012

NOTHING should be left out if you live in the hot southern states...not butter.....not bread. I even refrigerate my bread, because I buy the fresh baked without preservatives.....and it molds in 3-4 days in Florida.

[bdgrizcp]

11:36 AM on 06/03/2012

I live in the hottest (year round average) southern state, and we have A/C. Salted butter keeps out of the fridge longer than you'd ever imagine--with A/C.

[Trisha Lynn Dragon]

08:32 PM on 06/03/2012

Florida has the hottest year round temp average, especially when you add humidity. Though to be fair, it depends on the year and who did the study.

You can leave quite a bit out in Florida with no issue. If you're buying things that lack certain preservatives location is irrelevant.

The reason you can't leave things out in Florida is humidity. Texas has the same problem. Anything left in a spot where the hot & humid can meet and get *busy* will be covered in a disgusting fuzz in short order.

[joyfulworld]

12:18 PM on 06/04/2012

Wow! Even here in cool Oregon my salted butter tends to turn into a pool of yellow liquid if I leave it out. How do you manage to leave it out in a hot Southern state? I would love to learn your secret!!!

[keith w oliver]

11:38 AM on 06/03/2012

i think bread is the only thing we *don't* refrigerate, just because it's gone fairly fast ---- we have similar weather to you here in biloxi, ms

[elevenfifty]

12:18 PM on 06/01/2012

* keeping soy sauce [in the fridge] helps preserve the flavor.

[elevenfifty]

12:13 PM on 06/01/2012

Keeping soy sauce does help preserve the flavor.

[sobaytransplant]

01:41 AM on 06/01/2012

Most of these are things that common sense (and our mothers) taught us years ago - except for maple syrup. WHAAAAAAAAT? I've never refrigerated it and neither did my mother or my grandmother. No one has ever gotten sick from it sitting in the pantry next to the pancake mix. Maybe they are talking about something other than the Log Cabin "processed" type that I'm used to! LOL

[catsanon]

07:53 AM on 06/01/2012

Yes, they're talking about the real thing - unadulterated 100% maple syrup. Not the impostor products containing corn syrup and preservatives, and there is a risk of growing mold if left at room temperature.....

[BeerLover]

01:27 PM on 06/01/2012

Maple syrup is a natural product and can easily mold. There are no preservatives in it.

Log Cabin is NOT maple syrup....but high fructose corn syrup with coloring.

[bdgrizcp]

11:43 AM on 06/03/2012

Honey is even a more natural product than maple syrup. I know--has its own built-in preservatives, provided by our bee friends.

[Aquatic]

11:49 PM on 05/31/2012

The British don't put their jam in the fridge. I hoped this article would have an opinion on that, but it didn't.

[bdgrizcp]

11:44 AM on 06/03/2012

Jam is fully cooked. And pastuerized. It does get runny at room temp. Besides, Britain is cold most of the time.

[Aquatic]

12:29 PM on 06/03/2012

Thanks!  I did notice the chilly British kitchens were more conducive to jam outside the fridge than it would be in warmer US states.

[joyfulworld]

12:21 PM on 06/04/2012

They also, apparently, leave something called "cream cakes" out of the fridge and on a shelf in the pantry. At least they do on the TV show, "As Time Goes By." Anyone know what a "cream cake" is?

[Novel Idea]

08:44 AM on 06/30/2012

Maybe it's like the Hostess cakes we have here. They are so full of preservatives they will never go bad...

[chicgogo]

11:14 PM on 05/31/2012

My family always stored butter out of the frig and I do the same. So much easier to have it there and spreadable on a moments notice. None of us have had any ill affects in the 53 years my family has been a family.

[sobaytransplant]

01:43 AM on 06/01/2012

I'm glad to hear someone else say that, too. I also keep the butter dish in my cabinet and not in the fridge.

[catsanon]

07:58 AM on 06/01/2012

I usually have a stick of butter out at room temperature, ready for immediate use (even though I use far less than I used to).

The only exception is in the hottest part of the summer when it melts at room temperature - but even then I often still leave some out.

[LadySockMonkey]

11:01 PM on 05/31/2012

Aren't companies required to indicate on their label whether or not their product needs to be refrigerated after it's opened? If it doesn't say "refrigerate" I don't.

[Mitch Craft]

10:46 PM on 05/31/2012

If anyone did not know any of that. You making it this far in life is impressive. I thought it was gonna be something crazy. Not Mayo-Yes!.

[deepintheheartoftejas]

10:44 PM on 05/31/2012

Surprised that cheese wasn't mentioned, but it's complicated: unpasteurized cheeses have their own microbiological community that tends to naturally repel invasive bacteria (along with the salting that most cheeses undergo). Soft pasteurized cheeses definitely need refrigeration, unless you're eating them immediately. Harder cheeses are not very susceptible.

I often buy traditionally made, unpasteurized cheeses, and leave them out unrefrigerated, without a problem. My mother buys slabs of industrial cheddar, and sticks them in the fridge, and after a couple weeks they get all moldy on the surface. Actually, that probably adds the only bit of flavor they'll ever have.