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Show Whether it's zig-zagged across a sausage sanga or squirted on a meat pie, tomato sauce is the perfect accompaniment to many a great Australian culinary staple. But once you've finished dousing your food in its sweet-savoury goodness, where should you put it – in the fridge, or the cupboard? We investigated this vital question to help you get a fair shake of the sauce bottle. What the experts sayWe asked two CHOICE experts for their opinion on the best place to keep tomato sauce, and they came back with quite different answers. Fiona Mair, our kitchen expert, is all about the fridge (despite being raised in a cupboard-storing family). "I grew up with the tomato sauce in the cupboard. But I now keep it in the fridge once opened, especially if I don't use it often," she says. "In my opinion it's less runny in the fridge. If the weather is hot the sauce becomes runny when stored in the cupboard."
But Ashley Iredale, our fridge expert, disagrees (and has a conspiracy theory to share). "There's a rumour that the 'refrigerate after opening' is more about marketing than food safety – if it's in the door of your fridge it's in your face all the time, but in the cupboard it's hidden away," he says. "Tomato sauce is high enough in sugar and salt (preserving agents) that it's shelf stable, even when opened, provided you don't introduce contaminants."
Contaminants are one thing our experts do agree on. "Don't forget to clean the nozzle or top of the bottle after use as the exposed sauce can grow bacteria and contaminate the sauce," says Fiona. CHOICE staff voteWe asked CHOICE tomato sauce lovers where they keep their favourite condiment, and the majority of respondents were firmly in the fridge camp. All up, 71.64% of respondents said that tomato sauce definitely goes in the fridge, while 22.39% said it belongs in the cupboard. (And 4.48% said they don't use the stuff.) Team FridgeThose in Team Fridge had put quite some thought into their decision:
Team CupboardOnly two Team Cupboard members shared their reasoning for not storing their sauce in the fridge, but like those from Team Fridge, their decisions were clearly made after considerable thought.
"I don't want the temperature to interfere with the flavour of my pie. Unless the pie is too hot and the sauce can cool it down. It's just sugar and salt and vinegar; surely that can't go bad," said the first respondent. The second shared just one reason, and it's a good one: "Cold sauce is a crime." Squeeze or shake?We also polled CHOICE staff on what kind of vessel they prefer for their tomato sauce, and once again there was a clear winner: more than three-quarters of people said they prefer the humble plastic squeezy bottle rather than glass. The germophobes were well represented in the squeezy bottle camp, with one respondent saying, "The smaller opening and not sticking tools into a jar hopefully keeps the above-mentioned microorganisms to a minimum." But others had purely hedonistic reasons for going squeezy: "Easier to get that last drop of tomatoey goodness." Stock images: Getty, unless otherwise stated. What happens if you don't refrigerate sauce after opening?There's little risk in not refrigerating hot sauce even after its opened, thanks to two key ingredients, vinegar and salt, which act as preservatives for up to eight weeks after its opened.
How long can sauce last without fridge?Ketchup will be fine for a month outside the fridge, while mustard will last for two months. Worcestershire sauce is another condiment that certainly benefits from fridge-time but isn't necessary.
Can you eat sauce that hasn't been refrigerated?Condiments like soy sauce, vinegar-based hot sauces and honey shouldn't be refrigerated at all, according to MSN. Meanwhile, ketchup and mustard can be kept in the fridge, but won't be harmful if they're left out overnight, even if they've been opened.
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