Oldest Condiments in Your Fridge

[weinoo]

If you've peeked at the topic about Heniz vs. Hunt's (ketchup, that is), you'll see that I recently threw away a bottle of ketchup that had an expiration date of December, 2009. Meaning I bought it sometime in 2008, so it was at least 3 years old.

That wasn't the oldest, though, not by a long shot. There was some chili paste with garlic, a bit of Sriracha, a couple of bottles of tonic water, etc. etc. Stuff that was essentially prehistoric.

That said, what are the oldest condiments in your fridge? And why are they still there?

[Mjx]

Got some Thai fish sauce that may be nearly a year old... just don't use that much at a time, although I do use it pretty often. And some shrimp paste that's several months old, which worries me a little. But that's it. Partly because we tend to use stuff as we get it, although over the past few months, the freezer has become a sort of holding pen/dump for various odds and ends we can't quite bring ourselves to bin.

[BeeZee]

Green peppercorns in brine. At least 5 years old. Only used for one recipe, which was tasty and I keep thinking I'll make it again...

[Alcuin]

I bought a huge tub of chili bean sauce. A year and a half later, it's still there. That tub is just too big. It's not for lack of use either.

There's also quite the assortment of old jams in there too. We keep on buying more and forgetting about them I guess. Some good stuff too, like jalapeno strawberry or straight jalapeno from the farmer's market. I'll have to put those front and center in the refrigerator to remind myself to use them before it's too late...

[Emily_R]

How about oldest condiments on our counter? I can seriously top Mjx -- I've got a bottle of fish sauce that is at least 7 years old!

[Florida]

I've got a jar of red fermented tofu in there from some unknown time in the past. It's just such a specific product it hardly ever gets used. Got some of last year's home-made pickles as well, even though I've already started making this year's pickles.

[LaurieB]

"There was some chili paste with garlic, a bit of Sriracha,"

Sriracha can go bad? How do you know? >

[patti]

I'm the only sriracha user in the house, so my bottle is probably three+ years old. Still tasty.

[helenjp]

Ancient plums from a batch of plum wine I made back in...hmm, when was that???

Plan was to use them in cakes or icecream etc, but somehow the desire to eat shochu-soaked unripe ume in cake rarely strikes me.

[annabelle]

Umiboshi (sp?) plums. Everyone hates them except me. They must be two years old.

[Country]

Umiboshi (sp?) plums. Everyone hates them except me. They must be two years old.

Good Umeboshi plums will last for years.

[Kouign Aman]

Last week I found an unopened bottle of Marie's bleu cheese dressing that had expired in 2008. It remained unopened as it exited the premises. Back then, that was a splurge purchase for us, so how it got neglected is a wonder.

[TheNoodleIncident]

My Dad's fridge was always full of ancient hot sauces. He liked to try new ones as he discovered them - since he had so many, and since you only use a little at a time, it's easy to see how they sit there for years.

Now that I have my own house, I see the same trend - I go through my regulars (Sriracha and Fank's) relatively quickly, but the ones I get as gifts (guess from who?) have ben there a WHILE.

Edited August 10, 2011 by TheNoodleIncident (log)

[abooja]

I thought it was the bottle of Chantaine orange marmalade that moved here with us nearly three months ago, but it's actually the bottle of Hebrew National deli mustard that expired in December 2009.

[David A. Goldfarb]

Let's see: I moved to my first apartment in New York on 105th and Amsterdam in 1991, then around 1994 I took over an apartment in Brooklyn from a friend who got a new job in Seattle and was giving up nice place with a garden, and she had a bottle of Wright's Liquid Smoke that was already pretty old, but that stuff doesn't go bad, does it? We've lived in four different places since then.

[eldereno]

I'm not sure I want to go and investigate!!!! A SCARY thought!!!!!!

[heidih]

My personal collection all got trashed when I gave my fridge away during a move and had a gap before settling in with a new one. However, I am headed to my dad's tomorrow and will explore their scary shelves. I know that in the past I have surreptitiously tossed things from their collection like a jar of dried beef that had to be (no kidding) 15 years old. Will report back.

[Katie Meadow]

Umiboshi (sp?) plums. Everyone hates them except me. They must be two years old.

Good Umeboshi plums will last for years.

How do you tell a good one from a bad one?

[Country]

Umiboshi (sp?) plums. Everyone hates them except me. They must be two years old.

Good Umeboshi plums will last for years.

How do you tell a good one from a bad one?

It's hard to describe. The coops around here haven't been carrying any that look that good so I've been getting Mitoku from this place.

[Country]

Getting back to the oldest condiment in the fridge.... I have a 4 pound tub of South River miso that I've had since 2003 - and it was 3 year old (barley) miso when I got it. I've been aging it and it's getting really good. One of these days I'll start using it...

[annabelle]

My personal collection all got trashed when I gave my fridge away during a move and had a gap before settling in with a new one. However, I am headed to my dad's tomorrow and will explore their scary shelves. I know that in the past I have surreptitiously tossed things from their collection like a jar of dried beef that had to be (no kidding) 15 years old. Will report back.

Yikes! Sounds like my ex-husband's grandmother's refrigerator: 15 year old bottles of salad dressings! I threw away tons of stuff while we were visiting. This was nearly 30 years ago and it still pisses me off that she had all of that stuff in there. She had five daughters living within driving distance and we lived over 400 miles away. Don't tell me that no one ever looked in that fridge.

[weinoo]

Let's see: I moved to my first apartment in New York on 105th and Amsterdam in 1991, then around 1994 I took over an apartment in Brooklyn from a friend who got a new job in Seattle and was giving up nice place with a garden, and she had a bottle of Wright's Liquid Smoke that was already pretty old, but that stuff doesn't go bad, does it? We've lived in four different places since then.

So you're talking 20 - year old smoke! Nice.

I started to a little more digging in the fridge...I don't think this counts as a condiment (well, maybe)...

[Cyberider]

Went for the ketchup last weekend and noticed it didn't look right. Noticed my late wife had purchased it since she always wrote the date on the container. April 2000. Time to get a new bottle!

[DanM]

I just cleaned out the backup fridge and found a jar of Coleman's mustard that expired in 2009.

[David A. Goldfarb]

So you're talking 20 - year old smoke! Nice.

It takes at least 15 years to mellow out. It's like a fine Bordeaux.