Homemade condiment shelf life

[KennethT]

I've been thinking about making a few Indonesian sambals to keep in the refrigerator.  Most sambals are a combination of shallots, chillis, shrimp paste, garlic, etc. fried in oil.  The salt content is not that high, and there is usually no real acid component.  So after cooking, I'd assume the shelf life in the refrigerator is about a week - similar to other cooked foods.

 

My question is if I could extend the shelf life by refrying it every 5 days or so.  Would recooking kill the spoilage bacteria and keep it from going bad?

[pastrygirl]

If the shallots and garlic are fried until crispy and no water is left, you basically have a chunky flavored oil that should last much longer than a week. 

[Smithy]

If you aren't sure about refrigerator shelf life, what about freezing those sambals in appropriate portion sizes?

[KennethT]

22 minutes ago, pastrygirl said:

If the shallots and garlic are fried until crispy and no water is left, you basically have a chunky flavored oil that should last much longer than a week. 

Typically, they're not.  Standard sambals blend or crush in a mortar until it is a thick paste and the paste is fried, often with water added.  So there will be some oil floating on top, but other than that is quite liquidy.

[KennethT]

21 minutes ago, Smithy said:

If you aren't sure about refrigerator shelf life, what about freezing those sambals in appropriate portion sizes?

I've thought of this, but sometimes, I only want a tea spoon or two, so that would be a LOT of individually frozen portions!!! Especially if i was to make a few different sambal.

[BeeZee]

Do you think you could freeze it as a flattened mass, thin enough to break off pieces? You could make a bunch of smaller chunks and re-bag them, or leave that flattened pack and break off as desired?

[Shel_B]

41 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

Do you think you could freeze it as a flattened mass, thin enough to break off pieces? You could make a bunch of smaller chunks and re-bag them, or leave that flattened pack and break off as desired?

FWIW, I've been using that technique for rice for many years. Works great, saves a lot of space.

[liuzhou]

Ice cube tray?

[KennethT]

50 minutes ago, BeeZee said:

Do you think you could freeze it as a flattened mass, thin enough to break off pieces? You could make a bunch of smaller chunks and re-bag them, or leave that flattened pack and break off as desired?

Thanks - I totally forgot about this, but I do it with other things.  It also reminded me that I need to make more soto ayam (Indonesian chicken soup) spice paste - it's a pain to make so I make a big batch and freeze just like this.  Every time I want to make soup, I break off what I need - about 2 tablespoons worth.  So this would actually be perfect for the sambal as well.

[AlaMoi]

make it, chill it, chunk it, freeze it.

my SOP for dark roux . . .

 

[weinoo]

I do the same for Japanese curry paste.

[KennethT]

These are good answers, all.  I appreciate it.

 

Out of curiosity though, can repeated refrying it extend the shelf life in the refrigerator indefinitely? 

[BeeZee]

58 minutes ago, KennethT said:

These are good answers, all.  I appreciate it.

 

Out of curiosity though, can repeated refrying it extend the shelf life in the refrigerator indefinitely? 

My instinct says maybe the oil (and other ingredients) degrade with repeated re-frying and maybe it won't taste as good?

[AlaMoi]

once you've got a batch of stuff full of loverly bacteria, re-heating is not likely to do it - sterilization, ~270'F for 10-15 minutes after the coldest part of the batch has reached temperature, might do it.