Cold ketchup?

[Kay in Cal]

My dh has a dillema, and would like the input of the board.

 

He likes ketchup. He loves ketchup. But he doesn't like that it is cold from the fridge and when you put it on hot foods it makes them cold.

 

So... how do you store your ketchup, or warm it beforehand for warm foods?

[jojomojo]

We keep it in the fridge. It doesn't bother any of us using it cold.

 

It would be a little more expensive, and maybe cumbersome, but you could always get a huge box of ketchup packets from Sam's Club and keep it in the pantry :)

[Retired]

Mom always kept ketchup in pantry and I am still alive. So I guess it doesn't matter.

 

I keep mine in fridge because my dh puts it there:001_smile:

[jamnkats]

Here in the tropics, everything except eggs go in the fridge. Catsup included. don't think we've had any though in quite a while. We do, however, have a large variety of salsas. :)

[Ellie]

Restaurants keep ketchup on the tables or otherwise stored in non-refrigerated areas. I refrigerate mine, but only because my mother did.

 

It would never occur to me to warm up the ketchup before using it. I don't put enough of it on a food to make that much of a difference in the food's temperature. Just how much ketchup does your dh use???:D

[missplacedalaskan]

We keep the ketchup in the fridge. We don't mind that it is cold when we use it.

 

I know many restaurants keep it out, but the way I see it they use it much more quickly than we would at home. Dd would eat the entire bottle in a day if we let her....she loves ketchup!

[stansclan89]

But it has so much vinegar in it that I wouldn't think it would matter if it weren't. Restaurants don't refrigerate it.

[Tap]

We keep it in the fridge and put it on the plate before the food. This gives it a chance to come to room temp before we use it.

[Kris]

My dh has a dillema, and would like the input of the board.

 

He likes ketchup. He loves ketchup. But he doesn't like that it is cold from the fridge and when you put it on hot foods it makes them cold.

 

So... how do you store your ketchup, or warm it beforehand for warm foods?

 

In the fridge. Actually, if I have to open a new bottle and it's warm, I don't like it. I like the cold on the hot food for some reason.

 

I know people who keep their ketchup in the cabinet, and even one guy who kept his "condiments" on his kitchen table. He was alive and well, so I guess it's okay! Either that, or he went through a *lot* of ketchup. :001_smile:

[akmommy]

We keep it in the fridge because, well because that's where my mom kept it. I've known several people who don't though, and restaurants don't of course. From what i understand the acidity of it prevents any bacteria from growing. I have yet to meet someone who has told me ketchup kept at room temp. made them sick.:tongue_smilie:

[specialmama]

I'm a 3rd generational pantry/cupboard storer. We like it room temp and have never had it spoil.

[TN Mama]

I'm a 3rd generational pantry/cupboard storer. We like it room temp and have never had it spoil.

 

:iagree:

[LaxMom]

Restaurants actually do refrigerate ketchup, at least overnight. And they have a high rate of turnover. It does not need to refrigerated, but it will ferment, eventually.

 

If you're buying large bottles for economy's sake, I would transfer an amount you will use in a reasonable amount of time to a jar that you leave on the counter. When the jar empties, you can just rinse it and refill from the refrigerated container.

[ShelzNH]

Growing up our ketchup was always kept in the cupboard/pantry. Even now my parents still keep it there. I prefer it that way also for the same reasons your ds states. Unfortunately the notion was so foreign to my husband that I was forced to start putting it in the fridge in our house. Actually, in a lot of restaurants the ketchup bottles are not kept refrigerated. They are often found on the table....

[ChristyB in TN]

There isn't anything in ketchup to refrigerate. Even if you use the kind with no preservatives and such, it has no eggs, dairy, meat, etc. so it will keep in the pantry. I keep mine in the fridge, though. Can't help myself.

Anyway, I miss you! Have you decided to move to Tennessee yet? I haven't been to a church in a million years but I WOULD if you were to pastor one here, you know. How are you? How's Doug?

Just checking in to see what's going on here,

Christy

[Blessedfamily]

Our families always kept it in the frig, but we just decided a month ago to keep it in the pantry. I hate it cold. Always have. No upset stomach so far.

[Gamom3]

.

[klmama]

Restaurants actually do refrigerate ketchup, at least overnight. And they have a high rate of turnover. It does not need to refrigerated, but it will ferment, eventually.

 

If you're buying large bottles for economy's sake, I would transfer an amount you will use in a reasonable amount of time to a jar that you leave on the counter. When the jar empties, you can just rinse it and refill from the refrigerated container.

 

:iagree: In my restaurant days, we collected the ketchup every night and refrigerated it. We also were not allowed to fill partly filled bottles with fresh ketchup - we had to combine used bottles and then wash and fill the empty ones (these were those red squeeze bottles). That was the rule because the older ketchup would ferment if left too long in the bottom.

 

OP - I would keep it in the fridge and pull it out about an hour before the meal.

[Blessedfamily]

Yikes! I just went downstairs and looked at the ketchup bottle(Trader Joe's)- "refrigerate after opening". Never saw that on the brand I used to buy!

 

Well, as we just started leaving it out and I'm the only one who has eaten, I guess no harm done. New bottle in the frig.

[Scarlett]

I cannot believe the number of you who don't refrigerate it.:tongue_smilie: Maybe I'm the only one who ever saw a bottle of it explode---when I was young and worked in a restaurant. After that episode we had to start refrigerating the bottles overnight and not putting new catsup on top of what was already in the bottle.

 

I don't eat IT in restaurants to this day. I actually can only eat it out of my own refrigerator.

Edited December 23, 2008 by Scarlett
My spelling.

[TraceyS/FL]

In the fridge here - cant' stand warm catsup.

 

I actually had a conversation with my Dad about this one day! LOL!!

[Ellie]

Restaurants actually do refrigerate ketchup, at least overnight. And they have a high rate of turnover. It does not need to refrigerated, but it will ferment, eventually.

 

If you're buying large bottles for economy's sake, I would transfer an amount you will use in a reasonable amount of time to a jar that you leave on the counter. When the jar empties, you can just rinse it and refill from the refrigerated container.

 

I hadn't thought about the high turn-over, but you're right on that. However, the restaurant where I worked long ago and far away did not refrigerate the ketchup at any time.

 

We rarely use ketchup, so I guess it's a good thing I keep mine in the fridge, eh? The thought of fermented ketchup is just nasty, lol.

[skissugar]

we refrig ours.. funny thing though, at our last duty station we had a friend who was ALWAYS at our house.. we actually bought a fold out couch just for him to have a bed lol! anyway he liked his ketchup warm and we would banter back and forth over cold vs warm. So.. the ketchup war began.. when he was over, he would take my ketchup out of the fridge and hide it. The first time I didn't notice and was so aggravated i threw it away got new lol.. 2nd time i tried to hide my ketchup in the back of the fridge, but he found it every time after that. So after awhile i would announce when he came in the door to leave my ketchup alone, he had his own labled bottle in the pantry. That was not good enough so after many more months of hiding my ketchup, I bought a new bottle and FROZE IT.. and gave that to him on his birthday. :) lol.. he hid mine a few more times before he got out of the military and moved away. Now at our new duty station we are about 8-9hrs from where he lives and he drove up for us to meet his new girlfriend (potential fiance!) and well i had his ketchup bottle labled brand new on my counter waiting for him.. he hid mine one more time for old times sake and we let our ketchup war die. Next time he comes up I think I will take him over to see the Worlds Largest Ketchup Bottle. it is just a town or two over from where we live now..

 

okay now if you made it past my long drawn out story lol.. ketchup belongs in the fridge lol!!

[kewb]

Once we open a bottle it goes in the fridge. No one here cares one way or the other if it is warm or cold.

[ereks mom]

But I never noticed that until she pointed it out. I've always stored mine in the fridge. It's a matter of preference, I guess.

[Chelle in MO]

My dh has a dillema, and would like the input of the board.

 

He likes ketchup. He loves ketchup. But he doesn't like that it is cold from the fridge and when you put it on hot foods it makes them cold.

 

So... how do you store your ketchup, or warm it beforehand for warm foods?

On a related note, Kay, I bought my ketchup-loving sister a t-shirt the other day. It's red with white letters and says, "I put ketchup on my ketchup." I think she'll love it! I got it at a local mall, but if you Google "ketchup t shirt", you'll get places you can order one.

 

BTW, our bottle says to refrigerate.

 

Chelle

[OH_Homeschooler]

We refrigerate ours, but I think I prefer warm ketchup. I always think ketchup out of packets tastes better than the bottle stuff at home, and it's the same brand so I can only think it's because of the temperature!

[ChristyB in TN]

Well, I'm sitting here corrected. I looked at the bottle of organic, no preservative ketchup and it DOES have to be refrigerated. Nice to know! I was a waitress and a bartender for years and never once saw a bottle of ketchup in a refrigerator but it was usually just regular old Heinz. I'm guessing corn syrup doesn't spoil for a long, long time. Anyway, this is why I miss this board. I have been sitting here reading these posts all morning and I have to say that I haven't thought about my dryer, ketchup, chicken casserole recipes, or the lack of Christmas cards in way too long! This is a lot of fun.:D

[Blessedfamily]

Well, I'm sitting here corrected. I looked at the bottle of organic, no preservative ketchup and it DOES have to be refrigerated. Nice to know! I was a waitress and a bartender for years and never once saw a bottle of ketchup in a refrigerator but it was usually just regular old Heinz. I'm guessing corn syrup doesn't spoil for a long, long time.

 

 

I think you're right. This is probably the reason I just noticed it on my organic Trader Joe's brand but not on my old brand.

I know several families who have never refrigerated regular ketchup.

[Kay in Cal]

Hmmmm.... so I guess we'll just try the pantry!

 

I liked the idea of putting it in smaller bottles, though... we do buy the HUGE size from Costco. Maybe I'll buy a small bottle one time, and then refill it from the bigger bottle. After washing it. No ketchup explostions.

 

Thank you all for responding! My dh has once again been confirmed in his belief that "the board knows all"!

[hornblower]

My parents stored it in the cupboard.

 

I don't like it cold but I don't use it much - we don't really eat a lot of things which we would put ketchup on. I now store the big bottle of it in the fridge just because it's sitting around for so long.

 

I do have a small glass bottle & if I think ahead, I do decant some into the bottle and store that smaller amount in the cupboard.

 

I do the same with maple syrup.

[StaceyinLA]

and, so far, none of us are dead from it.

[Tammyla]

We keep it in the refrigerator.