August 31st, 2005to refrigerate, or not to refrigerate. that is the question.
So my darling friend had stayed over the other night. I had left for work rather early, so left him sleeping with a note that said, “Stay as long as you like, and help yourself to anything you want to eat.” I have, a) no idea how long he stayed, and b) no idea about what he ate. No matter, I don’t care. But…
I tend to eat egg white omelettes in the morning. They’re yummy and I need the protein (vegetarian). Alright, so this morning the omelette is made, I’m munching on a piece of toast and starting to read my email. (I get lovely emails in the morning.) Anyway, so I reach behind me into a shelf for the ketchup and zoots alors it is not there! So I ponder this for a moment. Oh yes, last night we used it and the last time I saw it was over by the big chair. I check. Nope, not there. I try desperately to remember if I had even put it away. I don’t think I did.
Hmmm.
There is one last place. A place where ketchup should never be, but where I often find it in other people’s homes. The refrigerator. Sure enough, it’s sitting on the top shelf. First of all, yech. It does not say to refrigerate it on the package people, therefore it should not be refrigerated. On top of that, cold ketchup? Icky. Very, very icky. And extra sour, too.
Gag.
POLL: Do you refrigerate your ketchup?
You seriously don’t refrigerate ketchup?
You learn something new everyday.
Comment by The Guest — August 31, 2005 @ 9:32 am
You are not supposed to! You do?!
Definitely learn something new every day. Sheesh.
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 9:33 am
Definately need to refrigerate ketchup, however it really gets to me when people refrigerate their candy bars. They are so hard to eat when they are frozen…
Comment by andy — August 31, 2005 @ 9:38 am
You people are weird.
Candy bars definitely should not go into the frig. However, in the freezer, certain candy bars become much tastier.
Ketchup is NOT SUPPOSED to be refrigerated.
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 9:41 am
LOL – I’ve got ours in the fridge too. I had NO idea it doesn’t belong in there!
Comment by Kate — August 31, 2005 @ 10:51 am
Yes, I refrigerate my ketchup…. but under protest. The Aussie husband says I must. My mum says I must too but I remember she never did when we were growing up and I’m not dead yet. I don’t believe ketchup belongs in the fridge, it’s so full of sugar and other preservatives it would outlast a cockroach in a nuclear war*, I am quite sure.
*I read somewhere about cockroaches being the only living beings left after nuclear war. I don’t know if that’s true! and what do you do with your egg yolks? just curious.
Comment by ms. mac — August 31, 2005 @ 10:52 am
LOL. Everybody does, Kate, everybody does.
Ms. Mac—thank god there is sanity. And that is my point exactly. It will last forever. Which will be good in nuclear winter, because we will need something to put on the cockroaches to make them palatable. 😉
Eggs: I don’t buy eggs, actually. I buy egg whites in the egg section. They are in a container, all liquid, and all you have to do is open and pour. Makes breakfast very easy in the morning. 🙂
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 11:01 am
I don’t eat ketchup. Ew. But I would refrigerate it if I bought some.
Comment by Anne — August 31, 2005 @ 11:07 am
It’s tasty! And no, no, no.. no refrigeration required.
Sigh.
I’m going to start a “Save the Ketchup” movement or something.
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 11:09 am
I REFRIDGERATE IT AS WELL. ITS A HABIT LEFT OVER FROM THE DAYS I LIVED IN A ROACH-INFESTED APARTMENT ON THE FENWAY… AND NOTHING WAS REALLY SAFE UNLESS IN THE BIG COLD BOX.
DO YOU REFRIDGERATE BREAD? BUTTER ON THE BUTTER PLATE? … JUST CURIOUS.
Comment by mOLLY — August 31, 2005 @ 12:23 pm
oops my caps lock appears to be broken…. many apologies!
Comment by mOLLY — August 31, 2005 @ 12:24 pm
Hi Molly. No problem. 🙂
I do refrigerate my bread in the summer (it’s just too hot and it would get moldy).. and I don’t go through a loaf all that fast. I don’t actually eat butter, but I keep some for my mom when she comes. It’s in the freezer.
When I was a kid though, it was always kept under a cover in the cabinet, never in the fridge.. had to be spreadable and all. 🙂
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 12:29 pm
insider, just curious, what would you rather eat(assuming you werent a vegetarian) warm ketchup or spaghetti on a stick wrapped in a meat suit?
Comment by andy — August 31, 2005 @ 12:35 pm
Gagging right now, thanks.
I LIKE KETCHUP WARM. And not refrigerated.
Did I not make that clear to the people? Ketchup should not be cold.
Meat suit.. oh god. Hysterical.
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 12:37 pm
Ketchup goes in the refrigerator. Cold ketchup is fine and why the hell would you need ketchup for an egg white omelet. Home fries, maybe, egg whites, no.
Candy bars of certain types, particularly the Milky Way, belong in the freezer. They do get hard, but some things are better hard.
I just have a whey protein shake in the morning, it has the equivalent of about eight eggs worth of protein and almost no carbs. It takes about 30 seconds to make, and I mix it with half coffee and half water.
Comment by Grampa — August 31, 2005 @ 1:07 pm
No, no, no. And because I like ketchup. Ketchup works on home fries, too. I like those. 😛
Protein shake.. yes, OK, that works.
Decided to play with fire today, hmm?
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 1:12 pm
I should tell you now that I am sort of a pyromaniac. We used to go camping and we would burn, literally, three pick up truck loads full of wood, every night.
Admittedly, what I call camping and others call camping may be entirely two different things.
Comment by Grampa — August 31, 2005 @ 1:33 pm
lol… I don’t camp.
Sleeping outside + lack of washing facilities + bugs = insider-no-go
Comment by the insider — August 31, 2005 @ 1:36 pm
must be Refrigerated. 😉
Comment by Katia — September 6, 2005 @ 3:52 am
Nooo.. not another one. All y’all are crazy. 😛
Comment by the insider — September 6, 2005 @ 7:36 am
I’m from the birthplace of real ketchup, Heinz – Pittsburgh, Pa.
We certainly refrigerate our ketchup. When I first heard others did not, I thought they were crazy! And I didn’t realize some people didn’t refrigerate their ketchup until about three months ago.
Comment by Bobbo — June 24, 2006 @ 2:31 pm
Really? But it doesn’t say too on the bottle… 😛
Comment by the insider — June 24, 2006 @ 2:43 pm
In 25 years we have never refrigerated Ketchup. Never have, never will. We don’t like it cold.
Comment by Toni — June 28, 2006 @ 8:09 am
Oh dear. I fear I’ve come to this site too late, but I feel the need to join in on this one. Just had the refrigerate/not refrigerate conversation with my fellow office workers. I’m the only hold out for no refrigeration. Cold ketchup – yuk. I am having no luck convincing the others…
Comment by Michele — March 2, 2007 @ 4:27 pm
As noted elsewhere, just because you didn’t have to refrigerate something when you were kids, doesn’t mean you can leave it out today.
The levels of preservatives (salt, vinegar, etc.) in many foods aren’t what they used to be, given we now know how unhealthy those substances are. So while some packages may not say to refrigerate, those bottles of ketchup that suggest refrigeration should be kept refrigerated… ignore at your own peril.
Comment by Ron — April 22, 2007 @ 3:32 pm
According to their website, Heinz suggests that ketchup be refrigerated after opening to maintain the product’s quality more effectively.
I am now a broken man. I have spent years arguing that ketchup stays out of the refrigerator. Now I find that the manufacturer of the only ketchup I will buy says put it in the fridge.
I believe I will now comply, but I can no longer hold my head high when talking about ketchup. I no longer have a clear path to follow. And cold ketchup – not so good.
Comment by Robert — July 16, 2007 @ 3:48 pm
Just eat the whole bottle every time, Rob. Then all your problems are over.
Comment by grampa — July 16, 2007 @ 4:05 pm
Rob, I feel your pain. I can’t believe Heinz says to refrigerate. They must be under the thumb of the fascist Frigidaire people. Bastards!
Comment by the insider — July 16, 2007 @ 4:13 pm
There’s a Heinz food processing plant in my Canadian hometown . I used to work there during busy-season when I was a teen-ager .
My mother worked there and retired from the Heinz office after 30 yrs. So , we KNOW ketchup .
To this day , the word , ‘Refrigerate ‘ , is found NOWHERE on their labels !
Comment by Terry — August 2, 2007 @ 2:36 am
For over 30 years I have never never refrigerated Ketchup, the labels never said to refrigerate and I also did not understand putting cold ketchup on hot food. The restaurants never refrigerate their ketchup! Recently my husband purchase a bottle of ketchup and it clearly said refrigate after opening! What! Now I have to put it in the fridge. I read the label over and over and could not believe it! I’ve never seen this before. Now my ketchup lives in the fridge, this is wrong! But I feel I must comply – LOL. Does it really need to be in the fridge?
Comment by Maryann — October 19, 2007 @ 7:50 pm
I never refrigerate ketchup. Normal Heinz ketchup bottles don’t say to refrigerate but I’ve noticed Heinz “refrigerator fit” ketchup in the store do say for best results refrigerate after opening. Hmmm. I think they just say that to give them a reason for brand extension.
Comment by Russell — January 25, 2008 @ 5:45 am
I don’t care if Ketchup is in the fridge or not…but I do see on my ketchup bottle that it does say to refrigerate after opening. My mom keeps it in the cuboard and I keep it in the fridge. To each his own, and I’ll have it both ways…
Comment by Lisa — February 13, 2009 @ 12:12 pm
Well then, bobbo,grampa and other refrigerator enthusiast that say ketchup must be refrigerated…
Ever been to a restaurant? notice the condiments on the table? could they be a target for a lawsuit? I didnt grow up in Hienzville, i’m a grandfather but dont do alot of protein shakes. I do surf when there’s waves but, I never refrigerate the following:
Butter
Ketchup
Mustard
Jelly
note: as a pilot my diet may have allowed me to build up a tolerence to varius toxens. LOL!!
Comment by sam — August 22, 2009 @ 6:20 pm