A truly stupid question
 

Does Tabasco sauce require refrigeration, once opened?

One would think so, as with most food products, but it doesn't specify it anywhere on the bottle or packaging. If I can get away with throwing a bottle in my coat pocket and having it in restaurants, it'd be keen.

(Ingredients of the variety I have on hand: red pepper, distilled vinegar, water, salt, garlic.)

Most restaurants just keep it out on the tables, much like ketchup and mustard. These sorts of condiments are very acidic, and so retard formation of nasties. Then again, restaurants use condiments at a much faster rate than an individual would, and spoilage is much more likely over a longer period of time.

In the end, I think Tabasco is probably not going to cause you a problem if you carry it around. I sympathize with your sentiment here as I would use Tabasco on corn flakes if I wasn't afraid I'd be committed.

Most mustards/catsups/hotsauces etc. don't need to be refridgerated at all... despite what it may say on the package. The high acidity of the food keeps it from growing things. The same is true of pancake syrup (not acid, tho -- it's the sugar content).

Most people just keep this stuff in the fridge because -- what the hey, it can't hurt.

Go ahead, bring hot sauce with you. My personal favorite is Frank's Red Hot... Yum...

I think I'm going to make myself an egg sandwich with redhot. Now that's a breakfast that'll wake you up!

- Pie

PS: Try this: Onion bagle, toasted, spread with peanut butter, drizzled with redhot and sprinkled with Penzy's sate seasoning (curry powder-like stuff). In my SO's words, "Woah, that's really strange. Can I have a taste?"

Tabasco sauce has vinegar in it and is already aged. Refrigeration can't hurt. Some of the best sauce I had was a cheap generic store brand I kept in the regrigerator. After a few months, it had aquired a nice aged flavor.

The godfathers say this:

What is the shelf life of TABASCO®?

TABASCO® brand Pepper Sauce has a shelf life of 5 years when stored in a cool, dry place.

Well, this isn't exactly the answer sought by vsp, so I sent an e-mail to them. It follows below. Hopefully I'll hear from them in a few days.

To whom it may concern:

First off, I wanted to say how much I love Tabasco sauce. It's quite possibly one of the greatest foods ever created.

I read your FAQ list; however, there is one question to which I could not find the answer. While you say Tabasco has a shelf life of 5 years, should it be refrigerated once opened? Does this help give it that 5 year shelf life, or does it simply need to be left in a "cool dry place," regardless of refrigeration?

Thank you,

Terry Blastenbrei
Philadelphia, PA

I'll post the reply once I get it.

vinegar, sans sugar, no need for chill.

You know, this reminds me of a letter to Ann Landers. The newly-married woman said that her mother-in-law did not refrigerate mayonnaise. The writer of the letter said that not only did this gross her out, she couldn't believe the entire family hadn't died of food poisoning. So she was trying to get Ann to convince them that this was a bad practice.

Too bad. Ann contacted one of the big mayo mfrs. and they said that while they recommend refrigeration of their product to give the best taste, that due to the way it's produced (pasteurization? I forget, it was several years ago) there is no health risk to leaving it at normal room temperature.

Brian weighs in
 

I do not and have never refrigerated my Tabasco sauce.

or most steak sauces either. And although my guts are rotten, it should in no way influence my decision to shelve my Tabasco.

YMMV

Brian

Tabasco sauce does not need refrigeration. Just keep it somewhere other than in the glovebox of your car (might freeze and burst the bottle in the winter, gets damn yucky in the summer).

Variety recommendation from the 'Wolf kitchen ... Crystal Louisiana Hot Sauce. MMMMMMMM....

Most hot sauces won't spoil, but a few will settle or lose their color after a while.

The best hot sauce in the world is still the jar of vinegar, scotch bonnets and nanner peppers your mama put on the table every summer right next to the bowl of cucumbers and onions in vinegar, black pepper and sugar.

As far as commercial brands go, my favorites are still:

Tabasco
Crystal Louisiana
Andre's Rouge
Mrs. Dog
Chile Today, Hot Tamale

How hot is tobasco? Put it on ice cream and see how much it melts. However if the ice cream starts smoking, assume the tobasco has gone bad.

Chile Today - Hot Tamale makes THE best potato chips on the planet, as well as handy containers of ground-up chiles for use wherever normal people would use salt and pepper.

Tabasco's gotten experimental lately. Now, to go with their traditional Red (heavy cayenne) and Green (jalapeno) varieties, they have Garlic Pepper (milder), Chipotle (VERY good) and Habanero flavors as well. No complaints here.

Buffalo Wild Wing's hottest wing sauce could damage your mouth, dangerous shit, I have never tried it actually, but I tried the 2nd and 3rd hottest and they are about enough to kill me, and I love hot sauce. Franks Red Hot Sauce is now my favorite followed by Texas Champagne and then Tabasco.

i like franks too. ive never tried that chipotle tabasco sauce, but i think im gonna get some next time i go grocery shopping. what about salsas? any suggestions for better salsa than pace? ive tried making it before, but that never works out.

~james

http://store.ourfoods.com/images/prod/M50652.jpg

You're kidding, right? Pace? That stuff's made in New York City!

Anything by DL Jardine is great. Tia Rosa is good also, and I love Mrs. Renfro's Black Bean Salsa.