Do you keep these things in the fridge?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We keep a stick of butter out in the butter dish, but the rest stays in the refrigerator. Cold butter is too hard to use. We've done this since we switched from margarine years ago. Butter is fat and does not spoil like milk.

No but it does go rancid.

[Anonymous]

I am from Europe and eggs, butter, jam and juice ALWAYS belong in the fridge.

[Anonymous]

butter: one stick (sometimes a half stick) on the counter (covered butter dish in cool months, butter bell in warm months)

eggs, juice, jam: fridge

I remember the huge bowls of jam in the college cafeteria. They covered them with plastic wrap between meals, but I think they were left on the counter around the clock.

Ketchup does not need to be refrigerated. It will turn a darker color, but it has so much vinegar in it that it doesn't go bad.

We keep opened mayo in the fridge, but don't those big pump dispensers of condiments at fast food restaurants often include a mayo? Those are not refrigerated. Commercial (as opposed to home-made) mayo does not spoil very quickly, and can actually prolong the life of salads. Again, high vinegar content, and it is cooked at a pretty high temperature. The old wives' tales of getting sick from mayo left out on a hot day refer to home-made mayo, not Hellmann's.