Condiments....

We had jam, marmalade and almost all the condiments named in this thread long before all homes featured a fridge. Where did we keep them then? I don't think sauces and pickles need to be kept refrigerated as they have a high proportion of vinegar. I make an exception for mayonnaise though, if it says on the label that it should be kept in the fridge.

The generic name for jams, chutneys, pickles, and so on is "preserves". That is because they have been preserved by cooking them with sugar, vinegar, spices etc so that they will keep for at least a year and usually a lot more.

Goodness I'm surprised by the comments.
I buy Tescos sticky labels. I look at the label on the bottle/jar etc and work out the use by/ bbf date and write it on the label. I throw it out after that date if its unused. If it says store in fridge that's what I do.
Perhaps I'm overcautious but I prefer not to take the risk.
When I was young I think food kept better unrefrigerated because we didn't have central heating. Houses were generally colder.

You can buy small packs of humous.

I turn any jar sauce upside down once opened. The contents slide down cutting out the air and there's no where for mould to grow. I take no notice of the dates on the jar, if it looks right, smells right and tastes right- its alright :-)

I use left over cranberry sauce when I make gravy for chicken. It works really well.
Also mango chutney is great in stir fries.

Just eyeing up two jars of chilli apple jelly (homemade, unopened) kept in a cool cupboard, dated 2014!

I bet they're nicely matured by now.

I keep them all in the fridge once they have been opened and use within a few weeks. You can use a lot with ordinary things eg cranberry sauce with sausages to liven them up a bit.

I keep all that stuff on the top shelf of the fridge - and I keep it for months, if not years. Always seems to be ok, and it does eventually get used.

Going off at a tangent, same problem with spices etc. Why don’t they come in tiny jars, half the size of the usual ones, as you use so little? I’ve got some, only used once for a special recipe, which are years old.

That annoys me too Watermeadow more than food going off.

I don’t keep any of the things you mention in the fridge ketchups sauces jams mayo they are all on normal shelves in the shops and go on normal cupboard shelves in my house I suppose I grew up without a fridge and never have felt the need to use fridge shelves for them, after all they are preserved ? they all get eaten or used I never look at dates if they smell ok they are ok
The one thing I will agree on is spices they lose their flavour long before I ve half used them so they do get thrown away unfortunately

I keep all such things in cupboards, too.
Exception is the teeny jars of easy ginger and chilli (from Asda, they're brilliant) which I use quite a lot, esp. in stir fries.

Spices - I will probably use last year's mixed spice (Christmas puds) and allspice (baked gammon glaze) since they still smell fresh enough. But 2 years would be the limit.

Mint sauce, chutney (home made and 18 months old), mustard, Ketchup, brown sauce all live in cupboards not the fridge and are there for months at a time. All were developed long before the introduction of refrigeration and designed to stand in cupboards for ages

Pesto and curry pastes and sauces. I keep in the fridge - for months and months before using them. Yet to have food poisoning from any of my long kept condiments.

I think there is a gap in the market for somewhere selling all these things 'loose'.

You could take a little refillable pot so you buy as much as you'd need.

That would be a great way of trying new things, too.

Like others I store most of those things in the food cupboard and they are fine.
Anything creamy, once opened in the fridge, like mayo or horseradish sauce.
Jams and marmalade in the food cupboard too.

MissAdventure,one has opened in a village near me, doing just that. It's very popular. I worry about whether its hygienic though. But that's just me.

Oh there goes my spot on Dragons Den then.

Sorry!

I remember many years ago when my grandma died and upon emptying her house with my parents, discovering kilner jars with pickled onions in them. We tried the onions (which must have been in the cupboard for years) and they were delicious! She was a farmers wife and her house also had a walk in pantry. I would love a pantry now! That’s where we used to put things to store in a moderate temperature, but now we only have small cupboards and fridges to keep our opened condiments in. I keep my opened sauces in the top of my fridge.

When I was little we had a huge pantry and a tiny fridge. My mother continued to keep everything in a kitchen cupboard when we moved away from the big house and nothing ever went off or mouldy. We don't eat much jam or marmalade so I keep it in the fridge and am scrupulous about only getting it out with a clean spoon. Still I usually end up throwing half the jar away because it is green with mould.

I have thrown out sauces because we never use them and they take up too much room in the fridge. Usually they were bought because we were having a barbeque and had invited people.

On the other hand, we have mustards that are years past their sell-by date which get used regularly.