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Best Foods/Hellmann's Mayonnaise bottle with blurry text on the right side reading: "Refrigerate after opening and store in refrigerator door. Do not freeze."

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[–] 124 points 10 months ago (18 children)

If I had to guess, it's because the back/top of the fridge is more prone to freezing.

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  • [–] 66 points 10 months ago (14 children)

    This is it. The door is warmer than the back and the mayo will separate if frozen

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  • [–] 12 points 10 months ago (12 children)

    And depending on your refrigerator's settings and insulation, the door compartments may be cold enough for more stable things but not for things like milk. Too me a bit to figure out having the milk in the door was both convenient and cutting its lifetime down a lot. Only takes a few degrees, plus the large door shelf is usually higher up, where the warmer air is.

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  • [–] 11 points 10 months ago (10 children)

    That’s annoying - it’s the only place my milk fits. And my shelves aren’t adjustable enough to change that unless I remove a shelf

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago (9 children)
  • [–] 13 points 10 months ago (4 children)
  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Canada was a mistake.

    Le Canada était une erreur.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    As a Canadian, I have never seen a bag of milk "sealed" with a rubber band. Plus, standard bags are way bigger than these. Those bags are not Canadian.

    En tant que Canadien, je n'ai jamais vu de sacs de lait "scellés" avec des élastiques. De plus, les sacs réguliers sont beaucoup plus grand que ceux-ci. Ces sacs ne sont pas Canadiens.

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    No, really not. While I haven’t had catastrophic leaks and it doesn’t leak every time, I’ve spent way more time than I like cleaning out the fridge from milk left on its side

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  • [–] [S] 3 points 10 months ago

    Some may find it fun to nerd out, get a Bluetooth temp sensor, track a handful of places in fridge & freezer to figure it out 🙂

    Also good for ongoing alerts of temp escalations (beyond the usual, since refrigerators make themselves really cold until they warm up a bit and make themselves cold again).

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    Honestly all can do this based upon where the colder air enters which in most cases is the top and back of the fridge. Be it when cost is not a factor cold spots can be reduced but there will always be cold spots. Being in the door means that it will be less likely to freeze and if freezing does occur, being in the door will be the first to thaw or warm.

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  • [–] 48 points 10 months ago (11 children)

    Mayo is basically just Oil, Eggs, and Vinegar or Citric Acid.

    If you put it in the back of the fridge, it's likely to freeze and separate into a nasty dissolution of the emulsion of the ingredients. It's not pretty.

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  • [–] 6 points 10 months ago (10 children)

    Like nut butters, I've even found that modern formulations of mayo and salad dressings don't actually need to be refrigerated.

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  • [–] 13 points 10 months ago (5 children)

    That is asking for some problems 🤣

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  • [–] 4 points 10 months ago (4 children)

    Not IME. Lots of stuff can last weeks or months on the counter, no problem.

    Another one would be honey. It's essentially viscous enough such that no bacteria, mold or fungi have a chance to grow on it. Another one would be Jamaican jerk seasoning in the bottle. It's so low-moisture and salty that it doesn't need refrigeration, except perhaps in very hot months.

    Now if you're talking fresh-made mayo from scratch? Yeah, I'd get that in the fridge, stat.

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  • [–] 14 points 10 months ago

    Honey doesn't, and shouldn't, be refrigerated. That's different from eggs because both the yolk and white spoil at room temperature. That's why acid is always added to emulsion. That won't stop the combo of Oil+Protein hosting a number of things if they aren't pasteurized.

    I would 1000000% never leave homemade mayo out at room temp.

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  • [–] 9 points 10 months ago (1 child)

    Honey is different, because it basically never spoils. There have been jars of honey found at archeologist dig sites that were hundreds of years old (or more) that are still perfectly edible.

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  • [–] 5 points 10 months ago

    Yep. Weird what people think needs refrigeration. I have hot sauces that are years old, too acidic to host bacteria or fungi.

    Honey's a little different. Too much sugar for osmosis, chokes bacteria to death by sucking the H2O out.

    While we're at it, my wife usually leaves dinner covered on the table. Still good to go 24 hours later. I do draw the line at seafood out all night. :)

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  • [–] 8 points 10 months ago (3 children)

    Nut butters with tons of added sugar, oil, and stabilizers don't need to be refrigerated. But nut butters with an ingredient list one item long do.

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  • [–] 3 points 10 months ago*

    Pure nut butters have done fine for me out of fridge. Not sure about when extra ingredients are added.

    I guess it -would- cut down on longevity though, as oils go rancid over time. So I would think refrigeration does help, there?

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  • [–] 1 point 10 months ago

    The only reason they need to be refrigerated is the convenience of preventing them from separating. They do fine in the cupboard.

    In the other hand I stopped getting Costco bulk sizes because it was frustrating to mix them back in effectively, and the normal sized jars get used quickly

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  • [–] 28 points 10 months ago

    So you see it more often and use more.

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  • [–] 11 points 10 months ago

    The door is the warmest part of the fridge and I would guess this has something to do with the temperature of an average fridge being a bit too cold and producing a less favorable texture so the manufacturer wants you to have the best experience and tells you to put it on the door. Either that or something else probably related to you enjoying it more or using it more.

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  • [–] 10 points 10 months ago

    I 100% thought this was vaseline at first before reading the whole title. lol

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  • [–] 2 points 10 months ago

    Opening the door regularly helps agitate and keep the mayonaise from overly congealing.

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