Bringing a big photo of soybean oil and whole eggs to your feed
If I had to guess, it’s because the back/top of the fridge is more prone to freezing.
What kind of low tech refrigerator has that kind of uneven temperature distribution?
The kind that has the condenser and evap coils.
The area closest to the coils is coldest. The doors often open and close and the air nearest them when closed has to get cold again.
And the air is often moved over the coils by a fan. If you block the air flow, then that area gets really cold and will freeze.
Surely one without the ability to display advertisements
Samsung
Our brand new GE fridge is like this. The temperature is set to 41F and it still causes some things to freeze on the shelves.
Hm. My refrigerator I bought 18 years ago from a no name brand has a fan that moves air internally when the door is closed.
Can confirm, mine does this lol. It’s 9nly a slight freeze and I use it as an advantage to keep things prone to expiring quicker near that area to prolong its life a bit.
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.
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.
Like nut butters, I’ve even found that modern formulations of mayo and salad dressings don’t actually need to be refrigerated.
That is asking for some problems 🤣
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.
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.
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.
Honey can’t spoil. The ridiculous amount of sugar sucks the water out of anything trying to grow. Can’t evolve your way out of “zero water”. :)
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. :)
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.
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?
Only if you rarely eat them. They’ll last a few months before going rancid which is fine for many people.
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
I 100% thought this was vaseline at first before reading the whole title. lol
Opening the door regularly helps agitate and keep the mayonaise from overly congealing.
