BUCKHORN CLIFFSA preparedness field manual

Food · Supply

Condiments

How long ketchup, mustard, mayonnaise, hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, salad dressing and the rest keep sealed and opened, which belong in a food store, and how to store and check them.

FLAVOR BUDGETMUSTARD FOREVERMAYO 2 MONTHSWorks without power

Quick facts

  • Keeps for years
    • Mustard
    • hot sauce
    • soy sauce
    • vinegar
    • honey
    • salt
  • Keeps a year sealed, months opened
    • Ketchup
    • barbecue sauce
    • relish
  • Fridge after opening, months at most
    • Mayonnaise
    • salad dressing
    • tartar sauce
  • Watch forMold at the rim, separation that will not stir back, off smell

Where this sits on the food shopping list

Condiments are the cheapest fix for the biggest problem in a food store, which is that people stop eating the same rice and beans by week two. Most of them keep for a long time because they are made of the things that preserve: vinegar, salt, sugar, oil and spice. A few are fragile. This page sorts them.

Which to buy

Stock the ones that keep for years in quantity: mustard, hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, worcestershire, fish sauce, honey, and the dry seasoning blends. Keep a year's ketchup and barbecue sauce and rotate it. Buy mayonnaise in small jars and often, or keep the powdered eggs and oil to make it. Hot sauce and mustard in glass keep best. The soy sauce and vinegar pages cover the indefinite ones.

How long it really lasts

By how it is kept

FormLabel saysReal, stored well
Mustard, sealed1 to 2 yearsYears cool and dark; 12 months refrigerated once opened
Hot sauce, vinegar-based2 to 3 yearsYears; months on the counter once opened, longer refrigerated
Soy sauce, vinegar, worcestershire, fish sauce2 to 3 yearsIndefinite sealed; a year or more opened
Ketchup, barbecue sauce12 monthsLonger sealed and cool; 6 months refrigerated once opened
Mayonnaise3 to 6 months2 months refrigerated once opened, at best quality
Salad dressing, bottled10 to 12 months1 to 3 months refrigerated once opened
Relish, pickles12 months1 to 3 months refrigerated once opened
The Preparedness Food Shopping List (PDF), a one page printable PDF

Free download

Get the one-page food shopping list

What to store, how much of it for one person for one month, and how long it keeps. One page with checkboxes, built from the Survival Foods field guide. Print it, multiply by your people and months, and take it to the store.

The PDF comes by email, with my newsletter now and then. Already on the list? You still get it. Read the full page.

How to store it

Sealed bottles in a cool, dark cupboard; heat and light fade color and flavor first. Once opened, the vinegar, salt and sugar condiments (mustard, hot sauce, soy, ketchup, worcestershire) survive the counter and last longer in the fridge; the oil and egg ones (mayonnaise, creamy dressings, tartar sauce) go straight to the fridge and get finished. Wipe the rim and cap after use; a crusty rim is where mold starts.

How to tell it has turned

Mold at the rim or on the surface, and the bottle goes. Separation that stirs back in is normal for mustard, hot sauce and natural ketchup; separation that will not, with a watery layer and a sour smell, is the end for mayonnaise and dressings. Darkened ketchup and soy sauce are age, not spoilage. A fizzing or spurting bottle has fermented.

Keep it

Darkened ketchup or soy sauce, separated mustard that stirs back, crystals in honey, sediment in vinegar.

Discard on sight

Mold anywhere, fizzing, a sour or rancid smell, or mayonnaise and dressings past their opened life or left out of the fridge.

How much, and how to use it

A bottle of hot sauce makes a month of beans edible; a jar of mustard does the same for canned meat; soy sauce, vinegar and a little sugar make rice from the bucket taste like a meal. Budget condiments the way you budget salt: a bottle of each per person per quarter, more of the ones your family reaches for. Mayonnaise can be made in five minutes from oil, an egg (or powdered egg) and vinegar when the jar is gone, which is why oil and vinegar are the deeper store.

When the power goes out

The vinegar and salt condiments ride out an outage on the counter. Mayonnaise, creamy dressings and anything with egg or dairy follow the two-hour rule above 40°F; use them up on the first day.

Shelf-life figures are from the Survival Foods field guide; fridge, freezer and pantry times are from the USDA cold and pantry storage charts. Run the look, smell, taste check before eating anything past its date.

Questions this answers

Tap a question for the short answer.

How do I tell if condiments has gone bad?

Look for mold around the rim, separation, or changes in color and smell. Inspect and smell the condiment, and check its consistency for signs of separation or spoilage.

How long do condiments last?

Mustard, hot sauce, soy sauce and vinegar keep for years sealed and a year or more opened. Ketchup and barbecue sauce about a year sealed and 6 months opened in the fridge. Mayonnaise 2 months opened, bottled dressing 1 to 3 months opened.

Which condiments do not need refrigeration?

The vinegar, salt and sugar ones: mustard, hot sauce, soy sauce, vinegar, worcestershire, fish sauce, honey. They last longer cold but survive the counter. Mayonnaise and creamy dressings must be refrigerated.

How do I tell if condiments have gone bad?

Mold at the rim or on the surface, fizzing, a sour or rancid smell, or separation that will not stir back in. Darkened color is age, not spoilage.

Keep going

Read nextChocolateHow long dark, milk and white chocolate and cocoa keep, what the white bloom means, how to store chocolate through a hot summer, how to tell it has turned, and the case for cocoa powder.Food · Supply

Related to this

Food · Supply Cured Meats A whole dry salami keeps 6 weeks unopened on the shelf and an uncut country ham up to a year; sliced cured meat is 2 to 3 weeks in the fridge; bacon is a week SALT KEEPSWHOLE NOT SLICED Food · Supply Cheese Hard cheese keeps 6 months unopened and 3 to 4 weeks cut; soft cheese 1 to 2 weeks; mold on hard cheese can be cut away, on soft cheese it cannot HARD KEEPSSOFT 2 WEEKS Food · Supply Fresh Meats Steaks and roasts keep 3 to 5 days refrigerated, ground meat 1 to 2; frozen at 0°F it is safe indefinitely and at best quality for 4 to 12 months 1-5 DAYS FRESHFREEZE AT 0°F
Everything in FoodNever-mix checkerShelf life tableFind a recipe by needWalk-around auditStart here

Membership · $49.95 per year

There is a lot more behind the lock

158member pages in full
125recipes with exact amounts
11field guide PDFs, 278 pages
1manual of your own, built from any page

Every recipe and resource from the Prepper's Chemical Survival Guide, all eleven field guides to read here and download, the full audit and logbook, all twelve reference charts, and no ads.

My Manual · included

Build your own field manual

The most useful thing a membership gives you. Save any page on this site, recipes, charts, and whole field guides included. Arrange them in the order you want, name it, and print one manual with a cover and contents, or keep it as a PDF that opens with no signal.

  • It works when this site does not
  • Only your pages
  • Anyone in the house can use it
  • One current copy, not a pile of printouts
  • The house binder
  • A copy for the bug-out bag or truck
  • A copy for family
  • An offline PDF

Join for $49.95 per year

Membership

Save to My Manual is a member tool

Members build their own manual from the pages that fit their household, then print it or keep it as a PDF.

Why it matters

When the grid goes down, this site goes with it. Paper does not. Membership is how you get the whole manual off the screen and onto the shelf: every page in full, every field guide, and a binder built for your own household.

The field guide library

All eleven field guides. 278 pages. Included.

The complete Buckhorn Cliffs PDF set, yours to download, print, and keep from the day you join.

$100if bought one at a time

  • Cover of Stockpile Essentials Field GuideStockpile Essentials39 pagesEverything to keep on hand, category by category, plus the 20 multi-use items.
  • Cover of Survival Foods Field GuideSurvival Foods35 pagesStoring, extending, and using the food supply. Real shelf life by the numbers.
  • Cover of Chemical Compounds Field GuideChemical Compounds29 pagesThe 33 compounds: storage, top uses, hazards, and the never-mix chart.
  • Cover of Spare Parts and Repair Stock Field GuideSpare Parts and Repair Stock40 pagesWhat to keep on hand to fix the home and land when the supply chain breaks.
  • Cover of Walk-Around Preparedness AuditWalk-Around Preparedness Audit33 pagesFifteen systems scored 1 to 5, with the printable scorecard.
  • Cover of The Preparedness LogbookPreparedness Logbook30 pagesThe household information that needs to be on paper.
  • Cover of Off-Grid Portable Solar Power Field GuideOff-Grid Portable Solar Power16 pagesSize a power station and a folding panel, pair them, wire them, keep them alive.
  • Cover of Home Backup Power System Field GuideHome Backup Power System20 pagesA battery and a hybrid inverter wired into the house: hybrid against off-grid, the wiring, the mistake to skip.
  • Cover of The Four KnotsFour Knots6 pagesWhich knot for the job, and how to tie each one in four moves.
  • Cover of The Bug-Out Bag Field GuideBug-Out Bag18 pagesOne bag per person for three days: the twelve jobs, the afternoon build, the packing plan, every item by job, and the checklist.
  • Cover of Home Security and Defense Field GuideHome Security and Defense12 pagesThe four layers from the property edge to the people inside, what to build first, the night something feels wrong, and the plan with or without a weapon.

My Manual · included

Build your own field manual

The most useful thing a membership gives you. No book fits your household exactly. My Manual does. Save any page on this site, recipes, charts, and whole field guides included, arrange them in the order you want, and print one manual with your name on the cover. It holds only what is relevant to you, and nothing you would skip.

Why it matters

  • It works when this site does notNo power and no signal means no website. A printed manual and an offline PDF still open, which is the whole point of writing any of this down.
  • Only your pagesThis site covers every household. Yours needs a fraction of it. Your manual holds the pages that match your water source, your climate, and your gear, so nobody digs through the rest under stress.
  • Anyone in the house can use itThe person who reads this site may not be the one home when it counts. A binder on the shelf, in the order you chose, is something a spouse or a teenager can follow.
  • One current copy, not a pile of printoutsEvery page prints in the same field guide layout with a cover and the print date. Change a page, print again, and the old copy is easy to spot.

What to build with it

  • The house binderYour water source, your climate, your gear. Only the pages you would reach for.
  • A copy for the bug-out bag or truckA short version that travels: water, first aid, comms, and the recipes you rely on.
  • A copy for familyHand a parent or a grown kid a manual built for their house and their supplies.
  • The shop and the barnParts lists, repair skills, and the never-mix chart, kept where the work happens.
  • A recipe book of your ownThe cleaners, fuels, and remedies you make, with exact amounts, in one place.
  • An offline PDFSaved to a phone, a tablet, or a drive in the Faraday bag. It opens with no signal.

How it works

  1. 1Save what fitsPress "Save to My Manual" on any page: a recipe, a chart, a guide, a parts list, or a whole field guide.
  2. 2Arrange it your wayOn My Account, drag the pages into the order you want. Name the manual and add your household name.
  3. 3Print it or save a PDFOne button makes a real PDF file, laid out for 8.5 x 11 inch paper with a cover. Print it from any device or keep the file. Field guides go in exactly as the PDFs are laid out. No ads, no photos.
  4. 4Keep it currentAdd a page, pull one out, print again. The cover carries the date, so you always know which copy is the latest.

Also included

  • The entire site, unlockedAll 158 member pages open in full: exact amounts, every step, every warning, every parts list. Nothing held back.
  • Every recipe and resource in the bookAll 138 recipes and 33 compounds from Prepper's Chemical Survival Guide, with exact amounts, every step, every warning, and the reference charts.
  • A clean PDF of any entryOne press turns any page into a field guide sheet for the binder, the truck, or the shop wall.
  • Checklists and audit scores that follow youSaved to the account, so the phone, the laptop, and the shop computer always match.
  • No adsMembers read the whole site without a single ad.
$49.95per year. About 14 cents a day. Cancel any time and keep the year you paid for.
Join now