I often buy ingrdients to try in a recipe and use only a little of the bottle, saving the rest for later. I have this bottle of “Firey Louisiana Hot Sauce” that I bought long ago - about 10 years ago, I guess, used a little of, didn’t refrigerate, and hadn’t thought of until coming across an interesting recipe today. Is it bad? Even if it won’t make me sick, has it lost its potency/flavor or has being closed tightly preserved that even after so long?
In my experience, hot sauce doesn’t go rancid and doesn’t lose its heat, but it does lose its flavor. For some of the potent watery-consistency ones like Tabasco this wouldn’t be much of a concern, but for the more saucelike ones like Sriracha (aka rooster sauce), they lose some of their color and the other-than-burny flavors. Also the condensation from the fridge tends to thin them out.
Crap. I bought some Habenero sauces when I was in Mexico about ten years ago. When I used the green sauce my dogs would not come within 2 feet of a chili bowl. Last year I threw them out because I had them so long.
I have a fair size collection of hot sauces, collected over the years. I’ve found that they tend to seperate, as well as lose their distinct flavors. Past about 3 years, chuck it and buy a fresh bottle. Of course, if you can’t use up a bottle in three years, you ain’t tryin’! 
I’ve found that hot sauces, over time, do in fact lose heat. They just don’t seem to pack the same punch. At any rate, they are chock full of preservatives. I don’t think I’ve ingested a hot sauce that was ten years old, but I doubt it would make you sick. It may be so bland, however, that it wouldn’t be worth eating anyway.
When hot sauce goes bad, it becomes all… fresh and minty.
I want to say many hot sauces ( I know tabasco) the main ingredienct are peppers, vinegar, and salt.
I’m betting that they wouldn’t go bad but maybe just not so tasty, as the above poster has said.
IME, if a bottle of Tabasco has been in the fridge for so long that it’s gone from the original bright red that matches the bottle cap to a pale tan, it’s pretty bland. Between the vinegar and salt, there’s really not much worry about spoilage.
Something like chili oil, OTOH, can last a long time in the fridge and not lose a significant level of kick. The oil can go rancid if it’s left in a warm area for a long time, but against the capsaicin, it might be difficult to tell.
I’ve noticed that Tabasco turns to tan or brown after about a year, even it it’s unopened and kept out of the light, but IME, refrigerating Tabasco ruins it almost immediately. I’m not sure why, but I consume a lot of Tabasco and a bottle accidentally got put in the fridge and it never tasted right again.
The taste does go kind of wonky. The high levels of vinegar in the stuff though (acetic acid, really) does seem to keep nasty bugs from growing in it.
I have rarely had a bottle of hot sauce last long enough to be in any danger of going bad. Those that do generally were not very good hot sauces.
::pours another 1/4 teaspoon of Blair’s Mega Death onto NY-deli fried egg on roll with bacon and cheddar cheese::
Many of you have been mentioning keeping hot sauce in the fridge. All my sauces are in the cupboard along with seasonings and spices. Is it best to keep them cold?
If there’s mold in it, it’s gone off. I had a jar of rooster sauce that did that. :eek:
I get 10 or 15 bottles for xmas every year and the same for my BD, which is in May,I always end up buying more to get me by.
As said just a bit above, how can you have a bottle of hot sauce that lasts long enough to get bad??? From my life in MSPI/LA, you just ain’t eating right.
I had a Tabasco bottle spontaneously explode on a restaurant table next to me. To be fair, it was sitting in the sunlight.
Speckled hot sauce everywhere.
May I interrupt with a question from the Great White North? what do you folks use hot sauce for? as a condiment? The only thing I use it for is as an ingredient in certain recipes, bloody marys, and so on. But never straight from the bottle onto food - is that common down south?
Ever been to Mexico, son?
In Lousiana (where I’m originally from), it’s always on the table like ketchup and gets use about as liberally. It’s common to use on eggs in the morning, for instance. I still keep a few varieties of hot sauce on hand and put them on practically anything.
Or to Asia. Hot will raise you there.
(Here in Seattle, they don’t believe in hot sauce. Even the “habanero” sauce at one fine Mexican dining establishment was what I’d call ‘medium’, not ‘shitfire’. But then, I’m SE Asian + Texas raised)
I blame the incident of the mold on a suspicious fridge that has since been liberally scrubbed with Clorox.
Back to the questions that have been asked – I’ve always kept my condiments in the fridge as my mother does. And when eating home food (read: Asian), the hot sauce gets sprinkled on top or globbed onto the side to dip forkfuls into.