# Question about Barbecue Sauce **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [May 12, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159 "2009-05-12T13:51:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 1:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/1 "2009-05-12T13:51:57Z")
I brought a bottle of Jack Daniel’s Original No. 7 Recipe Barbecue Sauce to work to put on french fries that I purchase from the cafeteria here at work.\* (They have very good fries here and I enjoy an eighty cent lunch now and again and the only way I eat french fries is with barbecue sauce.) Once I open it do I have to refrigerate it? I have examined the bottle and it does not say “refrigerate after opening” - and if I do NOT have to refrigerate it that would be very good as the fridge is way down the hall and I am inherently lazy. Plus other people might think it’s a community condiment and use it. Can I safely just leave it at my desk? \*I am working as a temp finally. ---
**Author:** ![silenus](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/silenus/32/166_2.png) [@silenus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/silenus)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/2 "2009-05-12T14:17:23Z")
I’ve never refrigerated BBQ sauce. Hasn’t killed me yet. It’s mostly tomato, so the acidity keeps down the spoilage. ---
**Author:** ![dolphinboy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dolphinboy/32/330_2.png) [@dolphinboy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dolphinboy)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/3 "2009-05-12T14:21:58Z")
I always go by the “if it doesnt say on the label to refrigerate then don’t worry theory”, although if you want to be sure I bet there is an 800 number you can call to ask someone at the company. ---
**Author:** ![butler1850](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/779978/32.png) [@butler1850](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/butler1850)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/4 "2009-05-12T14:26:50Z")
I’d say you can safely go for quite a while before you’d have any trouble with something like BBQ sauce. It’s loaded with sugar, vinegar, and salt, which are not particularly conducive to growth of “critters.” If you’re going through it fairly quickly, (within a month or so), you’re more than likely fine. I’d not particularly worry about it. ---
**Author:** ![Missy2U](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/3bc359/32.png) [@Missy2U](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Missy2U)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/5 "2009-05-12T14:27:16Z")
Cool. In my flipper it goes. I thank you both muchly! Just so you don’t think I’ve lost my mind, a flipper, in case you don’t know, is an overhead “bin” type of thing at my desk that has a door “flips” open. And it can be locked when it’s closed. To protect my bbq sauce. ---
**Author:** ![muldoonthief](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/muldoonthief/32/3188_2.png) [@muldoonthief](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/muldoonthief)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 2:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/6 "2009-05-12T14:56:44Z")
> [@Missy2U](#): > > Cool. In my flipper it goes. I thank you both muchly! > > Just so you don’t think I’ve lost my mind, a flipper, in case you don’t know, is an overhead “bin” type of thing at my desk that has a door “flips” open. And it can be locked when it’s closed. To protect my bbq sauce. You’ve confirmed that the flippers in your office don’t all use the same key, haven’t you? Because in mine they do. So while your BBQ is safe from tourists and maintenance, it may be vulnerable to your devious coworkers. ---
**Author:** ![Philster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/13edae/32.png) [@Philster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Philster)\ **Post date:** [May 12, 2009, 3:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/question-about-barbecue-sauce/496159/7 "2009-05-12T15:41:26Z")
mmmm…warm Barbecue sauce. That’s the best reason not to refrigerate it. Who wants warm fries and cold sauce? Not me! I don’t even look at the label. I just figure, “Meh, it sits out at restaurants just like the ketchup”.