Revenge
Thanks. I’ll try this.
We have a winner.
Refrigeration actually hastens staling, but does retard molding. So I guess it depends on what you consider “fresh.”
There doesn’t seem to be much rationality behind my decisions to refrigerate or not refrigerate condiments and other foods used in small amounts for flavor.
In the refrigerator: Ketchup, mustard, mayo, hoisin sauce, barbecue sauce, chili paste (cock sauce), pancake syrup (both pure maple for myself and fake for guests who prefer it), black bean sauce, pickles, sauerkraut
In the cupboard: herbs, spices, Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce, Teriyaki sauce, hot oil, hot sauce, sesame oil, tahini, molasses, corn syrup
Can go either way: ground coffee, oyster sauce (I buy tall bottles and where it goes depends on where it fits), hard cheese (blocks of Pecorino Romano go in the refrigerator; cans of pre-grated Parmesan go in the cupboard on the rare occasions I buy any)
People are actually arguing about whether or not you need to refrigerate mayonnaise? LOL.
That’s some real ignorance fighting, right there.
Peppermint foot lotion, it feels better going on when it’s cold.
Fruit cups, they taste better when they’re cold.
I keep bread in the fridge too, I’d rather it be a little stale than moldy.
Dry sugar, nope. Wet sugar? Ever heard of fermentation or botulism?
Now, if you bought ketchup that didn’t have sugar in it, maybe you could leave it out, but it’d probably cost you $5 a bottle.
Coffee. Currently in use open container goes in the fridge, yet-to-be opened container in the freezer.
Cooking oil, including EVOO, despite the fact that it gels and is enormously inconvenient to use when cold. Rather inconvenient than rancid, and I just go through it very slowly.
Mascara. I buy it on sale and then keep it in the freezer until I’m ready to open it.
Bread. Yes, it gets stale, but it doesn’t get moldy, and I generally toast it anyway.
I thought I was the only one who did that with the canned tuna. I’ll bookmark this for the next time my brother starts in about how weird it is. 
Just make sure it’s packed in water. If it’s packed in oil you’ll never get it drained!
Liquid, flavored coffee creamer. I noticed in the ingredients there is nothing dairy; it’s pretty much just corn syrup and hydrogenated something or other. And nothing on any of the creamers that I buy say ‘refrigerate after opening’, so I take it to work and leave it in my desk so it doesn’t get used up by someone else at the office, hehe. The site for the creamer I get gets lots of questions about how to store it, and they do say ‘refrigeration is preferable’, but it doesn’t last long enough to go bad; lasts at least a week, which is how long it takes me to go through it. Also, warm creamer doesn’t cool my coffee off as much. However, MrTao figures if it’s sold cold it’s supposed to be cold but meh.
Butter, most of the time. I use it so slowly that if I leave it out on the counter, it goes rancid.
Bailey’s Irish Creme.
My dark chocolate. For some reason I like it better that way. Warms and melts in my mouth.
you say ‘not in your hands’ and I’ll kill you.
I keep my onions in the fridge because, as someone upthread said, you don’t cry when you cut them. If the fridge is crammed full for some reason, then I just put two or three onions in at a time. The onions certainly don’t need the refrigeration…but I vastly prefer being able to cut them up without leaking tears.
I buy the tuna packed in olive oil and don’t worry about draining it, as it tastes better than water packed and the olive oil is good for you.
What’s your favorite brand and flavor?
Practically every restaurant in America (ok, not the fancy ones) leave ketchup sitting on tables, all day, without refrigeration. They do refrigerate it at night. Of course restaurants tend to turn through ketchup a lot more quickly than homes, but the vinegar and salt components of ketchup make it pretty safe at room temperature.
Yep. I do this too.
Holy shit that’s expensive!! Our little store here in BFE sells it for around $5.
It was $3.95 at Walmart yesterday at that link. I have no idea what their algorithms are for which store/price they link to.
Yes, I generally pay about $5 at the grocery store by me.
Shows 3.54 for me today.
Eggs, a custom I got after one of my brothers, then a toddler, upturned the egg basket.
The person who opens the unopened carton of milk or juice must put another one in, so cold milk or juice is available at all times for those who like it so. The penalty for those who forget to replace the unopened carton still is being the next person to do the heavy shopping (seriously: Middlebro forgot several months ago while at Mom’s and we informed him that he had to get her water and milk within the next week or else. The “or else” was threatening enough that he did it and hasn’t forgotten again).
Whether mayo goes bad unrefrigerated or not, it’s certainly gross to use warm, so it must be refrigerated no matter what.