Keeping mayonnaise with no refrig.

[over40pirate]

Just remembered this, and thought I would pass it on.
Years ago, while cruising full time, a met a cruiser, who told me how to keep mayo, on board without refrigeration.
The secret, is never to put a knife or spoon in the jar, if it hasn't just been cleaned. Don't even stick it back in the jar for more, after spreading some on some bread.
It works. I've kept mayo for months without refrig.
Give it a try. Just remember, 1 time with a "dirty" utensil and it will go bad.

[rover88]

Did the same on a four-month cruise by using the squeeze bottle mayo that was left unrefrigerated. No problems at all. As you said the key is to never introduce bacteria by using a dirty utensil.

An alternative is to buy your condiments in the little restaurant single use packs.It seems a bit more expensive at first, but cheaper than throwing away a full jar of spoiled mayo.

[zeehag]

i have lived sans fridge since 1990. i used to be worried about mayonnaise as i use real mayo. now i just use smaller containers and i dont worry about it. the smaller bottles last me for 4 sandwiches if tuna or other -- i have tried the squeeze bottles--they are unavailable in mexico, but i now use just small jars.

[Jim Cate]

FWIW:

This may raise the hackles of modern worry warts, but we've never refrigerated mayo (Best or S&W most of the time) in our 25 years of cruising. We don't worry about sticking knives or spoons into the jar, either. Tend to replace the lid soon as we are through removing the stuff, but in general, don't make a big deal out of it. From our provisioning data, we tend to go through a large jar in about 5 weeks, so I'm pretty sure it will last that long on a regular basis.

Result? Well, we're still looking down at the grass, haven't had gastro problems, and giggle a bit when folks tell us we're gonna die from food poisoning.

Cheers,

Jim

[GaryMayo]

There seems to be a problem with mayo and .925 silver dinnerware. The black tarnish once in mayo has been reported to be poisonous. I remember this from childhood and my mother not letting us leave the utensil in the mayonnaise. Maybe that was just something my mom was afraid of.

[sck5]

what is it about mayo that gives people paranoid fantasies? My wife grew up being told mayo would kill her if she put it on a sandwich in the morning and left it until lunch to eat. I have never worried about it and am still alive and well. Sure, it will go bad eventually but why do people think it is a million times worse than anything else that comes in a jar?

[fstbttms]

Once on a 3-day hike, I, and a friend, unable to walk any further, ended up on our backs and vomiting on the rocky shore of a remote lake in the Mount Lassen backcountry. Some hours later the rangers found us and took us to the hospital. At first they thought it was bad water we'd drank from the streams along the trail we'd been hiking but that turned out not to be the case. It was unrefrigerated mayo. FYI.

[Katiusha]

Well, this surely diminishes my taste for cruiser potlucks... True mayonnaise is made out of raw egg yolks and olive oil with some stuff. People worry about leaving whole eggs for weeks without refrigeration (there's even a multitude of threads on that), so it would be only natural to worry about egg yolks.

So if the stuff doesn't go rancid/poisonous, then it must be something that's been added to the yolks to mummify them, eh?

[bobconnie]

We don't do it, but have many cruiseing friends who do not refridgerate thier Mayo. A couple we know that lives in the Mountains of Nor Cal, with temps over 100 degs at times have never fridged there mayo been doing it for over 40 yrs and are still alive and healthy !They say if ya cool it once in the fridge ya have to keep it there ! but if ya dont it will keep till it's gone !! Thats all I know about it ! But Connie says keep it cold ! LOL

[sarafina]

Mayonnaise is acidic and not a very hospitable environment for bacteria. Commercial mayo has been pasteurized and processed so that it is pretty much sterile. The advice about keeping the utensils clean is good. It would be the tiny food particles that are transferred back into the jar that actually 'rot', thus contaminating the whole jar.

A study done maybe 20 years ago found that sandwiches made with butter were a higher risk of spoilage than ones made with mayo or mustard (also an acidic medium).

If you got sick eating something with mayo on it it was prolly the food with it that was bad, not the mayo.

I love the squeeze bottles so I don't even have to think about the condition of the spoon or knife.

[zeehag]

waaaayyyyy looong time ago, before any of us was even considered to be in existence, there were scares -- mayo is made of vinegar, egg yolk, and water and oil. perhaps there were chickens with salmonella, which is why the mayo allegedly sickened folks. that problem has been rectified by usda making regulations if the farms in which chickens are raised. the warning remains on the label.
as long as there is no salmonella introduced to mayo i wont kill ye dead.

[SVTatia]

I assume you are all talking about commercial mayo, as the risks for salmonella still exists for unrefrig home-made ones.

Originally Posted by zeehag

/... as long as there is no salmonella introduced to mayo i wont kill ye dead.

Zeehag, I ilke that, but how do we stop and check for salmonella before devouring that delicious sandwich?

[zeehag]

are you eating homemade mayo using eggs from from unknown chickens?? if you are, you MAY find tinted eggs. otherwise, salmonella wont prolly happen.

[chef2sail]

95% of chicken has salamonella. Fact is most COMMERCIAL mayos have not only been pasteurized to kill microbes ( 165 degress or greater), they have acidified it with ascorbic acid or citrus to make the mayo less likely for microbes to survive by changing the PH.

Just because you dont get sick from it doesnt mean that the protein is not teeming with microoraganisms. Different peoples bodies handle this differently. High risk populations include very young, very old, and people with compromised immunities already. Just because you havent gotten sick in the past doesnt mean that the next time that PARTICULAR STRAIN of salaominella organism is the one which puts you in the hospital. You see this witjh E COLI and viruses ( flu) all the time. Its a false sense of securitiy to state I have never gotten sick from this before.

Yes the utensils do introduce bacteria.....amd so does opening it up to the air. Most of the microbes ( sans botulism) needs air to breed.

Life is odds. Do I want to eat mayo left out when I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 12 sailing days from land. Not me. Buy mayo packets...no worries then.

Dave

[GaryMayo]

Originally Posted by chef2sail

95% of chicken has salmonella. Fact is most COMMERCIAL mayos have not only been pasteurized to kill microbes ( 165 degrees or greater), they have acidified it with ascorbic acid or citrus to make the mayo less likely for microbes to survive by changing the PH.

Just because you don't get sick from it doesn't mean that the protein is not teeming with microorganisms. Different peoples bodies handle this differently. High risk populations include very young, very old, and people with compromised immunities already. Just because you haven't gotten sick in the past doesn't mean that the next time that PARTICULAR STRAIN of salmonella organism is the one which puts you in the hospital. You see this with E COLI and viruses ( flu) all the time. Its a false sense of security to state I have never gotten sick from this before.

Yes the utensils do introduce bacteria.....and so does opening it up to the air. Most of the microbes ( sans botulism) needs air to breed.

Life is odds. Do I want to eat mayo left out when I am in the middle of the Pacific Ocean 12 sailing days from land. Not me. Buy mayo packets...no worries then.

Dave

I don't tend to agree with saw bones much, but this was one "DEAD" on post.

Thanks Doc!

Lemon juice, salt and vinegar present in mayonnaise acts as a natural preservative and will add life to the product if well cared for..

Staphylococcus aureus is present in the saliva and nasal passages in 50% of the people reading this. While your body keeps this little bug in check in your body for most of us, double dipping a knife incorrectly into the Mayo jar could be a breeding ground for trouble.

The tiny packets? Be safe, and use them. Stores easily on a boat. Even then, be mindful of the expiration date, and toss it out once that date passes.

You only have to get sick once to die. The immune system that worked yesterday, will it be as strong tomorrow?