Do you refrigerate peanut butter?

Big debate when we moved here between my daughter and husband was refrigeration of pb and ketchup. We have now come to buying two bottles of ketchup one for the fridge and one to keep out just to keep the peace!

I don't like the flavor ketchup gets after it's been out of the fridge for more than a couple days. It gets some sort of a weird taste to it...like some tangy sort of taste. I keep my ketchup in the fridge but I don't freak out if it gets left out.

peanut butter in the ice box?!

what next? honey in the ice box as well....

LOL -- I grew up calling the refrigerator an ice box.

LOL -- I grew up calling the refrigerator an ice box.

I have always called it that. I have tried fridge but it'll always be an ice box to me.

But it aint the place for PB , or eggs

LOL -- I grew up calling the refrigerator an ice box.

So did my granny, but that was in the days when it was just a metal box with that big huge block of ice in it! 

I have always called it that. I have tried fridge but it'll always be an ice box to me.

I probably would have continued to call it an ice box too, except I ran into many people who had no idea what I was talking about when I said that!

So did my granny, but that was in the days when it was just a metal box with that big huge block of ice in it! 

Well I think that's where my family got it from -- from my mom & granny calling it an ice box...going back to those days, just like you said.

I don't refrigerate it over here and only did so back in the states during the summer (lived in an old Victorian without central air and didn't keep the window units on when I wasn't home). As for ketchup, I have always kept it in the frig but when I think about it, most restaurants keep it out.

But it aint the place for PB , or eggs

Can someone explain to my about not keeping eggs in the fridge?  I thought you must keep them in the fridge.  Won't they go bad quickly if you don't refridgerate them?

As for ketchup, I have always kept it in the frig but when I think about it, most restaurants keep it out.

Do the restaurants put in an ice box overnight? I don't think keeping it out does any harm.
Does it?

Eggs, well I get mine from a farmer I know and I once asked him about it and he said there was no need. He doesn't, never has and is still alive. I think it depends how long you keep them. Notice they are NOT in a chiller in Tesco's or Somerfield. Think it a personal choice.

Now I do wash my eggs (so the shells are clean) (strange?) and they get consumed fairly quick.

Do the restaurants put in an ice box overnight? I don't think keeping it out does any harm.
Does it?

Eggs, well I get mine from a farmer I know and I once asked him about it and he said there was no need. He doesn't, never has and is still alive. I think it depends how long you keep them. Notice they are NOT in a chiller in Tesco's or Somerfield. Think it a personal choice.

Now I do wash my eggs (so the shells are clean) (strange?) and they get consumed fairly quick.

It's safe to leave ketchup out. It just gets this different taste to it after a while. Most restaurants cycle through ketchup so fast though that it isn't an issue. I've worked in 3 different restaurants and none of them refrigerated the ketchup.

Eggs... the reason the US refrigerates eggs is it's supposed to reduce the risk of salmonella.

Eggs... the reason the US refrigerates eggs is it's supposed to reduce the risk of salmonella.

That's what I thought.  My dad is a food scientist and he is meticulous about food handling.  Eggs were included in the potentially dangerous food if they weren't handled properly. 

<OFF Topic  >Hey the British Egg group say:

Buy eggs from a reputable retailer where they will have been transported and stored at the correct temperature (below 20°C)
Keep eggs in the fridge in their box after purchase

The UKGov say store in a cool dry place, ideally a fridge.

But they both say cook the egg until both the white and the yolk is cooked solid. Solid yolk. eeewwwww YUK.

So why are they not chilled in the supermarkets?

<ON TOPIC> The ingredients in PB are nuts, sugar, oil & salt - All of which are not 'ice boxed' items so ....

.

But they both say cook the egg until both the white and the yolk is cooked solid. Solid yolk. eeewwwww YUK.

Why ewww? Have you never had a hard boiled egg? Delicious.

Why ewww? Have you never had a hard boiled egg? Delicious.

Funny that I don't like hard yolk but find runny yoke delicious

the wonder bread rips.

This truly is one of my fondest memories of living with my brother last year... he would come home with a fresh loaf of Wonderbread and we'd eat half the loaf standing up while munching the PBJs. Nothing says more white bread American than PBJ on Wonderbread. 

His Skippy is in the cupboard and my sis's natural stuff in the fridge. I think my family kept it in the fridge was I was a kid tho... cold PBJ sandwiches are yummy.

I lived in Kenya and had fresh-fresh PB I didn't refrigerate and now I have some natural stuff in my cupboard as well.

I love PB&J sandwiches that have been stuck in your school locker and the PB&J is infused into the bread. Of course its been a few years since I had a locker.

Anyhoo, I found an interesting site called, wait for it.....peanutbutterlovers.com

http://www.peanutbutterlovers.com/index.html

The site gives the history of PB, Nutritional Facts, Recipes, How its made, etc.

Here's a few things from the site that I found interesting....

Peanut butter today is remarkably like that made 100 years ago. It contains, by law, a minimum of 90% peanuts, with no artificial sweeteners, colors or preservatives. Some brands add about 7% natural sweeteners and 1% salt for taste, plus a stabilizer to keep the peanut butter fresh and the oil from separating. "Old-fashioned" or "natural" peanut butter does not have the stabilizer so the oil will separate and should be stirred back in before using.
Peanut butter does not need to be refrigerated.

Peanut butter is one of America's favorite foods. Found in about 75% of American homes, peanut butter is considered by many to be a staple like bread and milk.

March is National Peanut Month

·   Peanuts are not actually nuts at all! They are legumes, like beans, peas and lentils.
·   Americans eat 3 pounds of peanut butter per person every year. That's about 700   
    million pounds, or enough to coat the floor of the Grand Canyon!
·   Peanuts may be a favorite food, but we've found many uses for their shells too! You
    might find peanut shells in kitty litter, wallboard, fireplace logs, paper, animal feed  and 
    sometimes as fuel for power plants!
·   Two peanut farmers have been elected President of the United States: Thomas
    Jefferson and Jimmy Carter.
·   One acre of peanuts will make 30,000 peanut butter sandwiches.

Southern Peanut Butter Soup with Pepper Jelly