Tiny Fridge... Too Many Condiments!

So, what do you do? I have such a horrible habit of stuffing too much crap into the fridge that I finally broke the bottom shelf on the inside of the door, which is a serious problem because our fridge is tiny as it is. I have an assortment of cooking stuff I don't use very often, but do use on occasion - things like English mustard (ok, I used it once... like a year ago), red currant jelly (I think I used it twice over xmas), and a massive jar of pickled onions which DH swears he is going to eat one day.  Now nearly the whole top shelf of our fridge is just taken up by ketchup, salad cream, mayo, an assortment of mustards, HP, and pickled onions. I don't have enough space for all this stuff and can't figure out a way to use it (we aren't really keen on English mustard for sandwiches - we use American mustard for that. DH says to keep them in the pantry, but I'm so used to refrigerating all of them, plus ketchup and things get runny when they are at room temperature. So, what should I do? Just toss stuff I don't use very often to make space?

I had the same problem and ended up caving in and storing stuff in the cupboards.  The only things I still keep in the fridge are the salad cream, salad dressings and mayo - basically anything with eggs.  Ketchup is a ongoing battle in my house I want it refigerated, DH hates it refrigerated (he's agreed to let me keep his salad cream refridgerated after years)

Personally, I'd keep the onions and pickle in the fridge once they've been opened, but again, my husband says not to bother.  I guess he's right, he's not refrigderated things for 35 years and is still here...

I say have a cull and if it's left older than a few months (Christmas?) bin it! Also if it's not something that needs to be refridgerated (because of eggs) or something you don't use regularly keep it in the cupboards.

Yes, we sometimes have this problem too!  But we do love our condiments here - ketchup, BBQ sauce, American mustard, English mustard, French mustard, pesto, nam pla, oyster sauce, horseradish sauce, brown sauce, salad dressings, tartar sauce, mayo, cornichons, olives, jars of different kinds of pickle, chutneys, chilies in jars, other various Asian ingredients that I can't even remember...you get the picture... 

Oh yeah & this really posh chocolate truffle spread that we got from BIL for Xmas... 

I really need to have a cull - even DH said so the other day, and he's the one who never wants to throw anything out! 

I'd say get rid of red currant stuff, pickled onions, and salad cream! 

I have the same problem, my fridge is crammed with small jars, some things that say to refridgerate, I don't. Like the redcurrant jam, I just keep that in the pantry. If it goes moldy I would get rid of it, but things like chutney were invented to NOT be kept chilled, thats the whole point of preserves.

And no one in my family has ever died of food poisoning!!!

eta...I have a HUGE kitchen with LOADS of cabinets, and I still can't fit all my kitchen crap into it. I seem to expand my stuff (not just food stuffs) to fit the space I have. LOL

We have the same problem.  My hubby loves brown sauce and has about 4 different bottles with different flavours, plus "regular" condiments (ketchup, salad cream, mayo, American and English mustard, etc).  I too felt really weird about keeping somethings in the cupboard but after reading the bottles and seeing that they really don't have to be refridgerated, I had to cave in and put them in the cupboard also.  The only things we keep in the fridge are what others mentioned...mayo, salad cream, etc.  Personally, I would just toss the stuff that you know you probably won't use again until Christmas (will it even be any good at that point in time?  not sure if those things have expiration dates).  We also have a not-much-cupboard-space problem so I if hubby ends up buying some random thing that he is craving and only eats it once, I end up tossing it pretty quickly.  I know it's a waste of money but we just don't have space.   

I would only keep things in the fridge that need to be in there, everything else you can put in the larder or cupboard.

Same problem.  No answers except that I no longer keep soy sauce in the fridge with no dire consequences.  If you're like me, you are excited/relieved when something reaches its expiration date and you can legitimately throw it out.

I'm with your DH on this.  We keep ketchup, brown sauce, mustard, jams, chutneys, pickles, etc in the pantry.  Mayonnaise, salad cream and horseradish goes in the fridge.   Most things don't need to be kept ice cold to prevent them from spoiling.  It's better to keep them at a constant, cool temperature in a dimly lit place.  So pantries are perfect! 

(I have actually come to like unrefrigerated ketchup better, since it doesn't cool down my food)

Some things it is hard to break the habit to move to a shelve in a cabinet...Plus I have very little cabinet space...I think I just need a bigger house 

Its the sauces - chili sauce, hot sauce, daves insantiy sauce, jalopenos, pickles and al that fun stuff that takes up the most room!

I had a 'debate' with my BF about the ketchup.  I refrigerate it but he never has.  His claim is that since there is vinegar in it, it won't go off.  He's probably right, but he won the debate by saying "Well, I've been having it that way for 33 years and I'm not dead yet, am I?".

I've gotten around some of the issues by keeping/purchasing smaller jars.  That way, when something is about half used up, I transfer it into a smaller container and slap a label on it. 

Well in our house I'm the only one who uses ketchup so it stays in the fridge door along with my Miracle Whip Light, & my Helmans extra extra light. Dh has always kept his salad cream in the fridge so we didn't argue over that thankfully he does keep his English style mustard in the fridge. but his HP sauce, Branson pickle, soy sauce, Marmite, & Bovril they stay in the cabinet. we have a decent size fridge not a American size one although I would love to have one that size but sadly not a big enough kitchen to fit one into though.  I love pickles just havent a good enough substitute for Valaslic pickles though!!   

Brown sauce and soy sauce definitely don't need the fridge, and we don't keep mustard in the fridge either (though we only have Dijon mustard). In the fridge we keep mayo and sweet chili sauce, but only after they've been opened; before that, cupboard.

Jewlz it sounds like we have the same problem as my bottom shelf is rammed with those onions my DH swears he's gonna eat some day, to the English mustard which has been used one time I think. My problem is I have an American sized fridge and it's full. 

Maybe if you buy a condiment, maybe try to make recipes that will use the condiment until it's finished. Or buy smaller containers? 

LOL!

I had a condiment fridge!! Seriously, when we moved to one of our rental places, it came with a teeny tiny fridge in the pantry. There was space for a larger (but still under-the-counter style) fridge in the kitchen proper. So all my less used but necessary condiments went in the pantry fridge.

If you are going to keep things like jams, chutneys and mustards in the cupboard, you can. But just make sure you always use a clean knife and don't let things like butter or mayo get in it. That's what usually causes things to go off.