Do I need to refrigerate pickled onions?

March 25, 2014 1:37 PM

I have a jar of homemade curried pickled onions. It has never been opened. If I eat one, do I need to refrigerate the remainder? There's a companion jar without curry, that's been opened and has been at room temperature for some months, and they are still good. Well, subject to taste.
posted by mkb to Food & Drink (6 answers total)

Avid pickle-eater here. Once the jar has been opened, I would definitely refrigerate it.
posted by ottereroticist at 2:04 PM on March 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

I've never refrigerated home made pickled onions. Never had a problem, but I've never added curry spices.
posted by Solomon at 2:32 PM on March 25, 2014

This is a better-safe-than-sorry situation. Put them in the fridge.
posted by mudpuppie at 4:20 PM on March 25, 2014

If the onions have been properly picked in vinegar, there is absolutely no need to refrigerate them. The entire purpose of pickling is preservation.
posted by HiroProtagonist at 5:54 PM on March 25, 2014 [1 favorite]

4'C (your fridge) will retard the growth of anything that happened to a) already be in the jar (next to zero since the pickling and canning process) and b) whatever happens to fall into the jar.

Whatever happens to fall into the jar has to be able to survive and grow in the rather acidic environment.

There's definitely stuff that'll grow (and cause you immune problems) but canning and pickling processes are generally successful if done properly.

So, yeah, I'd keep eating it and fridge-ing it isn't a bad idea. But you've probably already come to that conclusion yourself.
posted by porpoise at 10:08 PM on March 25, 2014

Response by poster: I took the ring off the jar and underneath there was mold that I can't get off, so I guess it is not to be :(
posted by mkb at 6:50 AM on March 26, 2014