Soy sauce is a condiment made from soybeans, water, and salt. It’s not meant to lie around on your shelf for too long or it’ll go bad!
Soy sauce is a condiment that can last for months if it has been properly stored. If soy sauce is not refrigerated, it will go bad in just a few days.
Soy sauce is a popular condiment (especially in Asian cuisine), and many people are curious whether it might spoil. That’s an excellent question, since many people believe it can’t possibly go wrong. Do they have a point? Not fully; nonetheless, the odds of soy sauce becoming bad within a few years after purchase are slim.
Soy sauce is high in salt (as is another soy-derived product, miso paste), and such an environment is not conducive to the growth of microbes. As a result, it should be theoretically safe to eat after many years (if it was carefully preserved), but it won’t necessarily be of the highest quality.
Do you want to learn more about soy sauce storage and shelf life? If that’s the case, keep reading!
Soy sauce storage
The pantry, as long as the bottle of soy sauce is unopened, seems to be the greatest location to keep it since it is both cold and dry. After you’ve opened the bottle, you may either keep it in the pantry or put it in the fridge.
If you plan on using the sauce within a few months, keeping it in the pantry will suffice. However, if you want to preserve it for a longer amount of time, put it in the refrigerator. This will ensure that it maintains its high quality for a longer period of time.
After you’ve opened the bottle, ensure to keep it well closed so that any contaminants don’t get into the sauce.
Soy sauce has a long shelf life.
If you check at the back of the bottle, you’ll typically see a ‘best by’ date, which is an excellent place to start. It is stated that the quality of the bottle will last for around three years if it is not opened.
The sauce should last for a year or two after opening the bottle (of course depending how long it was stored before opening). Stick to those dates as long as the date on the label isn’t substantially shorter.
The sauce will not go bad beyond the specified length of time (if it was kept correctly), but the quality may not be as good, even if it is safe to consume. Because the quality of soy sauce deteriorates slowly over time, fresh soy sauce is always preferable than one that has been kept for three years.
When it comes to determining whether or not soy sauce is harmful, there are a few things to look for.
If you keep the sauce without the cap on, certain pollutants may make their way into the bottle and cause mold to form (there would need to be quite a lot of them to do that though). That’s probably the only way sauce can go bad to the point of being unsafe to consume.
There are a few things you can do to see whether a bottle of soy sauce was kept correctly or if you’re not sure how it was stored to see if it’s still good.
Basically, check the sauce for any contaminants or symptoms of mold (you may wish to pour the contents of the bottle into a glass to be sure what’s in it). Another factor to consider is the sauce’s odor. If it’s not working, toss it out. Last but not least, you may detect it if. Throw it away if the quality isn’t satisfactory.
Summary As you may be aware, soy sauce may go bad, although this is quite unusual. It’s safe to eat for many years if kept correctly, but it’s best to utilize it within 2 to 3 years since the quality deteriorates with time.
Soy sauce is a condiment that can be stored for up to 2 years. After opening, soy sauce should be refrigerated and used within 1 month. Reference: how to store soy sauce after opening.
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