It’s one of those weird little domestic questions that haunts you just as you're about to bite into your burrito. You twist the cap off your hot sauce, give it a shake, pause — and suddenly wonder: should this have been in the fridge? Cue frantic Googling. Cue us, the Bauce Brothers, appearing to help you sort it out.

Let’s not overcomplicate it. The short answer is: sometimes yes, sometimes no. Not helpful? Fair. Let’s dive into the long version - the one that actually explains why some sauces go straight into the fridge after opening, and why others are happy hanging out on your shelf for years at a time.

What Makes a Sauce Shelf-Stable?

The MVP of long-lasting sauces is acidity - mainly vinegar. A high vinegar content preserves flavour, stops mould in its tracks, and gives that sharp tang you’ll recognise from classic Louisiana-style hot sauces.

These sauces can survive for ages without refrigeration. That’s why they’re often left out on restaurant tables for months. They’re built for it. Thin, punchy, loaded with acid - not exactly delicate.

But that’s not all hot sauces. Not even close.

When to Fridge It

Now we’re entering Bauce Brothers territory - the world of real hot sauce. The kind you don’t find in a Tesco meal deal. The sauces we sell over here are handmade, small-batch from small businesses, and often free of the industrial preservatives big brands rely on.

Instead, they’re packed with the good stuff: fresh fruit, herbs, garlic, sometimes mustard or oil. 

That freshness is what makes these sauces incredible, but it also means they don’t have superpowers. Once you crack them open, they need refrigeration. Not just to prevent them from spoiling, but to protect the flavour you paid for.

Nobody wants to open their mango-habanero dream blend and find it’s started fermenting into a weird tropical wine.

Will the Fridge Ruin the Flavour?

We hear this one a lot. Technically, yes - the fridge can slightly mute spice and dull some of the more complex top notes. But unless you’re sipping your hot sauce like a sommelier (we’re not judging), you won’t notice much.

And if you're cooking with it, forget it. As soon as it hits heat, the cold’s irrelevant.

If you're fussy about flavour, just take the bottle out a few minutes before you eat. Let it warm up a bit on the counter, the way you might with cheese or butter. Problem solved.

How Long Does Hot Sauce Last?

Even the best hot sauce isn’t immortal. Over time, flavour fades. Ingredients separate. Colour shifts. If you’re using a vinegar-based sauce regularly and finishing the bottle in a couple of weeks, leaving it out probably won’t hurt.

But if it’s a thicker, sweeter, fruitier sauce you’re only dipping into once in a while, the fridge helps it stay vibrant. It slows oxidation and it protects freshness, and more importantly - it means you’re not gambling every time you open it.

Sauces with garlic, oil or fresh fruit are especially quick to turn. You might not notice it at first, but one day you’ll go to drizzle a bit on your noodles and the whole thing will smell like sour salsa. That’s not “funky”. That’s bin it immediately.

What About Mould?

Yeah. It happens. Especially if the bottle’s been open a while or hasn’t been stored properly.

A little fizzing? That’s fermentation. Mould around the cap? That’s game over. Don’t scrape it off and pretend everything’s fine. This isn’t cheese.

So... Fridge or Not?

If your sauce is high in vinegar, thin in texture, and comes from a mass-market brand, it probably doesn’t need the fridge - but it might still benefit from it, especially if you don’t use it daily.

If your sauce is handmade, fruity, small-batch, or part of the Bauce Brothers club, refrigeration is probably your best bet. It’s not only about food safety - you also want to preserve the work of the hot sauce makers who care more about flavour than shelf life.

These sauces aren’t designed to sit forgotten in your cupboard for two years. They’re designed to be used, loved, and yes, stored properly.

Our Take

So, does hot sauce go bad? Yes, eventually. And does hot sauce need to be refrigerated? That depends on what you’re working with - but if it came from us, the answer’s probably yes.

Fridge it. Taste the difference. Avoid the horrors of tropical mould hell.

And while you’re here, if your current bottle’s looking sad and half-empty, it might be time for an upgrade. We’ve got handcrafted hot sauces made by local UK legends who know their stuff and never compromise on quality. Go on - view our gourmet hot sauce collection. You know you want to.