Storing sour cream upside down prevents spoilage?



Nancy1 wrote:

> Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>>aem wrote:
>>
>>>Nancy1 wrote:
>>>
>>>>Nothing beats first-hand experience, Bob. [snip]
>>>>
>>>>If it doesn't work for you, fine, don't do it.
>>>>
>>>>It does work for me. I don't understand why you continue to argue ...[snip]
>>>
>>>Of course you understand why. You're just too polite to say it. :)
>>
>>I'm sorry if I hurt your widdle feelings to the point where you have to
>>take these little shots.
>>
>>Oh, wait. No I'm not.
>>
>>Pastorio
>
> You didn't hurt my feelings - WTF are you on, anyway?

Nancy, darlin... Not everything is about you. Go up top and look at the
attributions. See...? aem felt the need to jump in with a snide comment.
That's what I'm on about.

You and I have been pushing an idea around - admittedly with a bit of
heat - but not getting nasty.

It follows as the day follows the night, those attributions. If I had
something to say to you, I would have put it immediately following
something you'd said. If I didn't put it there, it isn't about you.

> or maybe off?
> And in previous posts, I didn't take any little shots - I said, fine,
> you don't need to store things upside down; I find it useful, so what's
> the point in carrying on with this?

Have a nice cup of tea or some damn thing. You're beginning to make a
habit of assuming that my post is about you when the attributions were
clear enough to the contrary.

Pastorio
 
Charles Quinn wrote:

> How to make just about everything in the refrigerator stay fresh longer.
> After it is opened just store it upside down.

I'm just imagining the pickle/yogurt/jam cocktail that would probably
end up on my shelves... or the disastrous consequences of removing a
big carton of sour cream upside-down (and accidentally squeezing it a
touch too much)...

--

Karen MacInerney
Kitchen experimenter, family chauffeur, and culinary mystery author
www.karenmacinerney.com
 
Bob (this one) wrote:
>
>
> Well, I'm afraid I don't believe that this inversion matters. So far,
> it's been a very small bit of anecdotal comment and a lot of
> speculation, but nothing substantive to document it. Lots of food
> science and industry experience to contradict it. My "first-hand
> experience" as well.
>
>> I wonder if what's going on is that mold spores are trapped at the top
>> of the carton because they stick to the surface of the sour cream.
>> When you turn the carton upside down, the air moves up to the bottom
>> of the carton. The mold spores are deprived of oxygen. Aerobic
>> bacteria that could cause spoilage at the bottom of the carton (now
>> that they have an air pocket) are inhibited by the acid and any active
>> lactobacillus cultures in the sour cream.
>
>
> Turning the container over creates turbulence, mixing; part of top goes
> to bottom. Air pocket at top of upright container has to go to the
> bottom. Takes critters and fungi with it. For as long as yogurt has been
> around - and kefir, koumiss, sour cream, cottage cheese and other
> fermented milks - no culture stores any of it in upside down containers.
> Nobody else does it, including the folks who essentially invented those
> things and can't afford to waste any of it.

They also don't leave them in the fridge for 3 weeks.

> Containers unopened, handled and refrigerated - everything done properly
> - will spoil. That plastic sheet that sits down flush with the top of
> the cottage cheese should keep out air, but it will spoil anyway. The
> ingredients for spoilage are already in there. It'll spoil no matter
> what. And it'll spoil in your fridge - right side up - in something
> between about a week and a half and a month, depending on many factors
> not least how close to sell-by date when purchased.
>

I understand all that; and I don't believe turning it upside-down will
help anything either. (I proposed earlier that maybe it just spoils at
the bottom and nobody notices.) But enough people claim to have
first-hand experience with it that I'm not willing to dismiss the idea
completely and I certainly won't ridicule them in the absence of
scientific proof. I think my explanation is plausible -- air at the
bottom, contaminated food at the top that needs air to spoil. It
wouldn't take the critters to the bottom that were stuck on the surface
already, just the ones that were still airborne.

Best regards,
Bob
 
On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 04:59:32 GMT, Charles Quinn
<[email protected]> wrote:

>How to make just about everything in the refrigerator stay fresh longer.
>After it is opened just store it upside down. I have tested this with
>Milk, Sour Cream, Dip, Applesauce, Jelly, Jam, Pickles, Peppers and more.

Wouldn't it be easier just to turn the refrigerator upside down?

-sw
 
Nancy1 wrote:
>
> You didn't hurt my feelings - WTF are you on, anyway? or maybe off?
> And in previous posts, I didn't take any little shots - I said,
> fine, you don't need to store things upside down; I find it
> useful, so what's the point in carrying on with this?

The only way to handle Bob is to stop responding to him.
You have to say what you want to say, and then let him
have the last word. That's the only way a Bob-war ends.

That's what caused the Great Bob-vs.-Chung War.
Bob finally ran across someone who was as stubborn
as he was, and willing to use poison gas against
innocent newsgroup civilians to boot.
 
Steve Wertz wrote:
> On Sun, 19 Mar 2006 04:59:32 GMT, Charles Quinn
>
>>How to make just about everything in the refrigerator stay fresh longer.
>>After it is opened just store it upside down. I have tested this with
>>Milk, Sour Cream, Dip, Applesauce, Jelly, Jam, Pickles, Peppers and more.
>
> Wouldn't it be easier just to turn the refrigerator upside down?

<lol> And it would make just as much sense.

I love these rigorous experiments conducted with micro-precision. I
flat-out disbelieve it.

Jams and jellies will literally last years in a fridge; low pH, lotsa
sugar and cold temps will restrict stuff from growing. The worst
likelihood is sugar crystallization, easily fixed by heating. Any but
"fresh" pickles can do fine at room temp - they're preserved, fer
crissake. How does one store peppers upside down? Applesauce will last a
couple months in a fridge. Dip, indeed. That's my opinion of all this.

Sheep dip.

Pastorio
 
Mark Thorson wrote:
> Nancy1 wrote:
>
>>You didn't hurt my feelings - WTF are you on, anyway? or maybe off?
>>And in previous posts, I didn't take any little shots - I said,
>>fine, you don't need to store things upside down; I find it
>>useful, so what's the point in carrying on with this?
>
> The only way to handle Bob is to stop responding to him.

Actually not. I respond well to logic, facts, proof and clarity. But how
would you know?

> You have to say what you want to say, and then let him
> have the last word. That's the only way a Bob-war ends.

Oh, look. It's Mark "Food-grade Propane" Thorson.

<LOL> What wonderful expertise. After I've given you the last word
several times and you treat me this way. <snif>

> That's what caused the Great Bob-vs.-Chung War.
> Bob finally ran across someone who was as stubborn
> as he was, and willing to use poison gas against
> innocent newsgroup civilians to boot.

<LOL> Score one for good imagery.

You'll heal one day, Mark.

No, seriously...

Pastorio
 
zxcvbob wrote:

> I don't believe turning it upside-down will help anything either. (I
> proposed earlier that maybe it just spoils at the bottom and nobody
> notices.)

<LOL> That, I suspect, is a lot closer to any truth than that it somehow
extends shelf life.

> But enough people claim to have first-hand experience with it that
> I'm not willing to dismiss the idea completely and I certainly won't
> ridicule them in the absence of scientific proof.

It seems to me that proponents have the burden of proof. Claims are
claims. Some people throw pinches of salt over their shoulders.

> I think my explanation is plausible -- air at the bottom,
> contaminated food at the top that needs air to spoil.

Look at the critters that are at work. Fermentation of yogurt,
buttermilk and sour cream is anaerobic. Many competing bacteria will
work that way as well. Yeasts work anaerobically. Bacteria, fungi,
molds, protozoa, actinomycetes, and other saprophytic organisms operate
anaerobically. None need air to function. Turning it upside down so
there's no air at the surface makes it *worse*.

> It wouldn't take the critters to the bottom that were stuck on the
> surface already, just the ones that were still airborne.

Mebbe so. But I'm still waiting for anything that would point to any
mechanism that stands up to scrutiny that would explain the claimed
benefits.

Pastorio
 
Bob (this one) wrote:
> Nancy1 wrote:
>
> > Bob (this one) wrote:
> >
> >>aem wrote:
> >>
> >>>Nancy1 wrote:

> Have a nice cup of tea or some damn thing. You're beginning to make a
> habit of assuming that my post is about you when the attributions were
> clear enough to the contrary.
>
> Pastorio

I read through the attributions twice, and couldn't figure out who you
were referring to, so of course I assumed it was ME. Isn't everything
about ME? LOL.

We're good.... ;-)

N.
 
Nancy1 wrote:

> I read through the attributions twice, and couldn't figure out who you
> were referring to, so of course I assumed it was ME. Isn't everything
> about ME? LOL.
>
> We're good.... ;-)

I hope so.

Pastorio
 
One time on Usenet, Mark Thorson <[email protected]> said:

<snip>

> The only way to handle Bob is to stop responding to him.
> You have to say what you want to say, and then let him
> have the last word. That's the only way a Bob-war ends.

Said the pot to the kettle...

--
jj - rfc (Jani) in WA
~ mom, Trollop, novice cook ~
 
jj - rfc wrote:
> One time on Usenet, Mark Thorson <[email protected]> said:
>
> <snip>
>
>>The only way to handle Bob is to stop responding to him.
>>You have to say what you want to say, and then let him
>>have the last word. That's the only way a Bob-war ends.
>
> Said the pot to the kettle...

<LOL>

But there is a nucleus of truth to the comment. It usually depends on
the absurdity of the claims, like Mark's hilarious "food-grade" propane
gaffes. The sillier they are, the more intense it can get.

Pastorio
 
Last night, I took an upside-down container of sour cream out of the
fridge. Whoa, NASTY! We did not pass go, we did not collect $200, we
took it straight to the trash barrel outside.

No further information is available on this incident.

Peace,
Carol, having a near-death experience from a cold
 
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