The Only Way You Should Store Vinegar, According to a Vinegar Expert

I don’t use vinegar often, so I’m never sure where to keep it so that it stays fresh. Should it be stored in the fridge or the pantry? And how long does vinegar actually last?

I knew the consummate expert to ask. Writer, editor, podcaster, and photographer Michael Harlan Turkell is the author of Acid Trip: Travels in the World of Vinegar and Editor of VinegarProfessor.com—he knows vinegar.

Pasteurized vs. Unpasteurized Vinegar

Made by fermentation, vinegar is a combo of acetic acid and water. It can be pasteurized or unpasteurized. Pasteurized vinegars are more commonly found and they are the ones you will see at the grocery store.

“It means they're not ‘living’ anymore, for those that want the raw probiotics of a live culture. They're heated up to kill bacteria,” Turkell explains. “There are a few live vinegars on the market, but they're likely homemade, and less manufactured, but I'm seeing a trend towards those from small farms, vineyards, and even chefs/restaurants.” You will most likely find unpasteurized vinegar in a refrigerated section.

Where To Store Vinegar

Keep your vinegar in a cool, dark place. “If the bottle's transparent, keep it away from the sun—it can heat it up and effectively change the color, quality, and shelf life of the liquid,” Turkell says. Unpasteurized vinegar with a mother—a film of cellulose, yeast, and acetic acid bacteria, which sometimes forms and helps produce vinegar—is more susceptible to degradation.

“I'd love to say [it lasts] indefinitely since vinegar is its own preservative, but like anything that's made of organic matter, it degrades over time, although much slower than most pantry items,” Turkell says.

To keep it from degrading quickly, keep it cold, like in the refrigerator.

If you don’t have a lot of room in your refrigerator, he suggests buying smaller bottles and just using more vinegar.

“Only buy what you need rather than those discount gallon jugs that sit under your sink,” Turkell says. “And keep vinegar away from your pantry above the stove, which heats them up way too often. Those fluctuations in temperature aren't great for quality and consistency.”

When To Replace Your Vinegar

The two ways you can tell if vinegar isn’t at its best is by smelling or tasting it.

“If it goes acetone (smells like nail polish) it might be over oxidized. If it smells funky or feral it may have fallen out of solution, which means it was held incorrectly,” Turkell says.

When vinegar is stored in a humid environment, more water can go into it from the excess moisture. “Vinegar itself is 4% to 7% acetic acid, the rest is mainly water, but if the pH drops and that percentage drops it's no longer vinegar, and won't stay bright and sharp,” Turkell says. “Instead, it will start fermenting again, and not necessarily in a good way.”

If you taste vinegar that isn’t fresh, you’ll know right away you shouldn’t be eating it. 

“Our body's response to those kinds of things is evolutionary,” says Turkell, who points out that iffy vinegar isn’t likely to make you sick. “Too much vinegar is a diuretic, maybe could cause acid reflux, but nothing major will happen,” he says. “It just might leave a bad taste in your mouth and gurgle in your stomach.”