On refrigeration: Pickles vs. Mini-Moo’s
Today I am going to talk about things that are refrigerated and things that aren’t refrigerated.
First up: pickles. Why is it that some pickles are kept on normal grocery shelves and some in the fridge, next to e.g. the processed meat? I was wondering this the other day, because I wonder about important things. Wikipedia, which is reliable, told me the answer:
- Fresh-packed pickles are made by pasteurizing cucumbers to kill bacteria or make bacterial spores dormant and then placing the cucumbers in vinegar (which contains acetic acid). Fresh-packed pickles have a shelf life of many months.
- Refrigerated pickles (sometimes called overnight pickles) are made by placing cucumbers in a vinegar solution and refrigerating them. Compared to processed or fresh-packed pickles, refrigerated pickles have a relatively short shelf life, and even unopened jars should be kept refrigerated.
So it’s not just a marketing gimmick. So much for that predictably snarky blog entry I’d planned!
Secondly, I’d like to talk about Mini-Moo’s. What are Mini-Moo’s, you ask? They are the little ultra-super-duper pasteurized creamers from Land o’ Lakes. To start, I’d like to declare that “Mini-Moo’s” is a ridiculous, ridiculous name. (My buddy Matt has more on this. Found it via Google—it’s a small, stupid world.) And according to this page, it seems that the Mini-Moo’s brand has been mostly abandoned by Land o’ Lakes, since all of the flavored creamers are packaged under the more familiar International Delight brand. “International Delight” is also a ridiculous name and could easily be mistaken for an Eastern European Internet bride service. But I digress.
Where was I? Oh yes, refrigeration. The big selling point about Mini-Moo’s is that they don’t need to be in the fridge (it’s a separate question as to whether they want to be in the fridge). Now I don’t care how freaking artificial they are, there’s something dairy-ish about them, and there needs to be some kind of time limit. I mean, can you just leave a box of Mini-Moo’s in your cupboard for say, 40 years, then pick one out and add it to your cup of coffee? Because that’s disgusting. And kind of cool.
April 26th, 2006 at 2:44 am
Open up a package of mini moo. Open up a package of REAL butter. Leave both outside for a few days. Insects, bacteria, and the like will devour the butter but won’t touch the minimoo. If it isn’t good enough for insects, it isn’t good enough for me.
April 26th, 2006 at 10:17 am
I think you blogger types have incredibly too much time on your hands. :)
April 26th, 2006 at 12:23 pm
Chad, how dare you.
April 28th, 2006 at 10:16 am
You ever chug a mini-moo? er, i guess you don’t CHUG it. It’s more like taking a shot. A rather nasty shot at that.
April 28th, 2006 at 10:19 am
What do you chase a mini-moo with?
April 29th, 2006 at 7:29 am
I would guess that one chases a shot of liquor with the Mini-moo, as opposed to the other way around.
July 9th, 2007 at 9:16 am
Mini-moo’s have a shelf life of only 3 months if that helps. Still seems a bit long though.
February 18th, 2008 at 4:34 pm
I am drinking my hot chocolate with a shot of mini-moos in it. I love mini moos because it gives my water-based drink texture.
March 19th, 2008 at 2:41 pm
obviously you Americans have never heard of UHT treated milk which is commonly available elsewhere in other parts of the world and has a non-refrigerated shelf life of months
On a health note I suggest you never drink American milk and eat eggs or beef unless you look for organic etc.
Of course Mini Moos are basically nothing but funky chemicals but if you poison yourself with aspartame etc then it won’t bother you much
Don’t believe me? Google Monsanto and milk and see what contaminated crap we drink
America has the worst labelling requirements in the developed world. I know this sounds like a conspiracy theory but either people don’t want you to know what is in your food or you aren’t that interested