A graphic of some condiments jars and bottles containing oils, vinegars, mayonnaise, ketchup

Episode 147 – Oils, vinegars and sauces

In this episode, we are talking about all things oils, vinegars and sauces. These are often things that linger in our cupboards and on our sides for a while without proper decluttering and organising, but we will give you some of the tips we use to keep on top of these items.

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Transcript of this podcast episode

Intro  0:07  
Welcome to today's episode of The Declutter Hub Podcast, your channel for super easy, no nonsense advice on how to declutter and organise your home. Please welcome your hosts professional organisers, Ingrid Johnson, and Lesley Spellman.

Ingrid  0:31  
Hello, and welcome listeners to Episode 147 of the declutter hub Podcast. I'm Ingrid. And I'm Lesley. If you have clutter and want to sort it out, this is the show for you. Now, in today's episode, Lesley and I are talking about oils, vinegars and sauces.

Lesley  0:50  
Doesn't get much more exciting than that, does it? Not get much more exciting than that? But as with all of the things we discuss, it's super important, isn't it anyway, because there's things that go on with oils, vinegars, and sauces that we need to talk about.

Ingrid  1:06  
I'm not gonna lie, Lesley, when you suggested this topic, I was a bit like, really. But of course, when preparing for this, we kind of realise there's a whole list of things we need to talk about. Because we see them everywhere in the kitchen that we work in, though we and our members as well have been asking, how does it work with oils and vinegars and sauces? How do you do that?

Lesley  1:28  
Yes. So before we get started, let us be specific about what is in our eyes and oil or vinegar and a sauce just in case there is any confusion. I don't think they'll be confused about oils and vinegars, but they may be confused about sources minor. So oils, olive oil, vegetable oil, sesame oil, coconut oil, blah, blah. i Oh, yeah. I

Ingrid  1:54  
can't think of any more either. I think of an olive oil and vegetable oil. I think that's where my knowledge of oils and flour,

Lesley  1:59  
oil. Oil extra virgin olive oil. Yeah, yeah. tonnes and tonnes of oils. Yeah, that's one of the things that we're going to talk about. When it goes right. Think about some vinegars than Ingrid.

Ingrid  2:12  
White vinegar. white wine vinegar, malt vinegar and balsamic vinegar. That's my thing. My knowledge and

Lesley  2:21  
red wine vinegar. Oh, yeah. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Or the vinegars also. But those are the core ones that we're going to talk about. And then when it comes down to sauces, what we're really talking about here is table sources. And so that would be things like ketchup, mayonnaise, brown sauce.

Ingrid  2:40  
Barbecue show us garlic source.

Lesley  2:43  
When you mean garlic sauce. What you mean garlic was garlic sauce. Oh, garlic sauce like that. You don't put that on top of your dinner do Yeah, yes.

Ingrid  2:52  
It's lovely. Trust me. When you have like a kebab or something. Trust me. It really?

Lesley  2:58  
Is it like like just a whole load of garlic and a sauce? Yeah. I'm not coming anywhere near you when your garlic sauce lab. Okay, right. So we're talking mainly about those kinds of sources and also some other sources that may be kept in the fridge. So things like peri peri sauce, and some hot sauces, chilli sauce, those kinds of things. We're going to talk about those as well, aren't we? Yeah, I

Ingrid  3:21  
think maybe in that same kind of category. Maybe it's things like mustard and maybe pesto or what else? I'm just I'm nothing.

Lesley  3:29  
No, you said Pesta. Now you say pesto. Now I think you blurring the lines. I think you're definitely blowing the weigh ins with your garlic sauce and your pesto because pesto is something that you add to a meal in my opinion, pesto is not something that you put on top of something as a true, true. I. I really want to know about this garlic sauce. So if you're listening to this, and you are familiar with Ingrid's garlic sauce, do let me know because I've never heard of it. But anyway, so we've now established what we're actually going to talk about Ingrid. Yeah, we've had a lively debate as all and now we're going to talk about realism. Okay. Really important, isn't it? Because we've talked about the basic oils, vinegars and sources, okay. Now sometimes we get kind of carried away don't where we get carried away with our oils, vinegars and sauces, particularly if you are somebody who loves to cook. Now there's lots of temptation standing in our way we go to these beautiful markets, food markets, and all that kind of thing. And they're all all these beautiful sauces with herbes and all that role winking is asking us to buy them, aren't they? And so sometimes a random selection of oils finds its way into our kitchen, doesn't it?

Ingrid  4:40  
Yes, and it's not only the markets list, it's also when you go on holiday, and you kind of think oh, I want to bring a souvenir and then you see something like this really nice kind of decorative etiquette or it's really cool bottle. A thing. Oh, that looks so fun. I'm going to take that home with me. I'm going to use that up because I Want to keep hold of my fake Haitian mood and my vacation flavour? And I'm gonna cook with some of the olive oil from Greece or something?

Lesley  5:10  
Yeah, definitely, definitely. So there's definitely an aspirational element to the oils and vinegars in particular, because those are the types of things you don't get much well, I say that you don't get much catch up in a food market, but you kind of do don't do as well, you can buy those kinds of things as well. And so we really do get carried away sometimes with those. Now, there are many people that listen to this podcast, like I buy those, I use them all the time. But there are also a whole load of people who buy them, use them once and then leave them languishing in a cupboard, never to be seen again. And that's why we really have to get a grip on how many oils, vinegars and sauces we actually keep.

Ingrid  5:49  
Yes. So I think that then literally, the next question comes to me, where do you keep your oils, vinegars and sauces?

Lesley  5:57  
Yes, well, we are going to disagree, a lively debate on this is, is coming as an English because we have different ideas about how we do this. And so I think everybody should do what they want to do. But I like to keep my oils and vinegars and sauces away and not on the work surface. Because it's not a problem to me in the same way that I grab every other ingredient that I use when I'm cooking dinner, from a cupboard or from the fridge to grab an oil and vinegar in the same way. But I know there's an awful lot of people out there who like to have those things close to hand. And so they typically find their way onto a work surface.

Ingrid  6:36  
Yes, yeah, you're right. I mean, I have a couple of bits next to my home or my stove, or however my cooker, or whatever you want to call it. And indeed, there's a vegetable over there. This is sunflower oil, there's there's pepper and salt there, and an olive oil, I believe. And those are out so I don't put them away all the time. But I think there's a difference between having everything out and not even being able to chop a pepper because there's so much on the sides, that there's no place to actually work. And just having one or two or three things out, I've got I'm gonna lay shoes, and I've got the room for this, I got this perfect little corner where I can put a couple of things. But I agree with you, I don't want to have 20 oils and vinegars out that I may be used once a month. There's no point in that. But the couple of bits that are out I use every day. I want

Lesley  7:29  
to delve a little bit deeper on this Ingrid, because this is something that I quite often challenged my clients over not because I want them to follow my system. But I think it's all about finding that compromise, isn't it between what do you want your work surface to look like? Do you want it to be clear with lots of work in space? Or do you want things to be more accessible, so we kind of find that compromise here aren't between accessibility and kind of aesthetics. So for me, as I've said before, it's not really a problem for me to go and grab an oil and walk through yards to kind of find it and then put my slip of oil and then put it back into last minute, I prefer that. But I think a lot of people at all, but I needed that I need it next to my cooker on my heart. And I'm willing to forfeit aesthetics for that. And so what makes you then feel that you need that. So three ingredients out of a recipe that might have 10 ingredients in it, what makes you think that you need your oil and vinegar and salt and pepper right next to the stovetop,

Ingrid  8:27  
because they're quite old, tall. They're tall bottles, and all my other herbs and spices that I use for cooking all these small jars. And I've got a perfect little shelf where they all fit. And I don't really have an area close by to my cooker, where I want to have these things grouped together. So the three, three or four bits that are told are next to my cooker. And not in another cupboard because in my other talk about I've got my water bottles, and in another one tall one is my toaster and my Panini maker or something. So I just find it more handy. It's more like what I thought about my shelf space and the height of my shelves. And I didn't want to change the height of my shells for just those two or three taller bits, because I would lose too much space because I would lose use and on the shelf that I've got a couple of spare herbs that I use all the time on.

Lesley  9:24  
So that's really interesting. So actually, the reason why you're keeping it is because it makes sense for it to be there. Yeah, because of because you haven't got a cupboard for it. So if you had a spare cupboard, where those oils and vinegars would sit quite happily, you would put it in a cupboard. Oh, yeah, possibly. Yeah. So that's interesting, because but there are many people that I work with who have got that kind of but I need it next to my cooker. I mean, and so we're not saying there's any right or wrong way of this but we want you to think about the why. So think about why you're keeping those things right next to your cooker. If that is done because it because what happens and the reason why we're we're highlighting this as a problem is because that starts to expand. And what we have then is we instead of having one olive oil and the salt and pepper and vinegar or something like that, what we end up having is 20 or 30 things. And so then half of our kitchen is out on our work surface. And that's when it starts to become a problem in terms of cluttering at work surfaces and detracting them from your usable space. So your kitchen, your way, your choice. Ingrid's found her way, I found my way you will find your way. But think about it, because it's one of those things that we continue to do. Because it's habit, isn't it? We do it because we've always done it. And we never think of a different way. So I do do that with clients, I say why don't we think about putting these in this cupboard, if I can identify a cupboard where it's going to fit, where it's going to be sensible. Obviously, it needs to be quite close to the stove top. Ideally, although mine are not mine are right the other side of my kitchen because I've got a pantry. So it's not a big deal, really. But I think we think it's more of a big deal than it actually is to walk across the kitchen and grab an olive oil. So just think about that and think about what would you prefer? It's all about this compromise, isn't it? Yeah, you want the aesthetics? You want it to be clear and you want the usable space? Or do you want the practicality and accessibility of the oils and vinegars?

Ingrid  11:15  
Yeah, I think you're right Lesley, because the oil and vinegar and if they're next to a stove, you have to clean them off more often. Because they do get you know, because of cooking. They do get you know a bit grease on them. So you need to clean them more regularly. And I do have a lot of counter space. So I keep most of my counters really clear. So for me having a couple of Toler bits out, doesn't feel like very cluttered services. But if you're struggling with a you don't have a lot of counter space and be you thinking to yourself, oh, looks okay, your ticket looks so messy, then I think that will be a really good solution to go. Can I put some of these items away? Indeed. And yes, you're right. I think once something's there, more stuff migrates more and more stuff gets put on the cloth surfaces?

Lesley  12:04  
Yeah, I think it's, it's definitely an interesting one. It says definitely debate. And it is something that where you can shift habits and do something differently. So that's, that's really the key message really, for today. I think it's also important if you are struggling a little bit for space, and a lot of people are to be fair, a lot of people don't have space for lots of oils and vinegars, because you need space for pastures and rice isn't all of these kinds of things. So typically, there's not a lot of space for tall bottles in cupboards these days. And so really think about the volumes and the variety that you've got and whether or not you can do the job just the same with something that's simple. So do you need seven or eight different versions of an olive oil? Do you need seven are different versions of a vinegar? How many do you need? How long is it since you've used them? And what are we going to do with those? The excess? It's really important to think about? Well, it's nice to have those or do we need to have them. Kitchens are all about compromise. We talked about this all the time, because we only have it we have a finite amount of space. And so we have to make hard decisions that are not necessarily of course, it'd be nice to have 10 different types of oils for that sort of nuance in flavour. But it's not always possible. Is it Ingrid for space, because if you have 10 different oils, then they're going to sit out and then it's going to make you feel that your kitchens a little bit cluttered. It's too much compromise. It depends on where you sit with that, doesn't it? So really look at the volumes and the variety of oils and vinegars and sources that you have.

Ingrid  13:28  
Yeah, and I think what you said before, I think it also has to do with religion, you know, Would having one or two oils be just as fine as having 10 different flavours, one that you then hardly ever use? Do you taste the difference? Are you a budding chef who wants to have loads of agreements? Do you love cooking? Do you want to make elaborate meals is that you you probably have a lot of different ones. But if you're just thinking, You know what, I just need to feed my family of feed myself. And I want to kind of simplify my life a little bit. Does it make sense for me to have 10 different oils? While I actually honestly can't even taste the difference in them? Or maybe just having a sesame one and a sunflower one is fine with me. I don't have to have all the other ones or can I maybe go to a smaller size bottle? Do I have to always get the largest bottle it probably works out a little bit cheaper. But if you're struggling with space and cupboard space in counter space, maybe you need to coach with smaller sized bottle just kind of solve that problem.

Lesley  14:32  
Yeah, agreed. And same, exactly the same principle was cereals as well. So often, we see all the times that we're in with people are getting these huge boxes of cereals. And then they end up being on the top of a fridge because they weren't fit in a cupboard. And the solution to that is you've got to decide what do you want? Do you want to spend a little bit more money and get it inside the cupboard? Or do you want to save the money and it's got to sit out out on top of the fridge. That's the compromise and honestly 90% of kitchens are not huge. They don't have to tonnes and tonnes of space and there's compromises to be made in pretty much every kitchen that we come across. Aren't there? Ingrid?

Ingrid  15:05  
Yeah, yeah. Now, we've mainly been talking about oils and vinegars, Lesley that are either out or in cupboards. But of course, Allah at the table sources are kept in the fridge. Yes, fridge space definitely is, you know, something that you really need to take into consideration because a fridge needs to work really, really hard. And if you give up a whole shelf, or all of the baskets in your door, in your fridge door, all two sources, you give a lot of kind of real estate away to the sources that you might use once or twice, and then keep on lingering in your fridge.

Lesley  15:47  
And I have to say, in terms of food waste, and we were actually quite good in terms of food waste. But if I can think about the number one thing that I throw away more often than not, it is sauces, mustards, table sauces, and particularly those jars that you open. It's kind of not really a table sauce, but you just use ones like a curry paste or something like that. Those are typically the ones that I ended up throwing away, because I've not used them because they only last sort of six weeks, that kind of thing. And then they're gone off and you can't quite remember when it wasn't your work. And it so even if you're kind of on the fence a little bit, you're like, Oh, I'm not sure it seems a while since I've used that if you think it's six weeks, it's probably more likely to be four months. Yeah. And so more often than not, those are the things that I throw away. That's my that's where I'm guilty on the food waste element. What about you?

Ingrid  16:38  
Yeah, when you realistically, look, you're always think that sauces are a kind of last longer than they actually do. You think oh, yeah, they can last a while. But actually, and then you look on the GRE is like, oh, gosh, it's indeed only like four weeks after opening. And I'm like, I can't even remember when this went in.

Lesley  16:57  
Exactly, exactly. So it is a good idea, of course to just write on if that's if you're if that's a problem to you. And that's something that keeps repeatedly happening. Just get a marker pen and put the date that you opened it on the top of the lead. So you've got an idea. That's also quite useful. And then you can use that in your meal planning, can't you and make sure that that gets used up before the sort of deadline?

Ingrid  17:17  
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, because it's amazing. It's absolutely amazing how many sources there are. And indeed, if you didn't also take, think about the pesto's and the torture shows and the chuck knees in the whole shell have gone. But then if you can't put your meat and your milks and your your, your yoghurts and all that, because you got a whole shelf, gone to just the sources, and they just end up lingering in there and you forget about them. And they're all kind of squashed together. And then suddenly, when you do a fridge clear this like, Wow, I can't believe this is actually a year over date. I had no idea how this is

Lesley  17:54  
in here. Yeah, because they just sit there quite nicely in that little jar, don't know that. They're quite happy in their little jar, and half opened, and then you just have to throw it away. And it's quite sad, really, isn't it? Because we haven't sort of got full control over it. Yeah. So I told you, there was lots to talk about with oils, vinegars and sauces, didn't I, Ingrid? Well,

Ingrid  18:14  
there wasn't one last thing, Lesley that I also thought about that I wanted to share with our listeners is because we talked about buying oils and stuff on holiday. And then we bring them home or when we go to a food mark, and we think oh, it looks so pretty. I'm not going to open it just yet. Let me put it as a decorative item on the shelf. Or on like above the hobo the cooker, maybe some people have a little ledge that you can kind of put some knickknacks on, and then the pretty bottle with oil that looks so nice, goes on there. Never ever to be used or opened again. And then suddenly said, Oh, yes, I've got this oil or when I come around, they're like, what's this? That's the oil from the holiday when we went to Greece. And when was that? And they're like that was six years ago.

Lesley  19:03  
Of course, even when we thrown that oil away, because we know we can no longer use it. We still want to keep the bottle in case we're going to fill it again with more oil don't wait. Yes. And it carries on being a clutter problem, doesn't it?

Ingrid  19:15  
Yeah. Because the thing is, all these things have dates. And I think that's the thing, which is when I mean we know there's like dates on fruit and veg and meat and not inflation, all these but even sauces and vinegars and oils, all have dates. So that's then I think, listeners your job for this weekend. And we would love to know how you get on. So tell us in the comments how you're doing what was the oldest sauce that you have found when you're going to have a look at these items. And how you're going to think maybe about storing them away in a cupboard or can you send out all the ones that are out next to your cooker? We would love to know this Lesley, don't we? We would like

Lesley  19:56  
to talk a little bit more about the comments because we say drop that in the comments. We do Do we mean them? When we say dropped out in the comments? Ingrid, you tell me what you mean by that. For example,

Ingrid  20:04  
if you listen to our declutter hub.com website, and you listen to the podcast there, you can find the podcast and below, you can fill in a comment and we read all these comments and we can respond to you.

Lesley  20:17  
That's quite nice. It's quite hard sometimes, isn't it? When you're on the podcast, and you we just broadcast out and we don't get much back in and when we do get plenty, because we know people love the podcast, but it's nice to get specific things, isn't it? So we'd love those comments, you know, put those comments in. You can also comment in the Facebook group, because we put posts in there about the podcast, pop your comments in there. And of course, you can put put reviews on your podcast players as well to say how wonderful our podcast is. That's also nice, too. So yeah, we want some feedback from you. Don't just listen and not take action. We want to know how many oils have you got? How many did you get rid of? How old are they? What have you been doing? Are they on your countertop? Are they in your cupboard? Tell us more?

Ingrid  21:00  
Or maybe even taken before and after picture and share it in our Facebook group because we've got a fantastic Facebook group called the declutter hub community decluttering tips with Lesley and Ingrid, come and join us there. If you've been listening for a while. Come and join us dare come and join us in the Facebook group to and show us your before and after picture. And then you can tell us all about your oils and vinegars.

Lesley  21:23  
Yes. How exciting. Tell us about your oils and vinegars well and exciting things that come into know what is important to us that we know what you're feeling.

Ingrid  21:33  
Yeah, definitely. So that's it for this episode. We hope you've enjoyed listening. You can find information, how to leave a review the comments all in our show notes. So if you go to declutter hub.com, forward slash 147, you will find the show notes there and you can do all of these things. Now, if you're thinking to yourself, Okay, well let's Ingrid oils and vinegars, that's the tip of the iceberg. I've got lots of other stuff things to do in my kitchen. We have a membership with wonderful courses, for loads of different kitchen cupboards. So if you'd like to know more about that, have a look at member's Delta, declutter hub.com and find out more about our membership. And if you think in general, I would like to know more. Can I talk to one of you? Yes, you can just book a discovery call with us, and we'd love to chat to you about our membership. Thanks for being here. We hope to see you next week. Don't forget to subscribe to the declutter hub podcast, because then it will pop you notifications each Friday. So thanks so much for listening. I will see you next time.

Outro  22:42  
Thanks for listening to this week's episode of The Declutter Hub Podcast. Check out declutterhub.com for more inspiration. Don't forget to tune in next week.

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Lesley Spellman says:

3 August 2021 at 8:13 PM

Hi JoAnn – thanks for listening. Dates and best befores are always at the discretion of the user and not something we typically comment on. Hope you’re doing OK!

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Stacy says:

29 July 2021 at 8:13 PM

Do you have a time table that you tell clients on how long to keep oils, vinegars, and sauces? I understand it has an expiration date on the items, but is there a time frame once opened? I love the tip to write the open date on the bottle, something so simple.

Reply
1. Lesley Spellman says:
  
  3 August 2021 at 8:14 PM
  
  Hi Stacy, we don't get involved with anything to do with dates as it's so variable product by product and country by country but the first step is definitely writing those dates on the bottle. Thanks for listening!
  
  Reply
JoAnn says:

24 July 2021 at 8:12 PM

I enjoyed your podcast, as always, but I'm surprised you didn't discuss how heat can affect oils. I thought heat (e.g., storing near a stove) would increase the speed at which an oil will go rancid. I was hoping to hear how long various oils remain "healthy," as I so often cannot find a "use by" date on the bottle (perhaps it's worn off by the time I think to check it). I have vegetable oil, olive oil, and sesame oil. They probably all need replacement as it takes me a couple of years or longer to use an entire bottle.

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Episode 147 – Oils, vinegars and sauces

Episode 378 – 10 Freebies That Are Sabotaging Your Home

Episode 377 – Photographs, memories and decluttering with member Sabine

Episode 376 – Countdown to Christmas – prep early, stress less

Episode 373 – Getting Intentional with Gifting for the Festive Period

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