Saw this question on Twitter, and it caused a pretty solid debate. When you move, do you take the sauces you have in your pantry, fridge, cupboard, drawer, etc etc. with you? Or do you toss those mfs away and buy news ones? I personally throw away my sauces and start fresh.

Edit: Distance you’re moving plays a pretty important role in this question, so let’s assume you’re not moving too far

40 comments
  1. The only sauces I regularly consume are sauces I made on the stovetop, so, this has never been something I’ve had to consider. You’re asking like hot sauce and stuff like that right?

  2. I pack them, I toss whatever is expired or something I’ve only used for one recipe, like fish sauce.

    Btw, I have nothing against fish sauce, I just only seem to need it once every 3 years.

  3. As long as I’m not moving across the damn country I take them with me. Hell my last move was only a 10-15 min drive so I took the non refrigerated stuff too

  4. I pretty much used closing on any of my homes as an opportunity to cut back on my grocery shopping and start cleaning out the refrigerator, freezer, and cabinets. By the time moving day came along everything was either thrown out or used up.

    Then I’d just buy new when we moved in.

  5. Commercial sauces that are left over from food like nuggets & all? No because I don’t save those anyway. I don’t have a stash of ketchup packets or honey mustard or whatever in a drawer like I’ve seen some people have.

    Refrigerator sauces like IDK, tarter sauce, seafood sauce, & etc.? Yes, if I’m moving nearby and the fridge stuff is going the sauces are going too, Homemade sauces, I usually use it soon so there’s just not that many/much of it. Moving hundreds of miles away? No, the fridge stuff is sacrificed, it won’t make it anyway.

  6. I try to use up and do without if I run out early most things in my fridge before moving. Then I throw out anything that’s “debatable” on the freshness scale. The rest gets moved.

  7. If I’m moving, say, an hour or two away and they’re largely shelf-stable, sure, I’ll hold onto them.

    Across the state or country, where I’d have to keep swapping out ice packs? Probably not. Unless they’re super rare and expensive.

  8. I mean, my sauce collection includes about 100 bottles of hot sauce. That’s getting packed up and coming with regardless. Anything out of date otherwise gets tossed. Everything else comes with.

  9. Moving locally, I brought everything with me. Packed a cooler with any perishable items.

    Long distance move, I only took shelf stable items. Basically took all my spices, oils, vinegars but everything in the fridge was left behind.

    I’m very into cooking and I use a ton of different spices and sauces regularly. It would be a very significant cost to recreate my entire spice cabinet, so I always bring as much as I can with me.

  10. Try my best to narrow the fridge down to as little as possible prior to the move.

    Toss anything that isn’t worth the hassle.

    Pack up stuff that is non-perishable.

  11. Moving nearby, I’d take it (although I’d start trying to use up as much as possible of what I have and stop buying anything new as soon as I knew I was going to move, to reduce the amount of stuff to deal with). May as well do that as have to haul new stuff home from the grocery.

    Long distance, I’m not moving food. I’d use up what I could and throw out or give away anything left.

  12. If moving locally around town for sure I would take. In general before a move I try to let any food supplies get low like do my last big grocery store run 2 weeks before so by the time of the move most of my stuff is gone.

  13. …How many sauces should a person have? This question seems oddly specific. How many places do you store different types of sauce?

    In general I’m taking every edible item I own to my new place. If there’s half a jar of Bertolli traditional marinara in the fridge, I’m taking it with me.

  14. I feel oddly qualified to answer this question given how many spices, seasonings, and condiments I normally have on hand.

    When I move, I throw away open condiments from the fridge, or give the remaining amount to neighbors or friends who want them. Unopened containers I pack, along with non-perishable or shelf stable items like oils and vinegars, soy sauce, hot sauces etc.

    I’m not trying to deal with that half bottle of ketchup, third of a jar of mayonnaise, or last few spoonfuls of steak sauce, but I’m not tossing expensive vinegars or infused oils.

  15. Depends on the condiment and the distance. Generally, just moving across town, pack and move. Long enough that I have to sleep somewhere else in-between? Pack anything more than half full, toss most anything less than half full and everything that requires refrigeration.

    On the flip side, I just came back from a vacation back home to NC – and I packed and/shipped home about ten pounds of stuff I can’t easily get here. (Relevant to the question: incl three bottle of Lexington style BBQ sauce.)

  16. I bring most of my food, although in the weeks leading up to a move I generally try to thin out stuff that I’ve been holding onto. Perishable stuff will get saved if it’s practical or just thrown out. Cans and other dry goods almost always get held onto.

    I’m not gonna throw away a 3/4 bottle of olive oil or reg wine vinegar just for the fuck of it.

  17. Even if I’m moving halfway across the country, I have coolers. Put them on ice for a day and save yourself a lot of money. “Starting fresh” seems extremely wasteful.

  18. Absolutely, since it’s virtually impossible to find a decent BBQ sauce outside of the KC metro area.

  19. I guess it depends?

    For my farther moves (not quite cross-country, but across several states), I threw away most sauces, only keeping my hot sauce collection – it’s a large collection of hot sauces, some rare, and most of the bottles were at least half full, so of course it made sense to keep those.

    For shorter moves (to a different part of the same metro area), in addition to my hot sauces, I have tended to take about half of my other sauces – I’ll toss them if they’re maybe 1/4 full or less. (Obviously not a hard-and-fast rule.) In general, I have had some overlap every time I have made a shorter move, and the slower pace makes it easier to take certain things.

  20. When I know I’m moving I start purging old crap I don’t need. I also stop buying replacements for things I do use but aren’t critical. So my pantry and fridge are pretty bare by the time I move.

    If I’m moving in the same town, I will move that stuff but any more than a 30 minute drive and I wouldn’t.

  21. Last year I moved less than a mile, so kept all freezer and refrigerated items, of course.

  22. I try to only bring a box or two of foodstuffs. That’s the stuff that’s most likely to make a mess, and you’ve got to worry about getting things back in the fridge before they go bad, it’s just a lot of hassle to save a half a bottle of ketchup and an open bag of flour. When I know I’m moving out in the near future, I stop replacing some things until after the move.

  23. My buddy just made a 45 minute move. He took all of them that fit in his one cooler. The rest he tossed. He chose based on expiration date and fullness.

  24. I have to move my cooler anyway, so I just toss the fridge them in there. Seems pretty straightforward.

    The cupboards I just toss into shopping bags with whatever other foods I still have.

  25. Pantry safe, open and closed came with if they were at least half full.

    Open Fridge items got donated to a neighbor. Same with any cleaning supplies the packers wouldn’t take.

    I should clarify that whenever we moved.. it was to another state, or country, so perishable stuff couldn’t be schlepped safely.

  26. Depends on how delayed i am with packing. If I’m in a hurry, I’m throwing everything in a box and not thinking twice and whatever comes with me, comes with me. If i plan to move appropriately (like I’m doing right now) I’ll throw as much as i can away.

  27. Well it depends on distance. Hours or days away, I toss items needing refrigeration. Spices and dry things I keep.

  28. Since though I’ve moved a lot, it’s basically always within a 2 hour trip, I basically always bring the ones i had if they’re not almost empty

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