Question about how long I can keep

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

home made coleslaw dressing in the fridge.

The base recipe is:

1/2 cup half and half
1/2 cup mayonnaise
1/2 cup sugar
1 tablespoon vinegar
2 tablespoons lemon juice.

Whisk together.

I think that's far too much sugar, and I cut it by half.

Anyway, my question is, if I make up that recipe in double or triple that amount, how long can I expect it to stay good in the refrigerator? I'm going to guess six months or more, but maybe the shelf life of the half and half is the limiting ingredient.

I hope somewhen here would know.

[pkdu]

1. 3-5 days seems to be the consensus

https://www.google.com/webhp?sourceid=chrome-instant&ion=1&espv=2&ie=UTF-8#q=how%20long%20can%20you%20keep%20coleslaw%20dressing

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

3. No, not the coleslaw itself.

The veggies will start to go bad in a few days, that I know.

But the dressing itself. That was why I included the actual recipe for it.

[Retrograde]

14. The veggies will keep longer than the dressing

Assuming you're starting with fresh cabbage or carrots: keeping them whole will extend their storage life since you're minimizing the surface area in contact with the air and its little critters.

The dressing, though, is limited by how long the half and half will keep, and that is likely a week or less. And the recipe, IMHO, has about a half-cup too much sugar.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

15. I do start with fresh veggies.

Here's the full recipe with my changes noted at the end:

Sweet Coleslaw

Ingredients
• 1 medium head cabbage, shredded
• 1 large carrot, shredded
• 1 medium yellow pepper, chopped
• 1 medium sweet red pepper, chopped
• 1 medium green pepper chopped
• 1 apple peeled and chopped
• raisins (optional)
• unsalted sunflower seeds, other small nut (optional)
• Celery seed
• Ground black pepper


DRESSING:
• ½ cup half and half
• 1/2 cup mayonnaise
• 1/2 cup sugar
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1 tablespoon vinegar
Directions
1. In a large bowl, combine the first seven ingredients. Generously add celery seed and ground pepper. Combine dressing ingredients until smooth. Pour over vegetables; toss to coat. Cover and refrigerate overnight. Stir before serving.

It’s my opinion that this recipe calls for too much sugar. So start with a quarter cup and add a tablespoon at a time until it reaches the sweetness you like. Personally, I wouldn't want it without any sugar. I also think that refrigerating overnight improves it a great deal.

It's also important that you put the celery seed (not salt, seed) on black pepper directly on the chopped and shredded vegetables. The celery seed adds some flavor, and I personally wouldn't want actual celery in this, and the ground pepper adds a bit of a bite.

Similarly, when I make potato salad, I boil the potatoes, let them cool down, then dice them. Then I add a bit of finely chopped onion, celery salt, and ground pepper. I want to be able to smell all three when I sniff the potato salad at this point. Sometimes I add a slice or two of bacon, fried crisp, and crumbled directly onto the potatoes. Then, and only then, I put on the mayonnaise. People who normally don't care for potato salad tend to love mine. The essential secret is that I've flavored the potatoes, then put the mayonnaise on top. I think most people do it the other way.

[HassleCat]

2. A week.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

4. Why so short a time?

The mayonnaise itself is good for months in my refrigerator, even after I've opened it.

I'm just trying to decide if it's worth my mixing up a bunch, although to be honest I don't often make coleslaw, and it's very easy to whip up the dressing each time I make some.

[HassleCat]

5. Half and half will go bad.

The mayo is made of eggs and oil, so it's OK for a while. Milk will go bad much faster.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

7. The half and half I bought today, January 24, 2017,

has a use by date of March 22, 2017. That's a bit more than 7 days out.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

9. I'm not sure that's accurate.

The half and half I bought today will probably be used up in about two weeks, which is twice as long as the 7 days earlier suggested, but well within the use by date on the carton. If once it's opened it's going to go bad a whole lot earlier, shouldn't the use by date say something like: Use by March 22, 2017, or no later than X period of time after it's opened?

On the other hand, the bag of sugar I bought recently says: Best by 10/27/2021. I'm bemused by the specific date, and I find it hard to envision sugar going bad. We know for a fact that honey stays good for thousands of years, maybe as close to forever as the eventual heat death of the universe can allow.

[2naSalit]

10. So, you've got

a milk product and another one with eggs, that could hold up for about ten days before it's just an ugly science project. Once you add vinegar and lemon juice to those... that changes the dynamic immediately, any diary product will last only a few days in the best of containers, add some sugar and you're going caustic which means that it won't last long at all. Best to just take the few minutes to mix what you need at the time of use.

...the individual expiration dates become null and void when you mix the product with anything.

[Warpy]

11. No more than a week

and that might be pushing it. The half and half will not only go bad, but the vinegar and lemon juice will curdle it over time.

I've found cole slaw dressing is something that needs to be made fresh, in small batches, along with the freshly grated cabbage and/or other salad ingredients.

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

13. Thanks to everyone who responded to me here.

As it turns out, I'll be making a bunch more coleslaw tomorrow, so I'll use up what I had leftover from today, and if I have more leftover dressing I'll only hang on to it for a week or so.

Maybe I should do a science project with the dressing, and make up some and then sample it every two weeks until I can tell it's turned, although I'm not sure how exactly I'd know that. I do use the simple and basic smell test on all sorts of things, and I actually toss out things faster than I know most people do.

And for what it's worth, the coleslaw I made and will be making is for the homeless shelter in my city. I clearly did not make enough today, and will make a lot more tomorrow

[Kali]

16. leave out the half and half and I bet it would keep for a month

either add a little when you make slaw or just skip it all together. (my slaw dressing is similar with no milk, cream or half and half)

[PoindexterOglethorpe]

17. Thanks.

I still think that the length of time given by others is way too short.

There was a conversation here not long ago where various members of DU said they kept butter in the freezer for fear it would go bad in a very short time. I buy unsalted butter, leave it out on the counter, and it lasts for several weeks. It simply doesn't go bad all that fast. And I'm someone who will throw out leftovers brought home from a restaurant after three days.

I'm inclined to think my coleslaw dressing would be good for a month or more, but as has been pointed in this thread, and as I already know, it takes almost no time to whip up fresh dressing so why bother to make it up ahead of time?

And a personal note. Without half and half it would be far too much like pure mayonnaise for my taste.

What I do want to point out, is that my coleslaw is adored by all who eat it. I think it's a combination of the specific ingredients, and most especially the home made dressing. Commercial dressings just aren't the same.

Similarly, if you're going to bake a cake, even if you're going to use a mix (and don't let me get started on why you shouldn't), using a canned frosting is just awful. It takes almost no time to make a real butter cream frosting, and the canned junk can't hold a candle to the real thing.