Understanding Balsamic Vinegar's Lifespan

As it’s a high-quality and high-priced product, numerous homemakers are concerned about how long balsamic vinegar lasts in their kitchen. Letting it turn bad would be a waste of money and, sometimes, cause unwanted results.

So, How Long Does Balsamic Vinegar Last?

Regular store-bought balsamic vinegar can last up to 3-5 years after the “Best-by” date with proper storage method. Whereas, the traditional kind lasts much longer, typically 20 years, and some special types can even be preserved for more than 100 years.

Now, that’s the basic information about balsamic vinegar’s shelf life, and you will find the detailed version in the article below. And there are also tons of different knowledge about balsamic vinegar waiting for you: Its health benefits, how to store it properly, and many more.

Let’s scroll down for more!

What Is Balsamic Vinegar?

Balsamic vinegar originates from North Italy, in a region called Emilia-Romagna. Even now, this historic area’s the only place producing traditional balsamic vinegar. It takes at least 12 years, sometimes more than 25 years, to create a true traditional one.

You can see this video to know more:

Watch this video: Balsamic Vinegar - The Most Expensive Vinegar In The World

Another type of balsamic vinegar is the modern commercial one. Compared to the traditional kind, this vinegar takes less time to produce, only 2 or 3 months. And it contains both grape must and white vinegar, while conventional balsamic vinegar is made of only the former.

Because of that, the traditional one is much richer, sweeter, darker, and of course, more expensive. In contrast, modern commercial vinegar has a wide range of flavors and textures based on the ratio of the ingredients.

Balsamic Vinegar Used Dressing — Balsamic vinegar is used as a dressing in various dishes

Balsamic vinegar is commonly used in various dishes as a flavor enhancer. You can sprinkle it over savory dishes like eggs, steaks, roasted meats, or desserts such as fruits and ice cream. Just a few drops and your plate will get the distinct sweet and sour flavor of it.

However, you should only use traditional balsamic vinegar at the end of the cooking process to preserve its distinct flavor.

Balsamic Vinegar’s Health Benefits

Apart from its unique deliciousness, balsamic vinegar’s popularity also comes from its health benefits. Let me list them all for you:

Control Cholesterol

Balsamic vinegar is most well-known for its control over your cholesterol level. It contains some antioxidants targeting LDL cholesterol, also known as the bad one. This cholesterol causes clogged arteries and heart disease. Consuming balsamic vinegar will protect your body from it.

Improve Your Skin

Acetic acid, antimicrobial compounds, and antioxidants – all the chemicals enhancing your skin quality – are found in balsamic vinegar. However, it’s best to receive them by digesting vinegar instead of applying it to your face.

Reduce Blood Sugar

Besides these chemicals, anti-glycemic properties are also in balsamic vinegar. When consumed, these compounds can lower blood sugar spikes after meals.

Adding balsamic vinegar can create a blood sugar plateau lasting up to 5 hours after consumption for people with insulin sensitivity. Anti-glycemia also works with diabetic patients but not as effective.

Balsamic Vinegar Provide Health — Just one spoon of balsamic vinegar can provide various health benefits.

Promote Healthy Digestion

Not only improves your skin, but acetic acid also enhances your digestion as it possesses probiotic bacteria. This bacteria will support your digestion and gut health, boosting your immune system.

Balsamic vinegar also makes consumers feel satisfied for a long time, reducing the hunger desire.⁽¹⁾

Lower Hypertension

Besides cutting down the amount of fatty foods intake, adding balsamic vinegar to your daily diet can lower your blood pressure. Just 1 or 2 teaspoons as a dressing or marinade are enough to help you avoid a heart attack.

Some Suggestions to Use Your Balsamic Vinegar.

Watch this video: Uses Of Balsamic Vinegar Of Modena

How Long Does Balsamic Vinegar Last?

Because of various health benefits, anyone should store a bottle of balsamic vinegar in their kitchen. However, since there are different ingredients in two balsamic vinegar kinds, their shelf life also varies significantly. Let’s dive into each type for details.

Traditional Balsamic Vinegar

Traditional balsamic vinegar is a grape must fermented and acidified in wooden barrels from 12 to 25 years. This procedure is no different from making aged wine or whiskey. And the fact that traditional vinegar contains nothing but grape must makes it have similar features to these liquors.

This means you can preserve traditional balsamic vinegar for as long as possible under proper conditions. Its flavor even gets richer and deeper over time. Some of the most refined conventional balsamic vinegar can last more than 100 years.

Because balsamic vinegar is produced in such a similar fashion to wine, it can also be used as a replacement ingredient for red wine vinegar, which is produced from red wine. You can use this substitute in various dishes such as marinade, dipping sauce, and salad dressing.

Another application for balsamic vinegar is as a stand-in ingredient for mirin, a condiment from Japan that is often confused with vinegar, despite the clear dissimilarities between mirin and rice vinegar. Balsamic vinegar best replaces mirin in baked goods, stir-fried dishes, and salads.

Modern Commercial Balsamic Vinegar

Unlike traditional balsamic vinegar, commercial one has some additional ingredients to shorten the producing process, from around 20 years down to only a few months. These components are the reasons why this modern type can’t last as long as the original.

Though it’s still safe to consume commercial balsamic vinegar that’s way past its expiry date, its quality doesn’t remain the same. Check every modern balsamic vinegar bottle for its “Best-by” date. This is usually three years after the production date, which is the golden time to use it.

This vinegar type doesn’t turn wrong right after the “Best-by” date. However, bit by bit, its quality will go downhill. You can’t detect this in a day or two. But leave it for another year; the difference will become more transparent.

That’s why after every five years, you should replace your balsamic vinegar with another for the best flavor. If you can’t immediately get a new one, there are plenty of alternatives to use in place of balsamic vinegar, the best of which is probably red wine vinegar mixed with sugar.

Below is a table to summarize the shelf life of two different balsamic vinegar kinds.

Types of Balsamic Vinegar	Pantry
Traditional Balsamic Vinegar	20+ Years
Commercially Prepared Balsamic Vinegar	“Best by” + 3 years

4 Ways To Properly Preserve Balsamic Vinegar

Like every food, appropriate preservation will prolong balsamic vinegar’s shelf life and maintain its quality and flavor. These are some suggestions for you to protect your balsamic vinegar, whether it’s traditionally made or commercially produced.

Avoid The Light

Light, including sunlight, can break down vinegar’s chemical composition, dragging its quality. That’s why you should store balsamic vinegar in a dark, non-transparent bottle to avoid light exposure.

Clear Bottle Protect Vinegar — A clear bottle may look beautiful but can protect your balsamic vinegar

Search For A Cool And Dry Place

Aside from light, heat also has adverse effects on balsamic vinegar. The ideal temperature to store vinegar is from 59°F to 78°F. So, put your balsamic vinegar in cool and dry places like a kitchen pantry or a cupboard.

However, make sure they are not above the cooker, oven, or other heat sources. They shouldn’t be humid, either, because moisture makes a perfect environment for mold growth.

Tightly Seal The Bottle

No matter where you store balsamic vinegar, if you forget to seal the bottle after using it, all your effort will go to waste. If the bottle’s left opened, multiple contaminants can sneak in and mature inside, ruining the vinegar quality.

Moreover, air and moisture from outside can damage the refined flavor, too. Securing the lid each time is the best way to avoid bacteria and other microorganisms from multiplying.

Avoid The Refrigerate

It’s acceptable to put the balsamic vinegar in the fridge for a while for your salad. However, this vinegar tastes much better at room temperature.

The fridge environment can water down your vinegar by liquefying the water inside the bottle. Or worse, this moisture is perfect for molds to increase. Also, other aromas from different foods inside the fridge can mess with the elegant flavor of balsamic vinegar.

Different Symptoms Of Spoiled Balsamic Vinegar

If stored correctly, balsamic vinegar hardly goes stale or rotting. However, just like everything else, balsamic vinegar can’t last forever. Let’s go through some signs indicating ruined balsamic vinegar.

The Bottle’s Appearance

Before checking the vinegar inside, let’s take a look around the bottle. To preserve vinegar the best, you should seal the bottle tightly after using it every time. If the seal’s loose or the bottle’s left open, air, moisture from outside may have already damaged the liquid inside.

Moreover, check the area around the seal closely for any signs of mold. Though molds hardly exist in a high-acidic environment like vinegar, the moisture outside can support their growth. If you do find some, it’s time to discard your balsamic vinegar.

Balsamic Vinegar Modena — You should check the bottle carefully, especially the seal area

The Liquid

The most distinctive liquid symptom of spoiled balsamic vinegar is the appearance of mold. If you spot any molds inside the bottle, get rid of your vinegar immediately. However, don’t misunderstanding molds with the jelly-like slimes called vinegar mothers.

They are just bacterias feeding on alcoholic liquids, proposing no harm to both your vinegar and your health. The same applies to when the vinegar turns cloudy and hazy.

The Flavor

No matter how the vinegar looks, always taste it before using it. Fine balsamic vinegar is quite acidic and sharp, with a faint sweetness. If the flavor is too harsh, you should leave it as the acid can ruin your dish.

FAQs About Balsamic Vinegar

All the information above has covered almost everything you need to know about balsamic vinegar. However, some questions need an answer. And here, I will solve some of the most common ones.

Can I Freeze Balsamic Vinegar?

Technically, you can. Regular vinegar has a freezing point of 28°F, which means it can survive in any freezer. However, “you can” doesn’t mean “you should”.
Balsamic vinegar can keep its flavor perfectly at room temperature, so freezing or refrigerating it doesn’t improve the quality. Instead, this can even damage balsamic vinegar.
It’s because thawing balsamic vinegar after freezing will dilute its acidity and flavor. Not to mention, the aroma from different foods in the freezer can alter balsamic vinegar’s delicate taste.

Can I Keep Using My Expired Balsamic Vinegar?

If stored properly, balsamic vinegar can be considered an everlasting product, especially the traditional type. With the same process as making wine, this vinegar kind will only gain more layers of flavor years after years.
Although it doesn’t last as long as the traditional, you can still consume modern balsamic vinegar after the expiration date, or should I say the “Best-by” date. However, commercial balsamic vinegar’s main problem is its quality decreases over time after this date.
So it’s better to use it all in three or five years after the “Best-by” date.

How Long Does Salad Dressing Based on Balsamic Vinegar Last?

If you buy a balsamic vinaigrette dressing, you’d better use it before the “Best-by” date on the label. Numerous vinegar-based sauces in the store contain various ingredients which aren’t long-lasting. Most of the time, these store-bought dressings can last for a year in the fridge.
At the same time, homemade salad dressings depend mainly on the ingredients you choose. If your balsamic vinaigrette dressing contains nothing but vinegar, oil, and some extra condiments, you can refrigerate it for up to 6 months.
However, vegetables, fresh garlic, or other dairy products like sour cream, buttermilk, yogurt, etc can largely cut down vinegar-based dressing’s shelf life. Dressings with those ingredients can only last for a few days.

What Are the Differences Between Balsamic Vinegar and Red Wine Vinegar?

Some may mistake balsamic vinegar with red wine vinegar because of their quite similar appearance. However, there are some significant differences between those two.
The first one lies in their ingredients. While balsamic vinegar is made of grape must, red wine vinegar contains red wine, just like its name.
Because of this, the latter has a much shorter aging process than the former. Red wine vinegar commonly needs only two years to be completely fermented, whereas traditional balsamic vinegar might take even 25 years.
Different ingredients also lead to different flavors. Red wine vinegar’s flavor is sharper with more acidity. At the same time, balsamic vinegar is sweeter with a hint of fruitiness.
Also, with a thin and watery texture, red wine vinegar is typically used to make sauces. In contrast, people often find balsamic vinegar as a condiment to marinate meat.

Does Consuming Too Much Balsamic Vinegar Affect Me Negatively?

While balsamic vinegar provides many health benefits, consuming it too much does cause some unwanted results, for example, stomachache, throat inflammation, esophagus damage. You should only intake about 2-3 spoons of balsamic vinegar every day.

Can I Drink Balsamic Vinegar With Water?

Yes, you can. Actually, diluted balsamic vinegar is considered a way to detox your body. Drinking 10ml of balsamic vinegar with warm water every morning can reduce bloating, digestive troubles, and headaches, although it might taste weird to some people.

Additional Information

Since balsamic vinegar is a high-quality product, it’s expected to have some imitates on the market, especially the traditional type. Therefore, I will show you some indicators on how to pick the right one.

First, look at the label. Traditional balsamic vinegar is produced only at Modena and Reggio Emilia, earning a specialized design of DOP (Protected Designation of Origin) from European Union, confirming its quality, production, and origin. ⁽³⁾

Moreover, traditional balsamic vinegar bottles are often wax-sealed. And Modena 100ml bottles look like a bulb, whereas Reggio Emilia ones have an upside-down tulip shape.

If you have any further knowledge regarding balsamic vinegar and how to store it, please share it with other readers via comment. And don’t forget to share this article with those needing some advice!

References

myfooddata. 2021. Nutrition Facts for Balsamic Vinegar. [online] Available at: <https://tools.myfooddata.com/nutrition-facts/2069/wt1/1>
Enzymedica. 2021. What is the “Mother” in Apple Cider Vinegar?. [online] Available at: <https://enzymedica.com/blogs/ingredient-science/what-is-the-mother-in-apple-cider-vinegar>
European Commission – European Commission. 2021. Quality schemes explained. [online] Available at: <https://ec.europa.eu/info/food-farming-fisheries/food-safety-and-quality/certification/quality-labels/quality-schemes-explained_en>