Does this happen to you?

This past weekend one of our very own Peas of Minders here in the office made the deliciously refreshing Watermelon Salad that was posted as our last month's reci-pea. She noticed that after being stored in the fridge, the dressing ended up getting clumpy and cloudy. She took a photo of it and we all had our theories; is it the temp of the fridge or did the oil spoil? The less than appetizing dressing ended up (tragically) down the drain and the watermelon salad was left as, well just, watermelon.

Why does salad dressing get cloudy and weird when you store them in the fridge? Well, it's because of the oil in the dressing; oils will thicken up and get cloudy in cooler temperatures. When you take the dressing out of the fridge and let it get back to room temperature the cloudiness goes away and happiness is restored. As a general rule of thumb,  home made dressings tend to last roughly 7-10 days in air tight containers in the fridge. However, the use of preservatives in store bought salad dressings allow the product to last longer so be sure to refer to the manufacturer's expiration date printed on the bottle or label if there is a question of whether or not the product has spoiled.