Fresh meat does not always have a pleasant smell. Odor appears for a number of reasons: improper slaughter, storage, etc. How to get rid of the smell from meat? Firstly, a rotten product should be thrown away immediately if you don’t want to get poisoned. After the procedures we suggested, slightly spoiled fillets or ribs will turn out to be quite a flavorful dish. The article also contains tips on eliminating the specific smell of lamb, pork boar, and goat meat.
Smelly product - get rid of it or leave it?
A repulsive unpleasant odor can be due to various reasons. Most often this happens as a result of:
- storage at high air temperatures;
- being near spoiled food;
- storage in cellophane, with a lack of air access;
- improper feeding or pinning of the animal.
If the smell of a product is in doubt, the product should be inspected, paying attention not only to the aroma, but also to the appearance.
The following points should be of concern:
- unnatural color of the product, not typical for a particular type of meat;
- presence of parasites;
- persistent smell of rot and decay;
- uncharacteristic consistency.
If these signs are present, it is better not to use rotten meat for food, but simply throw it away.
But when the smell is not very pleasant, and the product looks normal in appearance, after additional processing it can be used for food. It should be borne in mind that some types of meat, such as lamb, initially have a specific odor, and this does not indicate spoilage of the product.
Get rid of the rotten meat smell in the refrigerator
Why does meat go rotten even when it is in the refrigerator? This occurs due to improper storage. The fact is that the plastic bag in which we usually place the carcass provokes the appearance of a strange aroma even before the product goes rotten. To get rid of the rotten smell of meat that has been stored in the refrigerator, there is a proven method.
Prepare:
- vinegar,
- soda,
- tea bags.
What to do:
- Defrost the refrigerator.
- Wash with detergent.
- Apply baking soda to a piece of cloth and wipe the areas where the rotten meat was.
- If the smell persists, clean the refrigerator with a vinegar solution.
- Ventilate the room and refrigerator.
- Place tea bags inside (they absorb odors) and turn on.
How to eliminate unpleasant odors at home?
Meat that begins to emit an unpleasant odor should be processed immediately. If there are clearly damaged areas, it is better to cut them off and remove excess fat.
There are two main ways to remove flavor from meat:
- Soak.
- Pickling.
How to remove odor by soaking?
Soaking involves placing the meat in a solution for at least an hour. For this they traditionally use:
- wine;
- a low concentration aqueous solution of vinegar (per liter of water - 1 tbsp.);
- saline solution (per liter of water - 2 tbsp.);
- lemon or pomegranate juice.
The product that requires processing is completely immersed in the solution and left for an hour to several hours. This should be followed by a rinse to remove excess soaking solution.
Pickling
You can marinate meat according to several recipes. For these purposes, spices, salt and other ingredients are used. The simplest option is to rub the pulp with a mixture of salt and sugar. The meat remains in this form for 40-60 minutes, after which it is washed in water. If the smell still does not go away, proceed to preparing the marinade.
Most popular recipes:
- Coat the pulp with mustard and keep in a cool place for 1-2 hours.
- Rub the piece with spices (nutmeg, basil, black pepper, thyme, rosemary, etc.).
- Rub the meat with chopped garlic and chopped onion.
- Aging in soy sauce with added spices.
Using marinating not only eliminates odor, but also makes the product softer and juicier.
Details
Examples that cannot be resuscitated
You should not save meat if, when cutting it with a knife, you can see places of deterioration, parasites, and an unpleasant odor emanates from the knife. The smell of rot will be felt immediately after the meat is placed in a pan of boiling water. Cloudy broth is an indicator of a stale product. To give stale meat the color of fresh, a dye can be added to it, the presence of which is determined using a snow-white napkin. When chicken meat smells bad, you need to find out the carcass’ suitability for resuscitation by removing the skin. If the putrid odor persists, the meat should be discarded. It is dangerous to health.
After checking the meat for readiness for saving, you can get down to business. The recipes are simple and uncomplicated. But you should pay attention to the types of meat.
Ways to eliminate meat odor
It's very easy to spoil meat. It’s enough to forget to put it in the refrigerator or forget that you took it out of the freezer to defrost. You can save meat. It is enough to know how to process meat with flavor by soaking.
Attention! A large piece should be cut into smaller pieces.
There is always potassium permanganate in the house. It will help get rid of odor in 40 minutes. The solution should be slightly pinkish.
Tasteful meat can be saved with vinegar. Dilute a tablespoon of 9% vinegar in cold water and immerse a piece of meat in the resulting solution for about an hour. After soaking, rinse the product thoroughly with running water. The same result is obtained if you pour dry wine for the same time or lemon juice. Be sure to rinse!
If you don’t have the listed ingredients for soaking at home, salt will help. Dilute three tablespoons in a liter of water and leave for an hour. Don't forget to rinse.
When time is limited, you can remove the smell from the meat without soaking it. To do this, you need to rinse it very well in water several times and add seasonings, onions in large quantities, a lot of garlic, to get spicy but very tasty meat.
Recipes that fall into the category of non-standard or individual will help the meat to be even more delicious when soaked.
Charcoal and salt are diluted in water. Within 3-4 hours the smell will disappear, and the meat will smell like a forest.
A tablespoon of dry chamomile and a liter of water will also give you a special forest smell. Only the broth needs to be cooled. Its “working” time is also within 3-4 hours.
Pomegranate juice always makes good friends with meat, giving it a special taste and eliminating toughness. It will also help get rid of foreign odors.
The second most popular method is pickling. The unpleasant smell will also disappear, and the meat will be tender and very tasty. The main rescuers here will be mustard and aromatic herbs. Herbs can be used either alone or mixed. The most commonly used are thyme, basil, coriander, rosemary, and cardamom. Nutmeg will also add its own flavor to herbal aromas. Onions and garlic are mandatory representatives of traditional marinades, so there should be a lot of them.
Thoroughly coat the meat pulp on all sides with mustard and leave in the refrigerator for two hours. During this time, the meat will become piquant and, after rinsing with water, will be ready for cooking.
Spices and herbs will marinate a piece of meat within an hour. They alone, without the presence of any other ingredients, will remove the smell from the meat and give it a wonderful aroma.
For two hours, the meat is marinated with onions, garlic and spices.
And if you pour soy sauce over the meat and let it stand for 1-2 hours, you will get a perfectly marinated product. Soy sauce can be replaced with wine.
There is no need to rush to throw away stinky meat to your dog. He can be helped.
How to preserve meat
- the preservation of meat from spoilage and foreign odors will be ensured by parchment paper, in which it must be wrapped for storage;
- The shelf life of a piece of pulp can be extended if it is placed separately from other products;
- before freezing meat pulp for a long time, it is blotted with a dry cloth and packed in a bag, tightly tied, preventing air from entering;
- Meat is not washed before freezing
These rules will help preserve the product from spoilage for a long time.
How to remove during cooking?
To minimize the unpleasant odor that may appear during cooking, the meat must be pre-soaked. Vegetables baked in a dry frying pan will help solve the problem. They, like spices, can be added to the broth after boiling.
Bay leaf flavors the broth well . But you don’t need a lot of it - just one is enough for a three-liter pan.
You should also collect the foam that appears in a timely manner. If the smell is strong, drain the first broth after boiling, add fresh water and continue cooking.
Not very fresh, long-sitting, suffocated meat: what to cook?
Not quite fresh meat that can still be used for food must be pre-prepared. To do this, it is soaked or pickled.
From recipes, it is preferable to choose those that are prepared with a large number of spices . It can be Caucasian, Indian, Chinese or other cuisine.
A prerequisite for preparing a not very fresh product is high-quality heat treatment.
Features of removing amber for various types of meat
Different types of meat have their own characteristics in cooking and preparing the product for processing. For some species, a slight odor is natural and does not indicate spoilage.
Duck
Duck initially has a specific smell . To deal with it, soaking is used. You can use regular cold water. After this, the duck is wiped dry and rubbed with herbs. It is better to cook duck with spices that will overpower the aroma and make the dish delicious.
Beef
Beef lends itself well to marinating and soaking. You can start by soaking not too large pieces in a solution of vinegar and salt. After this, the meat is washed and, depending on the severity of the smell, marinated.
Chicken
In chicken, the main source of unpleasant odor can be fat . It is the first to start to deteriorate and smell bad. To solve the flavor issue, the fat is trimmed and the meat is marinated or soaked according to any recipe. Read more here.
Pork
Fresh pork does not have an unpleasant odor.
If there were no problems with storage, but the smell was unpleasant, most likely the meat of an uncastrated boar was put on sale . Such a product will have not just an unpleasant, but a stinking aroma that will persist even after cooking.
Deep freezing for several hours can partially eliminate it. If the smell remains, you can try soaking. Before this procedure, a large piece should be divided into thin slices, and fat should be cut off as much as possible.
For pork, a good option is to soak it in milk for 12 hours, changing the liquid every couple of hours. Additionally, you can use garlic.
Another option is to soak the meat in a salt solution with the addition of vinegar. For this processing you will need:
- 2 l. water;
- 4 tbsp. l. salt;
- 5 tbsp. l. vinegar.
The meat is soaked in the prepared solution for 6-10 hours. After this, a new one is prepared and soaking continues for another day.
To avoid buying boar meat out of ignorance, you can set fire to a piece of lard from a piece. If the smell turns out to be sharp and repulsive, it is better to refuse the purchase, since this is a boar.
This article will tell you how to remove the smell if the pork smells.
Mutton
Before cooking, excess fat is removed from the lamb, the flesh is rubbed with spices and placed in the refrigerator for several hours. Pickling can also be used. This article will tell you more.
Rabbit meat
Rabbit meat has a specific smell that is easily removed.
If the product is not spoiled, then simply soak the carcass in cold water overnight . After this, it is marinated to make it softer and more tender.
Lemon juice, wine, and kefir can be used as marinades. In addition, spices are added to the marinade.
The duration of marinating depends on the age of the rabbit. For a young person, 3 hours is enough, for an old person, up to 8 hours.
Goat meat
Goat meat is the most difficult meat to remove odors . Soaking in a vinegar solution for several hours and cooking with plenty of spices, including garlic, will help. Meat from an uncastrated goat cannot be processed and will have to be thrown away.
Game
The meat of elk, roe deer, beaver and other wild animals may have a specific smell, since the animal lives in its natural environment. The older the animal, the more pronounced the smell may be.
After cutting, individual pieces that will be eaten are soaked in salted water with the addition of vinegar, and rinsed in running water. It is better to cook game on the grill so that the smell of smoke permeates the meat.
Fish
Fish is a perishable product that should not be stored for a long time . If the location rules are violated, it will quickly become smelly. This is due to the structural features of the inhabitants of reservoirs.
The proteins found in fish are not stable and quickly begin to decompose, much faster than the proteins in meat. Fatty acids, which are part of fish products, also contribute to oxidative processes.
Stale fish is determined by the following signs:
- mucus and stickiness;
- strong repulsive aroma;
- the appearance of uncharacteristic spots;
- dull yellowed eyes;
- dark gills.
If these factors are present, such a product should not be consumed in food. For fresh fish that is not spoiled, but has a characteristic smell of a pond, recipes with marinating and adding spices can be used. Read more here.
Milk marinade for bad aroma
Milk has the ability to absorb all bad and toxic substances, so the method of marinating in milk has been popular for many years. Before using this method, the meat must be soaked according to the scheme indicated above. Only in this case, vinegar should not be used when soaking, because it is incompatible with dairy products, and the milk may simply curdle.
After soaking, the meat is poured with milk so that the product is completely covered with liquid. Add one head of garlic to the mixture. It must first be cut into small slices. Marinated meat should be refrigerated for 24 hours.
This marinade does not add any special taste to the dish. After cooking the product is neutral. Any chosen method will allow you not only to overcome the aroma of boar, but also to prepare a delicious dish. Such marinades are often used when preparing barbecue.
Recommendations
Advice from experts will help in resolving the issue:
- It is easier to determine freshness by chilled meat than by frozen meat.
- When purchasing, you can determine the freshness of meat by pressing on the flesh. If the fibers straighten quickly, the product is fresh.
- The color of the meat should match its type. Too dark or unevenly colored may indicate that the product is stale.
- You can only store a meat product in the refrigerator in cellophane for a short time, since without access to oxygen it will dry out.
- Before freezing meat, remove as much air as possible from the bag.
- If all conditions are met, the product cannot be stored in the refrigerator for more than 2 days.
- Soaking and marinating should not last less than 1-2 hours.
- After soaking, the meat must be rinsed before cooking.
It is not advisable to purchase meat of which you are not sure of its quality.
The problem is storage in cellophane
Polyethylene bags contain recycled cellulose, which gives products a strong “chemical” smell.
It is not recommended to store lamb, beef and pork in cellophane because the product begins to become damp and moldy. Before you put the meat in a plastic bag, you need to wrap it in thin paper.
Beef in cellophane is saturated with the odors of other food products in the refrigerator.
To eliminate extraneous aromas, you should use these tips for soaking meat:
- Soak any meat in a mixture made from salt and birch charcoal for 3-4 hours. After this procedure, the unpleasant “smell” will disappear.
- Rub the beef with spicy spices (basil, oregano, cardamom) and leave for 60 minutes.
- Soak chicken in lemon juice or chamomile decoction (add 1 tbsp dried flowers to 1 liter of water).
