Getting rid of fish smell after cooking...

[Rabbit]

Apologies in advance if this is on the wrong board.

I'm trying to be all health conscious, which (for me) means eating more fish. But I'm really grossed out by the lingering smell after I've cooked the stuff. I live in a relatively small condo, and even coming home the-day-after, the apartment continues to smell like cooked fish. I don't like it. How can I get rid of this very persistent smell (open windows and stove fan aren't enough)??

Thanks -
Rab-bit!

[Eddie3]

I'm not sure how you can get rid of the smell, but I do know that you can soak the fish in milk for a few hours and it should take the smell away from it when you cook it. I don't know if that's dependent on the type of fish or any other conditions though, but it's worth a try.

Eddie

[Das Ubergeek]

Make some coffee after you wash the dishes, the cutting boards and the counters (and anything else the fish has touched). Grind from whole beans for best effect.

[Mother Hubbard]

Very easy. Put out a small bowl of white vinegar on drainboard when you leave the kitchen. Et voila next day smells gone.

[ivanova]

I second this suggestion. I find it works for many kitchen odors, though it takes a little time to work.

[kobetobiko]

I actually learnt this method from another post in Chowhound, and it works great!

[AngelSanctuary]

....how do you get rid of the vinegar smell?

[kobetobiko]

I put the vinegar in a small jar that has a cap on the kitchen counter. After I cook the fish, I open the jar and somehow the vinager is able to magically "get rid of the fish smell". Once I only smell vinegar I will just close the cap. Then the vinager smell disappears in a few minutes.

[ricepad]

I light a vanilla-scented candle or two for the rest of the evening.

[LindaWhit]

Many candle places have "Kitchen Candles" that seem to take the smell out of the air. I always have a Bath & Body Works Vanilla candle burning after cooking fish. It doesn't overpower eating the fish, and is a gentle enough scent to not be overpowering in and of itself.

[ricepad]

Yeah, what she said!

[ccbweb]

Baking chocolate chip cookies always works for me. (Even the Toll House premade stuff from the fridge case at the store.)

[nkeane]

LMAO, so much for the eating healthy aspect of the OP!:-)

[ashes]

If you're not opposed to an aerosol "deodorizer" try Oust; smells leave pronto. I also use candles but something acidic, like lemon, that overpowers and doesn't simply mellow. Coffee soaps can also cut smells when used to wash up the kitchen (my bar gets rid of "garlic fingers" in a snap).

[hotoynoodle]

rather than trying to overpower the smell, make sure your fish is super fresh. try poaching, roasting or cooking en papillote. cook for as short a time as possible. do not deep fry, because that adds another smell.

[Bite Me]

great question! I hate fish and I hate the smell of fish. I try to eat it every now and then to be healthy. My husband likes it a lot. When we owned a home we would grill fish regularly on the outdoor bbq so the smell was never in the house. grilled on the bbq i could almost enjoy it. now, we live in a condo. we don't bbq here. i've tried cooking it twice in two years in the condo and the smell has just made me crazey. we have a very strong stove fan but, no, that smell would not go away. the kitties and boxer dog were very happy.....

[djohnson22]

Generally, if you cook fish on the stovetop with any kind of oil - either cooking oil (olive/vegetable/canola/peanut etc.), or the fish's natural oil (fatty fish like salmon or trout etc.) will cause fishy cooking odors to linger since the odor gets trapped in the oil droplets that spatter from the pan when you cook over fairly high heat.

This is not so much getting rid of the smell more a ways you can bypass it suggestion. If you cook it on the stovetop with oil (deep fry, pan fry, saute, sear, etc.) try a spatter guard over top of your pan (essentially a large, flat, fine mesh strainer). Won't entirely do away with the smell issue but should cut it down a bit.

Or avoid high heat stove top preparations. roast or broil in the oven, or poach on the stove top.

[fauchon]

Burn a lampe berger....originally invented to remove odors in hospitals, these burners will effectively rid your kitchen of cooking odors. I wouldn't be without one...

http://www.google.com/search?client=s...

You will also find many lampe berger listings on ebay...

[flowerbrackob]

Gee thnx for "ebay" tip. Here in the aptmnts. we are not allowed to burn candles.
Will this little kid create black smoke like most candles do?
I've seen the Glade plug ins but never tried them, thinking "nnaaaaaaah"
Regards, Jaemy

[smartie]

I fried fish Monday night and could barely sleep for the smell in the bedroom. The smell still lingered today and I decided to wipe around the kitchen with a few drops of lavender oil on a cloth. Made a huge difference.

[ddelicious]

You need the "gets rid of every smell magic oven trick"
1. Get a baking sheet, line it with tin foil so no clean up.
2. Put some sugar, cinammon and a little pat of butter all in a little pile.
3. Stick in the oven on 250 for 1 hour.
Gets rid of any kitchen smells and makes the whole house smell as if you had time to bake something!

[hotoynoodle]

that doesn't "get rid of the smell". it just covers it up. like one of those christmas tree hangers in a taxi.

[ddelicious]

No true. It gets rid of it. When the baking smell goes away the stinky smell is completely gone too. Works for all frying and smelly cooking odours.

[taos]

How do you define covered up? If you can't smell it, it's gone.

[KTinNYC]

This is ridiculous. You are just covering up the smell not eliminating the smell. If you didn't shower but just covered yourself in perfume would you consider yourself clean?

The best way to eliminate the smell is by preventing it in the first place by using any or all of the following; vent fans, a splatter screen, air cleaner. When frying, even with a little oil, the oil basically becomes aerosolized and travels a tremendous distance. This oil is the smell that lingers. The vent fan, splatter screen and air purifier traps or captures the oil particles and keeps the odors down.

Burning candles, making cookies,etc. just covers the odors.

[hotoynoodle]

not to mention only cooking very fresh fish. if it smells fishy before it hits the pan, you're already doomed.

[taos]

Cleanliness involves more than just not smelling bad. But if it did, and you took a shower and came out smelling good, than you'd be clean.

If a smell cannot no longer be detected, by definition, it's not there. It doesn't mean the fish isn't there, or whatever caused the smell is not there. All we're talking about is a smell - which is a perception sensed by the human nose.

The issue with perfume air cleaners is that they ADD another smell on top of the existing smell so there are two smells, the perfume and the less detectable smell the perfume was put to distract from. I don't think we're talking about that in this case.

[KTinNYC]

If baking sugar, cinnamon, and butter in a oven isn't the definition off adding another smell on top of the existing smell than what would you call it?

[taos]

My point was that a smell, by definition is an aroma detected by the human nose. If you can no longer smell the fish, the smell no longer exists. It doesn't mean the fish is gone or that its smell may be reactivated, but that's another story.

[ddelicious]

I'm not sure why you're so opposed to this but I can assure you that the nice baking smell causes you to not smell the fishy smell. AND THEN..... once the baking smell has gone away there is no more fishy smelly either. Try it, you'll see.

[dexters]

Nothing works for me, other than only cooking fish in the oven. Our kitchen is in the basement, so the smell wafts up throughout the rest of the house and it is disgusting.

[cassoulady]

Maybe I am wrong, but if fish is very fresh, it should have no odor at all, just a salty fresh smell- am I wrong? I cook fish all the time ( 2-3x a week) but it is fish I buy that day and cook the same day.

[Das Ubergeek]

Oily fish like salmon and shark smell much fishier when cooked even if they go straight from habitat to Le Creuset. Whitefish don't have as much of the issue, unless you have a "long time no sea" issue in which case buy your fish elsewhere. :)

[RGC1982]

Run your exhaut fan on high for the duration of cooking on your stovetop, and for at least an hour after it. If you can remove the exhaust filter, remove it and wash it. Be sure to wipe down your stove and your exhaust with something that removes grease and smells nice. I like Chlorox wipes for this. Finally, spray some Febreeze into your exhaust fan. It helps a lot.

For the oven, a vinegar and water spray on the door and sides will work wonders, once the over is cool.

[CookingPro5]

hey there!

i was at my local publix this week and found this new product. i figured i'd give it a try and it worked! THE SMELL IS GONE!!!

not only did it get the fish smell off of my kitchen counders and hands but also out of my clothes when i actually go fishing!!! this stuff is great!!!

www.fishhandsoap.com

[mh330]

The thing about fish smells is that its not always possible to prevent. For example, i just found this post because i steamed a lobster yesterday and am making a stock with the shells. I'm not frying, so there's no aeorsolized oil particles, just good old penetrating steam that is infiltrating the apartment. And i know its fresh fish, because it was a frisky live lobster.

In any case, i'm using the exhaust fan, have the windows open, and am going to try the vinegar trick, or boiling small amount of vinegar or lemon juice water to get THAT smell vaporized into the air, hopefully counteracting the fish smell.