What Can I Do If Chicken Tastes Like Fish?
The chicken is a common diet in many households. It’s versatile, simple to prepare, and can serve it both for lunch and dinner. But sometimes, it can really perplex you when you find out that chicken tastes like fish. Well, what should you do now? Read on if you want to know the actual reason for it.
There are occasions that the chicken will develop strange taste. When you prepare chicken, and it comes with a distinct flavor, you might wonder what makes my chicken taste that way?
The primary reason is that farmers feed the chicken with a fish-based diet known as fish meal. Other reasons include poor food quality, contamination of the chicken, inadequate storage, the process of frying as well as the way of serving. The chicken could have become rotten.
This article will help you to understand why your chicken tastes like fish, and also how you can solve it.
Why Does Chicken Taste Like Fish?
If your chicken is exhibiting an odor and taste of fish it could be spoilt. The meat that is old has a sour taste and smell. Begin by checking the expiry date on your chicken.
If you’ve not frozen the chicken before the expiry date has expired the chicken is likely to be rotten and unfit for consumption. The consumption of spoiled chicken may cause serious food poisoning.
When the date of expiration hasn’t expired, make sure that your chicken appears slimy, or has grayish shades. If the chicken exhibits these traits, then it’s time to get rid of it. Place your chicken inside the refrigerator to stop it from degrading and forming a fishy flavor and smell. It is not recommended to freeze chicken more than once. After you’ve defrosted it the chicken, you will not able be able to refreeze it.
Frying Processes That Cause Fishy Taste in Chicken
The process of frying your bird in unwashed and frying it in oil that has been used is one of the major reasons for the fishy smell that you get from the chicken. The process of frying can produce chemical compounds that taste similar to fish.
The oxidation of lipids and proteins can cause an “fishy” taste or smell.
Oxidation of some acidic fatty acids results in volatile compounds that emit a strong stink that is reminiscent of fish. It is possible to avoid this by deep-frying, rather than stirring-frying your chicken. If you fry your chicken at a low temperature certain fatty acids will create unpleasant substances. These chemicals cause the chicken to emit a fresh fishy odor.
Chicken Tastes Like Fish-Primary Reasons
Storage Mistakes
You might not be refrigerating your chicken properly. Improper storage practices can result in the chicken having the taste of fish.
It is best to keep it in a Clingfilm or in an airtight container. When you are storing chicken be sure that it’s not in contact with any other meat. It’s not advisable to mix the bacteria from different meats. Therefore, you should ensure that you use clean containers whenever you need to keep chicken in storage. It is also recommended that you keep fresh-bought chicken separate from the chickens that you bought only a few days back.
Contamination
The use of unclean cookware and utensils can make the chicken smell strange when it is cooked. Always utilize a clean knife, frying pan, and the chopping boards when cooking.
If you’ve used that same blade or board to cut another piece of meat, you must clean it prior to making use of it for chicken. This can prevent contamination to the chicken.
Every kind of meat contains specific bacteria. It is best not to mix the bacteria from different types of meats. Therefore, make sure to make sure to use clean cookware and the right tools every time you wish to cook meat. If you use a knife that is dirty, it could cause your chicken to taste strange after cooking.
Poor Quality Chicken
A majority of the time the store-bought or frozen chickens have different scents. They also have a sour smell after being cooked. They have a foul smell and taste; however they’re safe for consumption.
Fishmeal
Some farmers utilize fishmeal in the feed for chickens. The trend began of feeding chickens with fish-based feed during the 60s. This was done to add nutrients to their meat. Today, many farmers do not use this method anymore.
Serving Method
The method you serve cooked chicken is equally important. Be sure that you prepare and serve chicken dishes prior to any other meat-based dishes.
How to tell if chicken is spoiled or bad?
Fresh chickens have a pinkish-peach hue. If the chicken you are eating is becoming gray, it is best to throw it away.
If chicken that is raw smells like ammonia or sour, throw it out.
Sometimes, a smelly aroma is noticed in the cooking process. It means that the meat has become bad and should be thrown out.
How To Get Rid Of The Fishy Smell In Chicken?
Here are some tips that you can try to eliminate the sour smell that chickens emit.
Use Vinegar
The vinegar is a natural way to rid of a fishy smell.
If your chicken smells like fish, you can use one of the methods mentioned above to get rid of the unpleasant smells and taste. Put your chicken in a bowl of water and add 2 to 3 teaspoons vinegar. Stir the water to ensure that vinegar can get to all areas that make up the bird.
Allow the chicken to rest in this water for fifteen up to 20 mins. After that, take the chicken and clean thoroughly under running water.
Use Flour
The mixture of flour and salt can help to neutralize the odor of fish within your chicken. First, you need to clean and dry the bird thoroughly. Then add 2 tablespoons of flour as well as one tablespoon of salt over the chicken. Rub the mixture evenly over the chicken. After 5-10 minutes, clean the chicken once more.
Then, add 1 tablespoon of salt, half cup lemon juice, and 1/4 cup white vinegar into an empty bowl. Let the chicken soak in this mixture for between 15 and 20 minutes before washing using clean water.
It could take some time, though. However, washing your chicken this way removes the smell of fish and a bad taste.
Use Tomatoes
The tomato may not be able to rid of that fishy smell. They are however incredibly effective to cover it. Make use of a tomato mix to disguise the unpleasant odors from the chicken meat. This method is economical and efficient.
It is necessary to have two mushy or mashed tomatoes, a teaspoon of salt and 1 1/2 tablespoons of juice from a lemon. Mix all the ingredients together then rub your chicken in this mix. This will eliminate the smell of fish. Be sure to wash the chicken prior to cooking.
Use Fresh Oil
Sometimes, grilling the chicken’s meat may eliminate the fishy smell. Try using fresh oil each time you cook chicken.
Clean Your Refrigerator
Some chickens pick up smells from the other food items in your fridge. This is why you may notice an unpleasant taste when you cooked chicken. Clean your refrigerator thoroughly cleansing to eliminate the smell of chicken.
Here’s how you can help:
Mix baking soda with water and use the mixture to wash the refrigerator. Clean all surfaces, including shelves as well as walls, under drawers and racks.
Is it safe to safe to eat chicken if it has a slight smell?
It might or may not be secure. Sometimes the vacuum packaging used in chicken from the supermarket causes it to smell bad. Even after cooking it, the smell remains there.
But, chicken that is vacuum packed isn’t harmful to health. Factories employ certain gases to pack the chicken, which cause it to smell and taste like eggs or fish.
If you’ve purchased vacuum-packed chicken, the smell isn’t going to do anything to harm you. You can cook it and eat it if you like. However, it’s recommended to always purchase fresh chicken.
Fresh chickens can also possess an unsettling smell as a result of the blood that has dried out.
All you need to do is wash your chicken with running water. If you’re not in a rush, you can soak the meat in vinegar for some time.
Does Cooking Chicken Kill Bacteria?
Cooking is a great way to kill germs from any kind of meat. You can rid your body of harmful bacteria by slow-cooking chicken at a medium-low temperature.
But, it’s impossible to tell whether your chicken is cooked simply by taking a look at it.So it is better to make use of a thermometer for cooking.
If you store cooked chicken at the room temperature for an extended time, it will cause food-borne bacteria to multiply within it.
Foodborne bacteria are bad for your health. They can produce toxins in cooked chicken if it’s left outside the fridge for more than 2 hours. Heating and heating properly is an excellent method to kill the bacteria.
When bacteria develop on the meat, the mold can be seen on the exterior. While boiling chicken kills bacteria but the presence of the mold suggests that you must avoid these meats at all cost.
FAQs
Can raw chicken keep for one week in the refrigerator?
Raw chicken will last for one or two days within the refrigerator. However, chicken that has been cooked will last up to up to three days.
Does the cooking of chicken at 165°F eliminate all bacteria?
Yes, when you cook chicken at 165°F most bacteria will die immediately inside the flesh. When cooking chicken at 155°F, it takes about one minute to kill all bacteria.
Do you have to wash your chicken?
It is important to wash the raw chicken, as it cleans off pathogens, making the chicken safe to consume. It also cleans away the blood that is rotten and could contain bacteria.
Could chicken be a bit pink?
Yes, a well-cooked chicken might turn pink. If you’re using a cook thermometer to cook your chicken at 165°F the pink hue is not a problem.
Are the chicken’s chewy pieces undercooked?
In the event of overcooked or undercooked and both chickens are chewy. Chicken that has been undercooked is dense and jiggly, with a shiny and rubbery look. The meat that has been cooked for too long has a hard and unappealing appearance.
Wrapping up
Chicken Tastes Like Fish
There is a variety of reasons that your chicken might taste similar to fish. Most likely reasons are contamination, poor storage as well as the cooking procedure.
Now that you are familiar about what makes chicken taste fishy, try not to commit those errors again.
If your chicken smells like fish, you can use one of the methods mentioned above to get rid of the unpleasant smell.
