Raw Chicken Smells Like Eggs—What To Do?

Raw Chicken Smells Like Eggs

Raw Chicken Smells Like Eggs

Have you ever bought chicken meat from the store which looks brand new but when you opened the box, you get the strange eggy smell? And you scream in disgust–Oh, my God, the raw chicken smells like eggs?  You’re not the only one! Many people have started looking around to find answers but have found dubious or misleading information about. Needless to say, it has confounded them all the more.

So, what should you do when chicken smells like eggs? What exactly does this mean? Can it be considered safe to consume? What are the best ways to tell whether the meat is safe to eat? In this post I will attempt to discover an accurate answer and also provide a solution to solve this issue.

Chicken is a difficult meat that may or might not smell like eggs and could or might not be edible despite the distinctive smell.

Then, why does the chicken smell sometimes like eggs? It could be due to the blood of the chicken becoming spoilt, or the oxidation of the container it was packaged in, or it is contaminated with salmonella poisoning.

But the fact that it has a faint eggy-smell does not mean that it’s not edible.

Continue reading to learn why chicken that has been cooked or cooked smells like eggs, and when chicken is safe to consume or when it’s best removed, the best way to keep it safe and where to purchase it.

Why my raw chicken smells like eggs?

When you open a bag of frozen, fresh or vacuumed sealed chicken, you might smell an eggy scent in the meat.

It is vital to understand that we’re talking about the smell of boiled eggs and not rotten egg smell. You are advised to get rid of your chicken immediately in the event that it smells decayed or is rancid.

If you’re confused over the difference between the two, the smell of chicken that resembles boiling eggs won’t cause you to fall off your feet and chicken that smells of rotten eggs will smell rancid and could make you feel sick. Be sure to trust your instincts!

Here are some reasons why raw chickens can be smelling like eggs, and the reason it could be delicious even with the smell.

Spoiled Blood

Sometimes, chicken that was opened prior to or after the expiration date remains sour. This could be because the blood is rotting more quickly within the chicken than its meat.

Because blood in the chicken may spoil more quickly as the flesh, this can produce the smell of boiling eggs.

But, this doesn’t necessarily mean the chicken is not good. It is possible to wash the chicken using water and allow it to sit for a while to remove eggs.

If the chicken is no longer suffused with the scent of eggs, it’s suitable to prepare and consume. Be sure to cook it to an internal temperature of 165 degrees F.

Salmonella Enterica

Another reason for the smell of eggs in chicken that is raw is a bacterium called Salmonella Enterica.

Salmonella is the main bacteria responsible for the large proportion of food poisonings and is like E. coli. Salmonella could cause enterocolitis caused by bacteria and affects both egg and chicken products.

Salmonella is the particular bacteria responsible for causing the smell of eggs or sulfur in chicken that is raw.

It is, however, an unavoidable bacteria which can be eliminated by cooking the meat correctly.

To ensure that the salmonella has been eliminated out of your chicken be sure that you cook the chicken at the right internal temperature of 165 degree F.

Vacuum-sealed, fried chicken

Another reason why the smell of raw chicken could be similar to eggs is because of the packaging.

Unless you purchase your chicken off the shelf in a supermarket or from a butcher shop, you’ll find your chicken in vacuum-sealed packages. This is true for frozen as well as fresh chicken.

A lot of grocery stores will inform you of the eggy odor of chicken in the packaging. However, they don’t explain what causes the smell.

This eggy smell, sometimes called a confinement smell, is due to gases used in the process of packing the meat.

The process of packing chicken requires the elimination of oxygen, and the addition of a different gas used for preservation, such as sulfur dioxide.

The addition and elimination of these gases is what create the eggy smell that is present in chickens vacuum-sealed.

However, this might not be cause for concern.

The smell of the boiled egg must be eliminated from the chicken once it is placed at the table for couple of minutes, and then cooked to an internal temperature of 165 degree F.

Cooked Chicken smells like eggs

After you cook the chicken, it could still be a bit of an eggy smell. You can try covering the chicken with sauces and spices but the smell could be present.

The reason for the eggy smell of cooked chicken is similar to that of raw chicken.

It could be due to the blood deteriorating before the meat is cooked, or it could be due to salmonella, or it could be due to loss of oxygen as well as the presence of a gas called a preservative that has remained in the meat during its cooking.

The smell alone can’t determine if the chicken is edible. So, a cooked chicken that has an eggy odor may be edible.

It is essential to make your own judgment when cooking chicken and you might have to use other indicators to determine if the chicken is edible or not.

Is chicken that smells like Eggs Safe to Eat?

Well, that is a good question. In most cases, if there is a light eggy smell, then the chicken is likely to be edible.

Luckily, eating a chicken that has a smell that’s slightly off is not likely to result in serious food poisoning. This is because pathogenic bacteria such as salmonella E. bacteria and listeria, which are the most frequent hazards in raw chicken are killed and rendered ineffective by cooking the chicken up to 165 degF, which is about 74 degrees Celsius.

In truth, the eggy odor that you smell is caused by bugs that contribute to spoilage but not the bacteria that cause food poisoning or illnesses. This means that these bacteria are not usually dangerous when consumed.

However, meat that smells and looks fresh may cause you to become sick when you do not cook it at the proper temperature or store it in a proper manner. Therefore, even though it’s somewhat counterintuitive, having a slight off eggy smell could mean the meat is not safe to consume. It is still dependent, however, on the kind of bacteria present within it.

Furthermore, supermarkets and other food stores and delivery companies that deliver chicken claim that the use of gases in the process of packaging used to preserve the chicken cause products to smell of sulfur. This makes it smell like eggs.

According to them,  the smell should go immediately upon opening the packaging. In the event that the smell lingers for more than a half hour, I believe it’s best to remove the chicken.

What to do if the chicken smell like eggs?

If you decide that the chicken’s meat is safe to cook and consume, you can lessen the unpleasant smell by following the steps below:

Rinse the chicken with running water after removing the frozen chicken from.

Add a little bit of vinegar or lemon juice on the meat. After that, clean it off in case you don’t want to flavor poultry with acids. If not, you could add the acid in the marinade. This can help reduce the smell.

Clean the chicken, then sprinkle salt on it. You can cook or boil it however you want.

When the food is cooked, sprinkle bay leaves to take away the smell.

How can you tell if chicken is not good?

Here are a few simple methods to determine if the chicken that is frozen or raw is already rotten:

Raw Chicken

Changes in color. Freshly cooked chickens should have a pinkish flesh. If it is dull in appearance or grayish tinge the chicken will begin to turn bad quickly. If it appears more gray than pink, it’s already turned bad. The chicken that has been cooked to death won’t look like white.

A strong, sour, or rotten smell similar to that of ammonia.

It’s sticky and slimy even after washing and washing it with running water.

Frozen chicken

Check the thick layer of ice surrounding your meat, or an ice crust especially if the crust is white rather than transparent.

Check if freezer burn appears as white marks or scratch marks on the chicken in addition to fat.

Check if there is a dark grey discoloration. A slightly grey-tinged yellowing of fat could be fine.

Wrapping up

Raw Chicken Smells Like Eggs

So, what to do if raw chicken smells like eggs? Well, there are several possibilities for the reason that chicken cooked raw or frozen has the smell of eggs. But, if the meat of the chicken doesn’t smell right, what should you do to decide if you should cook it in the oven or throw it in the garbage bin?

There are a variety of ways to know whether the chicken is bad. However, ultimately, the decision is based on your own personal judgment. If you’re the kind of person who doesn’t mind eating leftovers with an unpleasant smell and taste, as you are aware that something might be a bit smelly or taste off, but it won’t cause you to be sick.

But if you are a believer in the better-safe-than-sorry principle, there’s absolutely no harm in erring on the safer side. After all, there is no point in unduly putting your family in a hazardous situation and making them sick. Discretion is the better part of valor, as they say!