# most hated kitchen smell



## halmstad (May 17, 2010)

rotten potatoes have to be the worst. old meat and fish have nothing on a spoiled raw potato. just thinking about makes me gag a little.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Steamed cabbage, ugh


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

I cannot handle the smell of peeled hard boiled eggs.........I have to peel them really fast under running water.

Broccoli

When my husband cooks fish on a high heat and forgets the vent

Steamed mussels ( I eat them, its just the smell )


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## kcz (Dec 14, 2006)

Ed Buchanan said:


> Steamed cabbage


Definitely the worst. I can't even stand to be in the house when cabbage is cooking.


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## phatch (Mar 29, 2002)

Asafoetida. At least before you cook it. Just having it in the kitchen is pretty intolerable.


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## amazingrace (Jul 28, 2006)

I have to go with anything that's spoiled. The trash gets carried out every day, even if the bag isn't full. I'm sure HubbyDearest has no smeller. He doesn't seem to notice any bad odors, but I more than make up for him. I'm with Ed and KCZ on the cabbage, but I do it in the pressure cooker now, so the smell is fairly confined. Same with broccoli and cauliflower...bring to pressure for 30 seconds, then cold water release & it's perfect, yet the odor doesn't have time to penetrate the whole house. (Cabbage takes a little longer unless you cut it fine).

Grammar lesson: I smell, you stink. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/lookaround.gif


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## katbalou (Nov 21, 2001)

an open sink (grease) trap. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/surprised.gif


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

An egg that's been around since 2 days longer than forever - then one gets opened.   Mmmm I love the smell of rotten egg in the morning.

And yeah, rotting pumpkins/potatoes is pretty bad too.  Had one pumpkin turn liquid on me once in a forgotten space - yeccch.

But off chicken, fish, or pork is a total gross out too.


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## chrose (Nov 20, 2000)

I think of all the smells the one that made me gag the worst was the pan of individual orange creme brulees that we left in a turned off oven for a week. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif

Ohhh that was nasty! How and why it was left there for a week is another story....


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## gypsy2727 (Mar 9, 2010)

kidneys on the boil..........YUK


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## kristopher (Feb 18, 2010)

The pool of blood that occasionally pools at the bottom of the meat locker and festers producing a lovely smell that lingers in the kitchen for the next half hour.


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## blueicus (Mar 16, 2005)

Old skate.  The ammonia smell is unbearable.  Of course bad fish, grease traps and other fun things like those can be almost as bad.


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

phatch said:


> Asafoetida. At least before you cook it. Just having it in the kitchen is pretty intolerable.


Definitely! Contained in several containers, locked away in an airtight spot and still... /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif


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## jellly (Jan 3, 2005)

As far as normal kitchen ingredients (ie, not spoiled or rotten), I just can't stand the smell of lamb stock.  I don't mind eating lamb, but when the bones are roasted and water is added - yuck!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

I have to agree about the lamb stock but I'll go further and say the smell of any boiling meat.  Chicken and lamb especially. 

I love eggs but my goodness how awful the smell of a drinking glass that hasn't been washed well after eating an egg breakfast.  The rim of the glass has an awful smell.


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## mezzaluna (Aug 29, 2000)

Ugh... for me, it's tripe parboiling for Tripe a la mode de Caen or whatever. Smells like the worst bad breath you can imagine. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Mezzaluna said:


> Ugh... for me, it's tripe parboiling for Tripe a la mode de Caen or whatever. Smells like the worst bad breath you can imagine. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif


Yes yes! That and boiling chitlins!


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## kuan (Jun 11, 2001)

Koukouvagia said:


> I have to agree about the lamb stock but I'll go further and say the smell of any boiling meat. Chicken and lamb especially.


No way! What do you think of chicken soup then?


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## free rider (May 23, 2006)

kuan said:


> No way! What do you think of chicken soup then?


Perhaps: Thank goodness for bouquet garni?


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## rheadewey (Jun 7, 2010)

rotten cheese i guess...

i'm just wondering though...durian is an awful smelling fruit...i wonder how it smells like if it's rotten? anyone who experienced that?


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## 8chef (Jun 9, 2010)

I would say very old, stale grease....left in the pan with the lid on so no one actually sees it. But after a time, certainly smells it! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif Dog or cat food doesnt really smell pleasant either.

___________________________________________

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Check out my USB Flash Drive Blog.


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## dc sunshine (Feb 26, 2007)

chrose said:


> I think of all the smells the one that made me gag the worst was the pan of individual orange creme brulees that we left in a turned off oven for a week. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif
> 
> Ohhh that was nasty! How and why it was left there for a week is another story....


C'mon Chrose - you can't leave us hanging. Once you start a story - you have to finish it.

How...and....Why...?


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## cabotvt (May 5, 2009)

The worst smell I ever had was at the Hilton Hotel in Cranston RI the year J&W bought it. I was an 8 week wonder staying there and the cooks left the kitchen, food and all I mean just abandoned this place.I mean soup still in the pots on the stove. We got on the service elevator and somehow found are way done there. It was nasty, and to think we slept over top of this place or 8 weeks.

OH ya this was 1981


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## onei (Jun 14, 2010)

Has to be rotting meat for me, once I found some bacon sealed in a tub at the back of the fridge that had escaped my notice and had probably been there for weeks. The whole lot had to go including the tub.


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## indianwells (Jan 2, 2007)

Raw chicken when it's gone off is truly disgusting.


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## bazza (Apr 2, 2007)

halmstad said:


> rotten potatoes have to be the worst. old meat and fish have nothing on a spoiled raw potato. just thinking about makes me gag a little.


Rotten potatoes are bad but I think rotten weeping carrots are worse!


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## coulis-o (Jan 23, 2010)

grease traps are bad, i dont like the smell of oven cleaner being sprayed into hot ovens i have to vacate the kitchen it's that toxic.

i hate the smell of fresh Sage too it makes me gip, i love dried sage but fresh is eughh disgusting


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## rheadewey (Jun 7, 2010)

Onei said:


> Has to be rotting meat for me, once I found some bacon sealed in a tub at the back of the fridge that had escaped my notice and had probably been there for weeks. The whole lot had to go including the tub.


Good thing there weren't any maggots >.<


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## jeffthechef (Jun 22, 2010)

onion skins that have fallen off roasted onions in the oven. yuck!


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## boar_d_laze (Feb 13, 2008)

Someone wearing Chanel No. 5 in the kitchen.  Great commercials, horrible perfume.  Not only messes up my nose (and therefore my palate, as well), but gives me a headache too.

BDL


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## halmstad (May 17, 2010)

I worked at really nice hotel and of course every sunday we did brunch. the grill cook had to poach an entire case of eggs every sunday morning. the smell of the water with the vinegar and a case of eggs cooked in it was something very special.

I HATE BRUNCH!


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## philosophos (Jun 22, 2010)

The smell of decaying meat shreds after 3 days on a wet cutting board in the sink; smells like feces and ammonia. This nasty concoction is frequently caused by a Newyear's roast and a 2-3 day hangover.


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## chefboyarg (Oct 28, 2008)

overflowing greasetrap. its the only smell so far that has taken me to the brink of puking.


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## todayskitchens (Jul 11, 2010)

I really hate the smell of a fish after cooking.

And worse, the smell rotten egg or decaying meat.

_________________________________________________________________________________


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## gypsy2727 (Mar 9, 2010)

ChefBoyarG said:


> overflowing greasetrap. its the only smell so far that has taken me to the brink of puking.


Well I second that. Being the first one in the kitchen everyday I was there to witness many cleanings of that molten lava like monster lurking under that steel bolted trap. I still don't know how those guys that came to suck out the trap actually had any sence of smell at all ....I guess there's a calling for everyone. And they always seemed to be happy to be there.

now that's attitude!!!!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


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## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

gypsy2727 said:


> Well I second that. Being the first one in the kitchen everyday I was there to witness many cleanings of that molten lava like monster lurking under that steel bolted trap. I still don't know how those guys that came to suck out the trap actually had any sence of smell at all ....I guess there's a calling for everyone. And they always seemed to be happy to be there.
> 
> now that's attitude!!!!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/thumb.gif


I third the grease trap stench!

I have problems with eggs as I'n allergic and even the smell of them can send me into a mild reaction. Our air exchange is really good so I rarely smell them but every now and then I do when they're in the window and I'm calling board and I have to choke back the urge to gag.


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## greyeaglem (Apr 17, 2006)

The posterior breezes from the kitchen boys after a night of hard beer drinking. But I'll take that and the grease trap combined over the smell of Cajun seasoning, especially blackened.


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## cookpiper (Jul 6, 2010)

Quote:


Kristopher said:


> The pool of blood that occasionally pools at the bottom of the meat locker and festers producing a lovely smell that lingers in the kitchen for the next half hour.


I totally agree... i can't stand how stinky it is. /img/vbsmilies/smilies/mad.gif


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## biancadee (Jun 25, 2010)

Ugh. Steamed cabbage and rotten potatoes! Just  typing it makes me remember their smell. lol


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## bladerunner6 (Jan 16, 2009)

I wouldn't include rotten or spoiled food because that shouldn't be in the kitchen.

There are few smells I can't stand-I am a chemist- but I do sometimes find raw fish less thrilling than a lot of other odors.


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## turquoise (Aug 9, 2010)

For me, 2 things come to mind:

1) Limburger cheese. Recall way back in 1972 in my teens, babysitting for a Dentist and his wife. Dr. S. would come home for lunch (while I was watching his kids), since his office was about 10 minutes away, only to open some (smelly!) Limburger cheese and put on some Old London melba rounds and then bake/broil in his oven... I had to actually get *out* of the house the smell was soo bad!

and

2) When my parents cooked their eggs, they always (yuck!!) melted butter in a small frypan on the stove, and when the butter was like browning, they would add the egg on top of it. That smell - no matter what - was the most gut-wrenching smell I recall and would always give me the dry heaves!!! My DH today uses non-stick spray and then some Egg-Beaters... with *no* aromas!! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/bounce.gif


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## just jim (Oct 18, 2007)

Years ago worked with a guy who, at the end of the shift, wouyld change clothes and hang his chef pants up in dry storage, and put them back on th enext shift.

He NEVER washed them.

Working with him, bending down to get something from the lowboy......ugh, by far the worst kitchen smell ever.

We finally burned them out back one day.

He was pissed, but enough was enough.


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## left4bread (May 8, 2009)

They day after I cook Thai food in my studio apartment. I have to leave the apartment for it to affect me,

but when I come back I have to clean *everything* and throw open the windows. It's gotta be the fish sauce and jasmine rice.

And, for me, it trumps a grease trap and spoiled meat and beer farts.

Those are quickly fixed by removing the obvious offender.

The day old Thai food smell just lingers... and lingers.


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## daves (Jun 13, 2010)

Any off seafood, muscles etc. I worked with a plumber before deciding on hospitality as a career and he always made me get into the grease pits so there no problem with them!

Dave


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## highlander01 (Apr 30, 2010)

I have to say yes grease traps are nasty, rotten potatoes are disgusting but one of the worst is when you go to grab a "tater" and your fingers kinda just go about half way into it /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif


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## nomadchef (Feb 15, 2009)

I work on a cruise ship and I would have to say the worst smell is getting stuck in an elevator with certain officers that don't use deodorant.


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## Guest (Aug 9, 2010)

A hot summer day, during the pumping out of the grease trap!!!


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## philpbvc3232 (Jul 31, 2010)

cooking fumes always make me annoyed,  you are smelly when you leave the kitchen,so a Smoke Exhauster is rerally necessary.


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## rastafoodian (Jun 29, 2010)

8Chef said:


> I would say very old, stale grease....left in the pan with the lid on so no one actually sees it. But after a time, certainly smells it! /img/vbsmilies/smilies/eek.gif Dog or cat food doesnt really smell pleasant either.


The grease, that's a solid one!

Here's one that's so obvious no one mentioned it.... burnt popcorn, microwaved or not. It sticks to the walls, your clothes, your nostrils... peeee-YEW!


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## bughut (Aug 18, 2007)

My Fridge today... The Stilton has been left in there way past its mature date

The brocolli is going yellow and honking and i've a piece of leftover garlicky meatloaf that could find its own way to the bin.

In my defence, I forgot to do a fridge check before i went away for a few days


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## chefelle (Feb 17, 2007)

Sesame oil...I HATE the smell of sesame oil.

The smell of beef bones roasting in the oven.  Can't stand that either...makes me want to vomit.

I'm sure there are many more....these are only the few I can think of at the moment.


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## mattymckrugz (Aug 3, 2010)

I'd have to agree with old skate. Not to mention it's not the most exciting product to work with in the first place. Also heated sour milk. Pretty gross (a new cook was making mashed potatoes and let the lumpy milk come to a boil). And lastly I can't stand the smell of a sack of dirty aprons and chef coats.


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## kvonnj (Aug 3, 2010)

I was in the war, I've smelled things I won't describe but you can imagine... and still NOTHING gags me like the smell I encounter when I open the barrel outside where we dump grease. Nothing. Rancid, used cooking grease in a 55 gallon drum in the sun. There is no smell on God's Earth that can match that.

  I usually take a deep breath, lift the lid while exhaling and try to get all I need to dump in there and shut the lid before I need to inhale. I even close the lid slowly so as not to create a rancid draft.

  It's awful.


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## chefelle (Feb 17, 2007)

Forgot about asafoetida....oh yeah...that's brutal.


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## kvonnj (Aug 3, 2010)

But at least that's an intentional smell. I'm sticking with a sun-baked rancid barrel of grease... LOL


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## kvonnj (Aug 3, 2010)

Definietly. A barrel of rancid grease, sitting in the sun. Beats any and all comers. Bring on your seafood, your blood, your rotten meat and boiled eggs... rancid, sun-heated grease is KING of the foul odors! Mmmbwahahahahaha!

... ok... I may have lost it for a moment there...


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## citizensnips (Aug 12, 2010)

lamb stock, well, oven roasting lamb bones being simmered


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## zane (Apr 6, 2010)

kippers


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## ringtonebeat (Jul 27, 2010)

The smell of a dry well always gets me. Not really gross or gag worthy but I hate that smell; its like nails on a chalk board for me.


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## chefgord (Sep 28, 2009)

Fryer oil.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

A co-worker who does not shower.


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## nicko (Oct 5, 2001)

Sponges or rags that start to get musty, moldy from being used for too long. The smell sticks to your hands when you use them it is horrible.


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## shroomgirl (Aug 11, 2000)

durian and asfoeteda make me physically ill....so they will never be in my kitchen

rotten  potatoes, onions are all gross

dried blood and aged flesh are fairly disgusting

Grease traps/barrels/rags are rough...right up there.

cooking shtuff:cabbage, lamb, eggs....etc, don't even think twice about...no biggy.

It's ammonia & sulphur....urp


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## homemadecook (Jan 27, 2010)

Ed Buchanan said:


> A co-worker who does not shower.


Definitely "hate" that! And it would be difficult to work if you have someone like that working with you.


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## hophound (Aug 14, 2010)

the smell of microwaving fish sauce and palm sugar together..


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## linda johnson (Jan 23, 2011)

Burnt popcorn!


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## chefbuba (Feb 17, 2010)

The fish sauce is one that sticks in my mind. I was chef for a motion picture caterer for several years, we would do Phad Thai on occasion. The truck would smell of fish sauce and fermented radish for a couple of days after.


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## foodnfoto (Jan 1, 2001)

> i hate the smell of fresh Sage too it makes me gip, i love dried sage but fresh is eughh disgusting


gotta agree-reminds me of my cat's litterbox

fermented black beans gag me-

love asian black bean sauce is great, but that bag of beans they use stink somethin awful!


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## warba (Feb 28, 2010)

Baking skin off a parm wheel. Smells like baby barf-up to me.


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## trooper (Jan 21, 2011)

Fish stock - Empty stock pots used for crab before they go to dish. Ugh.


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## breadmaker man (Jan 25, 2011)

+1 for grease traps or anything that smells strongly of fat.


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## petalsandcoco (Aug 25, 2009)

When I have to get the assorted tea pots going with their flavors, lady grey, green, darjeeling and ......oh even typing it.......Jasmine !  It smells like a barn. To this day I can't figure why ?

Petals.


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## margcata (Sep 18, 2011)

Pile up of Garbage is a normal dislikeable ...

My peeve: is a bar or tavern or pub or restaurant with stale over used krap for frying oil ... then, I dislike the aromas of:  sardines, cabbage ... and anyone who has a stench due to lack of hygiene.

Margcata.


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## foodpump (Oct 10, 2005)

1) Grease trap that has been opened

2) Roasting veal/beef bones, dunno, that stink just gets into your hair and skin no mattter how long you're in the shower.

3) Dead mouse in an unaccesable area


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## sparkie (Feb 12, 2011)

Grease trap is number one for me. When I was a dishwasher, the place I worked at made the dishwashers empty the trap with a coffee can and a five gallon bucket. Truly awful. I'm sure you can imagine how many guys quit after finding out that this was part of the job.

Since I don't deal with that anymore, I will have to put in a mention for cleaners. Oven spray, de-limer, that goop for cleaning the flat top, and old bleach water..


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## twyst (Jan 22, 2012)

I cleaned out a walk in full of seafood that had been without power for a month after hurricane katrina.  Not many smells bother me after that!


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## thatchairlady (Feb 15, 2012)

Rotten potatoes... PU!!  As a kid, our fridge had a TEENY box (freezer) inside that held a few trays of ice and MAYBE ice cream on rare occasion.  Bottom was a tip out bin... potatoes and onions.  When ya opened it and got that WHIFF... ya knew something gross was in there.

Hard boiled eggs!  Nephew asked a very philosophical once... "how can something that smells SO bad, taste so good once deviled?"

Bad eggs!?!  My Grandmother taught me to ALWAYS crack eggs individually ito a smaller bowl... when cracking several.  Can only remember ONE time when I got a bad egg.  When I cracked it into small pyrex bowl... yolk was BLACK!!  I SCREAMED and quickly dumped it down disposal.  Can't say I have any memory of a disgusting smell... just horrible sight!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

Anyone ever burned the feathers off a chicken?  Yikes.


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## ishbel (Jan 5, 2007)

I have a friend who makes steak and kidney puddings and pies...   It's the addition of the kidneys to the rich beef stew that gives me the 'boak'....   that slightly 'wild' smell...


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## zoebisch (Apr 9, 2012)

Rancid oil

Rotten potatoes

Cleaning a crop

Hmm something common here.  Controlled fermentation is one thing and I can handle some really extreme odors/flavors but those 3 top my list.  One of my biggest mistakes ever though was a five rib that was cryovac'd and I forgot about it (ridiculously busy time of my life) and the day I remembered I thought....hmm let me see if It's salvageable.  Big mistake.  The outer odor was rough and when I ran along the bone and opened it up it had almost a mineral-like quality to it that was indeed rotting flesh but this oily-like super-nasty quality.  It was so bad I wretched.  It was so bad I got sick for 2 days off the smell and couldn't eat a thing. I even began to wonder if things can get so bad that the airborne particles can transmit toxins (pure speculation).  I will never-ever do that again and the thing is I knew better!!!  That was probably one of my biggest culinary blunders ever.


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## chefedb (Apr 3, 2010)

Opening a cryovac package of meat or chicken that went bad.     Smells like dead body


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## spikedog (Feb 21, 2011)

that one rotten potato in the bottom of the case is real bad! and a dryed up burning steam table, yuk!


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## koukouvagia (Apr 3, 2008)

chefedb said:


> Opening a cryovac package of meat or chicken that went bad. Smells like dead body


It IS a dead body.


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## leeniek (Aug 21, 2009)

I have to add... nasty unused sink full of debris in the dishpit.  When I was at the breakfast place one of the dishwashers really didn't care about his job and would never clean the unused sink.. it backed up one day and the smell was terrible!  It was so bad we had to open the front and back doors to air the place out and the servers were walking around with cans of air freshener to cover the smell..

Just thinking about it brings back the smell.. yuck


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## chefboyarg (Oct 28, 2008)

I'm allergic to lobsters, so the smell of roasting lobster shells for stock makes me gag, yet is deliciously aromatic at the same time.


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## auvinbrandy (May 2, 2012)

Heavy fishy smell. I don't mean the gentle oceanic aroma of a freshly cracked can of bristling sardines, I'm talking the stench of a fish that'd been sitting in the dark for a day or two too long.
 

Disgusting.


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## zojison (Apr 25, 2012)

My weakness would be in this order:1. potatoes that went bad overnight2. Dirty dishes forgotten in the sink for more than a couple of hours3. The smell of raw pork liver


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