Food Guide

Pork Loin Smells Like Fish? Discover the Surprising Reasons Behind this Unusual Odor

Emily Wong is an Asian-American food writer the founder of Cookindocs.com. With nearly 8 years of experience, she has a passion for making cooking accessible to everyone and sharing her personal experiences with food. Emily's vision for Cookindocs.com is to create a community of food lovers who are passionate about cooking, eating, and sharing their experiences with others. Read my story

What To Know

  • If you cook your pork loin in the pan or pot that is used to cook fish, the actual natural flavor of pork can be masked and substituted by an unpleasant fishy flavor that makes no one recognize your delicious pork loin dish.
  • You can opt for a good package of fresh pork loin from the beginning so that when storing it in the fridge or freezer, it will keep your best cut of pork loin away from the surroundings that might affect the pork loin's flavor.

Pork loin is great, but if it smells like fish, there is a problem.

Keep reading our article to find out the reasons for the fishy smell in your pork loin and how to get rid of this flavor from your dish.

Why does my pork loin smell like fish?

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If you have just cooked up some pork loin and figured out an unpleasant smell like fish, it might be due to several reasons, as listed below:

Pork loin has been placed next to fish for a while

Fish has a pungent smell that can easily stick to other foods that are placed next to this ingredient.

Therefore, if you have your pork loin and fish uncovered and placed next to each other, you can end up with a pork loin that smells like fish.

Either you have raw ingredients or some leftover cooked pork loin and fish, as long as they are placed side by side without being covered, you can have meat with a fishy smell.

Pork loin has been cooked in the same oil or unwashed cooking equipment that is used to cook fish

The other cause of the fishy smell in your pork loin is that the meat has been cooked in the excess oil that you used to cook fish.

This can ruin the flavor of your pork loin dish and replace it with a fishy smell.

If you cook your pork loin in the pan or pot that is used to cook fish, the actual natural flavor of pork can be masked and substituted by an unpleasant fishy flavor that makes no one recognize your delicious pork loin dish.

Is it safe to eat pork loin that smells like fish?

Normally, a fishy smell in your pork loin isn’t a sign of spoilage.

If your pork smells sour or rotten eggs, it might be more dangerous.

But as already mentioned, the fishy smell is mainly due to the affection of the flavors from different dishes.

Therefore, it is just the problem of the flavor instead of being harmful to your health.

How to get rid of the fishy smell from pork loin?

The fishy smell is an unpleasant odor if it lingers on your pork loin.

It is not that bad on its own, but it does affect the flavor of your pork loin dish.

Here are some common and easy-to-do methods that can help you get rid of the fishy smell in your pork loin:

Always separate the fish and your pork loin and cover them carefully 

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Remember to always cover the fish carefully so that its pungent smell won’t affect other dishes, including your pork loin cut.

Whether it is raw fish and raw pork loin stored in the freezer or leftover cooked fish and pork loin placed in the fridge or at room temperature, they should be separated to get rid of any unwanted smell.

Never cook pork loin in unwashed equipment that was used to cook fish

Another thing to keep in mind to keep your pork loin away from a fishy smell is to never cook them in the same equipment that hasn’t been washed.

After cooking your fish, you need to discard the excess oil and wash the pot, pan, or baking tray carefully before having your pork loin cooked.

You can even heat a bowl of water and vinegar or salt in the oven so that it can help remove the bad odor of fish lingering in your oven.

Choose a good package of fresh pork loin from a reputable store

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You can opt for a good package of fresh pork loin from the beginning so that when storing it in the fridge or freezer, it will keep your best cut of pork loin away from the surroundings that might affect the pork loin’s flavor.

The package should be sealed tightly and includes all necessary information like ingredients, expiration date, date of production, or manufacturer address.

The bottom line

Pork loin is ideal to add to your diet if you want to cut down some fat intake.

However, if you notice a fishy smell in your pork loin dish, it might be due to the meat having absorbed this flavor from your fish dishes in different ways.

It is quite easy to get rid of this problem, so hopefully, our aforementioned methods have helped you take the fishy smell away from your pork loin without any fuss.

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Emily W.

Emily Wong is an Asian-American food writer the founder of Cookindocs.com. With nearly 8 years of experience, she has a passion for making cooking accessible to everyone and sharing her personal experiences with food. Emily's vision for Cookindocs.com is to create a community of food lovers who are passionate about cooking, eating, and sharing their experiences with others. Read my story
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