# How do you avoid stinking up your house while frying fish?



## mimig (Dec 16, 2014)

I usually soak the raw fish in white wine before I do anything with it. That helps a lot. But I was wondering if there're any other means of controlling the odor while frying fish.
Do you know of any ?


----------



## Katie H (Dec 16, 2014)

Other than being able to have excellent ventilation to the outside, I can't think of a thing.  We cook fish in our house probably more than the average and, depending on how much is fried, the odor varies with the quantity.

In the warmer months, the fish is cooked outside on the covered porch/patio.


----------



## roadfix (Dec 16, 2014)

A very efficient hooded vent....


----------



## Andy M. (Dec 16, 2014)

roadfix said:


> A very efficient hooded vent....




...that exhausts to the outdoors, not back into the kitchen.

Exhaust fans draw air from the interior of the house and blow it outdoors.  If your house is airtight to save energy, it's difficult to draw the air and the fan is less efficient. To help the process, crack a window or door to make it easy for the exhaust fan to suck up air to vent outdoors.  

This is especially helpful if there's enough smoke to set off a smoke detector.  In that case, open a window beyond the smoke detector so the air pulled in from outside passes by the smoke detector and takes any smoke with it to the fan.


----------



## roadfix (Dec 16, 2014)

Andy M. said:


> ...that exhausts to the outdoors, not back into the kitchen.


  True that.  Otherwise it wouldn't be efficient at all........  or use an outdoor grill.


----------



## Steve Kroll (Dec 16, 2014)

We eat a lot of fish, and I've never noticed much of an odor while frying it. We have a vent to the outside, but I don't always use it. 

Are you frying it too hot perhaps - to the point where the oil is smoking? Anytime there is smoke, it will carry odors with it.

Or maybe there's something wrong with my sniffer.


----------



## CWS4322 (Dec 16, 2014)

Steve, based on the picture of your "sniffer," I'm guessing it works just fine <LOL>.


----------



## CharlieD (Dec 16, 2014)

Build a house with enclosed kitchen and separate ventilation system.  . Sorry, could not help myself. I just use one of those smelly candles.


----------



## roadfix (Dec 16, 2014)

Depends on the kind of fish too...   I like to grill salmon, either on cast iron or over a kitchen gas grill and they really stink up the house if I don't run the vent full blast.
My wife likes to fry orange roughy (frozen ones from Costco) and they tend to cook odorless for the most part even without the vent running.


----------



## RPCookin (Dec 16, 2014)

To be honest, I'm rarely bothered by cooking smells, including fish (although I rarely fry, usually bake or grill/broil).  All that tells me is that there's a cook in the house.  When I use the cast iron grill pan that came with the new gas range, I turn on the vent fan (vents externally), and it does a good job of eliminating the smoke, but the odors still waft through the house.  I find those odors to be quite homey.


----------



## roadfix (Dec 16, 2014)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B8P7Jc5NWJE


----------



## Kayelle (Dec 16, 2014)

roadfix said:


> Depends on the kind of fish too...   I like to grill salmon, either on cast iron or over a kitchen gas grill and they really stink up the house if I don't run the vent full blast.
> My wife likes to fry orange roughy (frozen ones from Costco) and they tend to cook odorless for the most part even without the vent running.



I think the kind of fish is everything too RF. Salmon stinks to me, and tastes "fishy" however it's cooked. Other fish shouldn't smell "fishy" before it's cooked or when cooking it.


----------



## roadfix (Dec 16, 2014)

As far as taste is concerned I much prefer farm raised salmon over "wild caught" salmon.  Tastes a lot less fishy.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 16, 2014)

Most places I live at have a window of some kind in the kitchen near an outlet and the window.  I use one of those small clamp on electric fans and clamp it somewhere on the cabinet trim above the fryer pointing out toward an open window.  The fryer is of coarse placed near the window.    I also turn on my HVAC whole house fan.  I custom order Nordic Air brand carbon impregnated  furnace filters for my furnace.  They do pretty well at removing  odors.


----------



## Oldtimerjax (Dec 17, 2014)

What I do is turn on my exhaust fan on the stove full blast and then run through the house with the Febreeze after I fry the fish. It takes care of the odors. I had to go out of the house one day to get more breading and came back in the middle of frying and was bowled over by the scent left behind. I didn't know it was that bad. After that I got the Frbreeze out and was good to go after that. The curtains were the worst for keeping the smell in.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 17, 2014)

A lot of kitchen range hoods aren't vented, so the filtering is useless.  Fabreze is pretty good but like you say, you have to run around spraying up in the air like the fresh air nymph, lol.    In 20 years, drones equipped with Fabreze will take off...spray...go back...land...recharge and load up on Fabreze...take off...spray Fabreze...fly back.


----------



## CraigC (Dec 17, 2014)

I don't think we have ever fried fish. The fishy odor I believe is mostly associated with fatty/oily type fish and of course fish that aren't fresh.


----------



## Oldtimerjax (Dec 17, 2014)

Caslon said:


> A lot of kitchen range hoods aren't vented, so the filtering is useless. Fabreze is pretty good but like you say, you have to run around spraying up in the air like the fresh air nymph, lol. In 20 years, drones equipped with Fabreze will take off...spray...go back...land...recharge and load up on Fabreze...take off...spray Fabreze...fly back.


 
I don't think you will have to wait 20 years. I give it 2. My vent hood goes outside and the neighbors comment on what smelled so good the other day, it had to be me cooking something good. I like to do roasts so they can be used for more than one meal. My Mother was one for making things stretch. We never knew we were poor growing up. She tried to keep that hidden from us. Thinking back, I know now we were poor. After all, who freezes leftovers with a plan to make it into something yummy later on?


----------



## CWS4322 (Dec 17, 2014)

I have tried having a large bowl of white vinegar out when making "stinky" things. I prefer to cook those things outside, however. 


I've never associated leftovers with one's financial situation. Growing up, leftovers were planned (my mom hated to cook, so if she could cook once and serve the same thing again, she took that route). It made her life easier. I tend to do the same thing--make enough for several meals. I figure if I'm going to heat up the oven, I might as well make two roasted chickens/pork roasts/whatever. It doesn't use any more electricity to cook two than it does to cook one. But then, our electricity rates are the highest in North America. We try to cut back on the electricity bill whenever we can.


----------



## roadfix (Dec 17, 2014)

Our oven vents outside too so my neighbors must smell our food as well....


----------



## Steve Kroll (Dec 17, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> I think the kind of fish is everything too RF. Salmon stinks to me, and tastes "fishy" however it's cooked. Other fish shouldn't smell "fishy" before it's cooked or when cooking it.





roadfix said:


> As far as taste is concerned I much prefer farm raised salmon over "wild caught" salmon.  Tastes a lot less fishy.



This must be a matter of perception. I've always found salmon to be one of the least offensive to the olfactory. Unless it's more than a few days old, I really don't smell it much.

Now cod or catfish, on the other hand.... pass the clothespin!


----------



## Kayelle (Dec 17, 2014)

Steve Kroll said:


> This must be a matter of perception. I've always found salmon to be one of the least offensive to the olfactory. Unless it's more than a few days old, I really don't smell it much.
> 
> Now cod or catfish, on the other hand.... pass the clothespin!



I don't like grilled or fried salmon at *all.  *However I could make a  of myself with lox, and smoked salmon.
I really like cod..it makes great fish and chips, but I think catfish tastes and smells like dirt.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 17, 2014)

The worst is boiling salted cod my dad used to like. I gag at that smell.


----------



## Oldtimerjax (Dec 17, 2014)

CWS4322 said:


> I have tried having a large bowl of white vinegar out when making "stinky" things. I prefer to cook those things outside, however.
> 
> 
> I've never associated leftovers with one's financial situation. Growing up, leftovers were planned (my mom hated to cook, so if she could cook once and serve the same thing again, she took that route). It made her life easier. I tend to do the same thing--make enough for several meals. I figure if I'm going to heat up the oven, I might as well make two roasted chickens/pork roasts/whatever. It doesn't use any more electricity to cook two than it does to cook one. But then, our electricity rates are the highest in North America. We try to cut back on the electricity bill whenever we can.


 Back in the day before our heaths' went south on us, my husband and I ate pretty well and he hardly ever ate leftovers. Now in hard times, (not too hard) he does eat leftovers and there is hardly anything left to throw away. We ate steak a couple of times a week back then and ate take out a couple of times a week, but now steak is seen about once a month if it is on sale and we never eat take out anymore. Hopefully good times will come back again, but we are on a fixed income now and I just don't see it. Life goes on no matter what and we are happy with what we have.


----------



## Oldtimerjax (Dec 17, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> I don't like grilled or fried salmon at *all. *However I could make a  of myself with lox, and smoked salmon.
> I really like cod..it makes great fish and chips, but I think catfish tastes and smells like dirt.


 
I put my salmon under the broiler with butter pam sprayed on it and crushed rosemary sprinkled on it with a little salt and lemon juice. It is great. Does not take a whole lot of time and it is good.


----------



## RPCookin (Dec 17, 2014)

Oldtimerjax said:


> I put my salmon under the broiler with butter pam sprayed on it and crushed rosemary sprinkled on it with a little salt and lemon juice. It is great. Does not take a whole lot of time and it is good.



It's also good with dill weed.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 17, 2014)

I drizzle salmon steaks with olive oil,  sprinkle on salt and pepper and smother it with 1/4"  onion slice strips  coated with oil to keep them moist while baking.  I bake it on my Norpro broiler pan at 425F for 15 min.  I fry thinly sliced zucchini and a salad topped with blue cheese dressing.

I bought fresh dill weed and and other herbs commonly used in cooking fish and froze it up in ziplocks.
I'm still trying to get better at cooking fish.


----------



## Kayelle (Dec 17, 2014)

Oldtimerjax said:


> I put my salmon under the broiler with butter pam sprayed on it and crushed rosemary sprinkled on it with a little salt and lemon juice. It is great. Does not take a whole lot of time and it is good.





RPCookin said:


> It's also good with dill weed.





Caslon said:


> I drizzle salmon steaks with olive oil,  sprinkle on salt and pepper and smother it with 1/4"  onion slice strips  coated with oil to keep them moist while baking.  I bake it on my Norpro broiler pan at 425F for 15 min.  I fry thinly sliced zucchini and a salad topped with blue cheese dressing.
> 
> I bought fresh dill weed and and other herbs commonly used in cooking fish and froze it up in ziplocks.
> I'm still trying to get better at cooking fish.



I've never been one to say my mind can't be changed! I may just give salmon a try again with these hints. 

Wait.........my mind will never be changed about Brussel Sprouts. I stand firm with those little devils.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 17, 2014)

Brussel Sprouts? Butter and tons of salt and pepper and they get to tasting...good. It's funny, dishes like those seem more a part of a by-gone era.


----------



## Kayelle (Dec 17, 2014)

Caslon said:


> Brussel Sprouts? Butter and tons of salt and pepper and they get to tasting...good. It's funny, dishes like those seem more a part of a by-gone era.



Not even bacon can save Brussel Sprouts and bacon can fix *almost *anything.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 17, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> I've never been one to say my mind can't be changed! I may just give salmon a try again with these hints.





Remember those "bricks" of frozen cod they used to sell? It was frozen cod that came in wrappred black cardboard.  Anyways they had a simple recipe on the back "brick" frozen cod that I'm trying to replicate.

It included the following.
Thawed cod, sliced green onions, blue cheese dressing and bread crumbs.

For how few ingredients it has, it was delicious cod...for cardboard wrapped thawed cod, lol.  I can't remember  the recipe order  tho. 

It may have called for broiling at the end to crisp the bread crumbs, or maybe I just baked it.


----------



## Kayelle (Dec 18, 2014)

Good grief, salted cod in the wooden box was because you couldn't get *fresh* cod. Patooie...that's what those nasty (delicious?) cod fish balls were made of. 


Yes I remember all too well


----------



## Dawgluver (Dec 18, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> Not even bacon can save Brussel Sprouts and bacon can fix *almost *anything.




I agree. Nothing can fix the EVIL GREEN BALLS FROM HADES.  Or salmon.  Unless it's smoked. That works.


----------



## CWS4322 (Dec 18, 2014)

My fishmonger, no wait, the fishmonger from whom I buy fish, that sounds better, told me that most of the fish you see in the supermarket has been frozen and thawed at least 4 times. This will result in a "fishy" smell/taste. I love salmon, but only if it has been frozen on the boat and not thawed/frozen/thawed/frozen and definitely will not buy salmon (or any other fish/seafood) from China--which is from where most of the fish I see in the supermarket comes. Not going there. I prefer wild Pacific salmon over Atlantic wild or farmed. I can't stand anything that has even the slightest odor of fishy. That gets fed to the dogs and the Girls and I don't buy that again.


----------



## Dawgluver (Dec 18, 2014)

I have the anti-fishy gene too, CWS.  Maybe all that fresh LOTW walleye corrupted us.  DH loves salmon of any kind.


----------



## A. Simple Cook (Dec 18, 2014)

What I do with salmon, is bake it.  I use garlic powder, salt, lemon pepper and dill, then rub it with olive oil.  Then put about a half inch of lemon juice in the bottom of the dish, put the salmon in it, stick it in the oven at 350 for approx. 20 minutes.  Covering it with foil is an option, sometimes I do, sometimes I don't.  It is more flavorful, but less colorful with the foil.



Kayelle said:


> I've never been one to say my mind can't be changed! I may just give salmon a try again with these hints.
> 
> Wait.........my mind will never be changed about Brussel Sprouts. I stand firm with those little devils.



Awwww, brussel sprouts need love too you know!



Caslon said:


> Brussel Sprouts? Butter and tons of salt and pepper and they get to tasting...good. It's funny, dishes like those seem more a part of a by-gone era.



AMEN!  I guess my age is showing here.  "By-gone era" indeed!"



Kayelle said:


> Not even bacon can save Brussel Sprouts and bacon can fix *almost *anything.



I don't think bacon would be a good idea with brussel sprouts.  However, it is wonderful in spinach.

OK, to get back to the OP's topic, we have a real problem with cooking odors.  Our range hood "vents" into the kitchen.  It is an old hood, and one of our tenants, back when we rented the house out, managed to "loose" the charcoal filter.  Haven't been able to find a filter to replace it.

Haven't worried about it too much though, as homes used to be built without any type of vent over the stove.  I crack the kitchen window, and turn on the vent fan for a nearby bathroom.  It does help.  Some.

I used to smoke cigars.  (50+ years worth,) but due to heart condition, quit smoking back in May.  It seems like my sense of smell has come back, with a vengeance!  Truly a mixed blessing.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 18, 2014)

Kayelle said:


> Good grief, salted cod in the wooden box was because you couldn't get *fresh* cod. Patooie...that's what those nasty (delicious?) cod fish balls were made of.
> 
> 
> Yes I remember all too well



OMG that's the salted cod my old man used to buy and boil, it came in a little wooden box.  gag gag gag gag


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Dec 18, 2014)

roadfix said:


> A very efficient hooded vent....



You take a canister wet/dry vac., the kind you use in the workshop, place the end of the hose attached to the air intake above the pan that has the cooking fish in it.  You take the hose connected to the exhaust and shove it our a window.  Turn on the unit.  I recommend you wear earplugs.

Other that that, or cooking the fish outside on the grill, can't think of any other way to control the fish aroma that fills the house.  To me, that's a good smell anyway.  To DW however...

Seeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


----------



## CraigC (Dec 18, 2014)

A. Simple Cook said:


> I don't think bacon would be a good idea with brussel sprouts.  However, it is wonderful in spinach.



Brussel sprouts and bacon or pancetta work very well together.


----------



## Steve Kroll (Dec 18, 2014)

A. Simple Cook said:


> I don't think bacon would be a good idea with brussel sprouts.


It actually works wonderfully together. One of my favorite sides is brussels sprouts sauteed in bacon fat, and tossed with crumbled bacon and blue cheese.


----------



## CWS4322 (Dec 19, 2014)

Dawgluver said:


> I have the anti-fishy gene too, CWS. Maybe all that fresh LOTW walleye corrupted us. DH loves salmon of any kind.


You might be on to s/thing there, DL! I have a real problem with trout--Crow Lake spoiled me--the lake trout we caught were fantastic, but if my mom froze any of it, I could not eat it 3 months later.


----------



## A. Simple Cook (Dec 19, 2014)

CWS4322 said:


> You might be on to s/thing there, DL! I have a real problem with trout--Crow Lake spoiled me--the lake trout we caught were fantastic, but if my mom froze any of it, I could not eat it 3 months later.


 You think frozen trout is bad? It almost turns my stomach to remember This one...  Now I'm an old guy, and my dad has been gone for 32 years. But the year he retired, he didn't quite know what to do with himself. So he went fishing. Actually he was a heck of a good fisherman, and lived in Colorado.
We were living in the Imperial Valley in California at the time. He and mom came out for a visit, and brought with them home canned trout. LOTS of jars of home canned trout. That had to be the grossest stuff I've ever tried to eat!  I eat canned tuna or salmon without any problem, but that home canned trout was just plain nasty.
Seemed like it took forever to get rid of that stench in the house!


----------



## Dawgluver (Dec 19, 2014)

Gack!  Welcome to DC, by the way!


----------



## Cooking Goddess (Dec 19, 2014)

Or Brussels sprouts sauteed with bacon and mushrooms, generously dusted with garlic powder and tarragon. Yum!


----------



## Zagut (Dec 20, 2014)

I really can't help you with the aromas generated while cooking fish except to say that I've never walked into a home and found any odor of what was being prepared as off putting. 

I actually enjoy smelling a meal being prepared no matter if I like the dish or not. Just the smell of someone cooking is relaxing and enjoyable to me. The odor produced during the cooking process does not equate to the tastes and smells of the finished product.

I wanted to post here to defend the wonderful creation of God called Brussels sprouts. 

Roasted Brussels sprouts with crumbled crispy bacon are heaven on Earth. And Steve's suggestion of Blue Cheese also adds more Heavenly 
attributes.
You can even use Anchovies in the Brussels sprouts matrix of flavors with great results. 

I'm gonna bet those who don't like Brussels sprouts like "Raw" tomato on Sammies and in salads? 

To each his/her own.


----------



## Dawgluver (Dec 20, 2014)

When I did home visits, I recall walking into the most rancid smelling houses imaginable.  Fish, chicken, Hamburger Helper two weeks old, who knows?


----------



## Zagut (Dec 20, 2014)

Rancid and 2 week old. 

I can see that as off putting.


I'm thinking of the usual odors of folks fixing the foods they are going to eat that evening.

Anything that hang around too long can be nasty. Just think about relatives that overstay there welcome.


----------



## Caslon (Dec 20, 2014)

For me, the odor of salted cod being boiled (bought in small wooden boxes)   is the most off putting odor, whether it's the day of cooking, the day after,  or whatever.  Other odors from cooking fish   don't really bother me. Salted cod being boiled is just so damn pungent.


----------



## Dawgluver (Dec 20, 2014)

This thread brings back a whole lot of memories of REALLY bad smells from going on my home visits.  I have an easy gag reflex.  And when you're trying to make nice with a family of a kid who's having school problems, it's not nice to puke on their carpet!


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Dec 21, 2014)

Two smells that are not just off-putting, but downright nauseating, in order of severity"

1: most evil smell - Worms that have been left in the trunk on a hot summer day, have died, and become rotter (my Dad did it once)

2. any meat, especially chicken or beef, that have been accidently missed when bringing in groceries, and left in the trunk on a hot summer for a few days.

3. Yeh, I know I said two, but there's another that bears mentioning here; I give you (drum roll please) popcorn socks during hunting camp.  Yeh my dad was told to plant his shoes and socks outside the camp.

There are smells that are probably as bad, or worse, but I haven't had to experience them.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


----------



## Chief Longwind Of The North (Dec 21, 2014)

How to avoid stinking up the house while frying fish:

Put gassy Uncle Frank, or Grandma Emma out in the garage.

Disclaimer:  I have neither an Uncle Frank or Grandma Emma, and I don't even know someone with that name that has that problem.  So, this is not you.  I just picked any name from the air.

May your hot things be hot, your cold things be cold, and your sharp cheddar at room temperature.

Seeeeeeya; Chief Longwind of the North


----------



## Wyshiepoo (Dec 21, 2014)

I don't.


I just wear earmuffs to keep the sound of Mrs Wyshiepoo moaning about the smell out.


----------



## A. Simple Cook (Dec 21, 2014)

Dawgluver said:


> When I did home visits, I recall walking into the most rancid smelling houses imaginable. Fish, chicken, Hamburger Helper two weeks old, who knows?


I'm with you 100% on those rancid kitchen smells! I did home pest control for a few years, back in the dark ages. Some of the homes and even entire buildings would be just terrible!



Dawgluver said:


> This thread brings back a whole lot of memories of REALLY bad smells from going on my home visits. I have an easy gag reflex. And when you're trying to make nice with a family of a kid who's having school problems, it's not nice to puke on their carpet!


I also did many years as an EMT. Obviously there are "less than enjoyable" odors involved with that, but still nothing coming close to food fried in stale lard, then left to go bad.



Chief Longwind Of The North said:


> How to avoid stinking up the house while frying fish:
> 
> Put gassy Uncle Frank, or Grandma Emma out in the garage.
> 
> ...


Your poor relatives!


----------

