Getting rid of fish smell in the refrigerator

The specific stench of fish in the refrigerator emanating from the refrigerator makes the housewife urgently decide how to remove it from the refrigerator at home. Effective household chemicals, improvised means for washing the unit, and absorbers of unpleasant odors will help with this. To prevent the problem from recurring, it is worth familiarizing yourself with methods for preventing it.

Why does the smell appear?

When the refrigeration device is in full working order, the food is stored correctly (there is the proper temperature), and the food in it is stored correctly, then nothing should smell when the door is opened. Why does the aroma still appear?

The reason may be the following: violation of the rules for storing prepared and raw foods. If smoked meats, fish, and sausage are left unpackaged, their strong aroma will absorb the refrigerator and all its contents. In semi-finished meat and fish products taken out of the freezer and stored in the refrigerator, bacteria quickly multiply - as a result, the meat or fish “go rotten”.

If the storage period is exceeded, the “old” product deteriorates and begins to spread a stench. If it is not thrown away in time, mold forms, spreading the characteristic mustiness and stench.

It is important to know: as a rule, it is the fish that emits an unpleasant “aroma”.

Signs of a spoiled product

A quality product has a natural color and a clean surface. After thawing and cooking, taste and smell are assessed. They must match the type of fish.

Defects in chilled and frozen products are determined by the quality of raw materials and their processing technology. If something in the technical process is disrupted, foreign odors appear, color, appearance and consistency change.

You should definitely not buy fish if you have the following signs:

dark or reddish-brown surface;
mold on scales;
smell of petroleum products, putrid, warehouse, stale, garlicky.

Fish should not be eaten if, during/after cooking, its consistency has become tough, fibrous, flabby or structureless, or the muscle tissue of the carcass has become flaky.

How to remove foreign odor

1. Standard cleaning.

First of all, you just need to wash the refrigerator:

The first thing he does is disconnect from the network.
Then you need to unload all the products and remove the shelves, which are washed and dried separately.
The refrigerator itself also needs to be washed with special detergents mixed with soda (it absorbs foreign odors well).
The unit is dried, the shelves are put back, and the products are put back in their places.

It is important to know: if the unpleasant odor still remains, then you need to perform other actions.

2. Folk remedies are the best cleaning method!

If you do not want to buy specialized detergents because of their synthetic composition, then you can use traditional methods of absorbing third-party odors:

1. A teaspoon of ammonia is mixed with the same amount of salt. The mixture is stirred in water and the refrigerator is wiped with it.
2. Pour a tablespoon of soda into a liter of water and thoroughly wash the walls of the refrigerator. To absorb unpleasant odors, it is recommended to put a little soda inside.
Adding 10-15 drops of lemon juice to a shot of vodka or any other alcohol not only disinfects the refrigerator, but also flavors it with the smell of lemon.
Vinegar and water in equal proportions (one to one) will disinfect the refrigeration unit well.

How long can you store fish in the freezer?

This question is perhaps the main one when it comes to preserving the quality of meat and seafood. After all, even properly frozen fish cannot be stored forever. Over time, it turns yellow as a result of fat oxidation and acquires a bitter taste. If we talk specifically about how long fish can be stored in the freezer, then the terms vary between 9-12 months. You can accurately name them taking into account the type of fish and the method of freezing it. But even if all conditions are met, you should be prepared for the fact that over time the taste of the product does not change for the better.

Natural flavors and neutralizers

It is also necessary to not only disinfect the device, but also fill it with a pleasant aroma with natural substances:

Orange or tangerine peel exudes a pleasant aroma and absorbs negative ones.
Tea is one of the best flavoring agents. A homemade tea bag works well against odors. You need to pour loose leaf tea (it doesn’t matter - green or black) with aromatic additives into gauze.
Few people know that activated carbon not only removes toxins from the body, but also absorbs foreign odors.
Surely many have seen jars of coffee in perfume stores in order to cover up the smell of perfume. You can do the same with food storage: 10 grams of coffee will neutralize unpleasant odors and give a fresh aroma.
Soda is a universal but powerful neutralizer.
If you need to remove a really strong unpleasant odor from the refrigerator, you can make a paste of ground cinnamon and vinegar. This mixture should always be kept in the refrigerator in a closed jar with holes made in the lid.

Reasons for and ways to eliminate persistent odors in the refrigerator

An unpleasant smell in the refrigerator appears if the operating conditions of the household appliance are violated or the wrong food storage mode is selected.

Causes of unpleasant odors :

Irregular cleaning of the refrigerator compartment;
storing foods with strong odors without a container or bag;
cleaning the shelves and walls of the chamber with abrasive agents, leading to the appearance of small scratches in which particles of dirt accumulate;
storing food in a switched off refrigerator with the door tightly closed;
choosing a temperature that does not correspond to the volume of products.

When the refrigerator is in use for a long time, scratches form on the surface of the shelves, in which food particles accumulate. Then bacteria multiply there, and a putrid smell appears. It is impossible to completely remove dirt from the uneven surfaces of a scratched surface; this is the reason for the persistence of odors in the refrigerator.

Ways to combat unpleasant odor:

Replace heavily worn or deformed shelves with new ones;
wash with detergent - laundry or liquid soap, dishwashing detergent, other non-abrasive cleaner, wipe dry the shelves and walls of the refrigerator compartment, door shelves;
use products that corrode dirt, mold and food particles - such products can be found in hardware stores or prepared at home;
put an odor absorber in the refrigerator.

If after all the methods tried, the smell still persists, you will need to call a household refrigeration repairman who will fix the problem. In this case, the source of the stench may lie behind the walls of the refrigeration chamber, that is, in places that cannot be reached without disassembling the structure.

Specialized drugs

Well, to combat the heaviest fish smell, special detergents and flavoring agents will come to the rescue. It is worth paying attention to the following options:

OdorGone is a popular foreign detergent made from natural and environmentally friendly raw materials that can remove all odor in 12 hours.
Refrigeration “Indesit” is a spray product with an antibacterial effect.
Top House is an inexpensive cleaning kit consisting of a spray and a cleaning cloth that can even deal with the strong smell of fish in the refrigerator.
Clean Home is a gel detergent made from hydrogen peroxide and natural flavors that is absolutely safe for humans and food.

It is also worth paying attention to small devices called “Odor Absorbers”:

Balls with silicone gel inside are not only a good absorber of third-party odors, but also a natural flavoring agent with various scents (customer's choice).
An egg-shaped absorber with an indicator will indicate when you need to clean the refrigerator and will refresh the air in it at the set time.
An absorber based on carbon filters absorbs foreign odors emanating from products.
Among the inexpensive devices of this class, we should highlight a battery-powered ionizing device. With the help of natural filters, they are able to absorb external stench, excess moisture and saturate the refrigerator with pleasant odors (there is no need to place it in the refrigerator all day, just leave it for 5-10 minutes).

How to determine the freshness of frozen fish and choose fresh frozen fish

But still, most often most of us have to buy frozen fish.

Frozen fish of good quality has an even color and light, convex eyes. The fins and gill covers should be pressed against the body of the fish. Open gills and sunken eyes indicate that the fish has lost its freshness even before freezing. Also signs of not being fresh are excessive thinness (sunken belly) and scales that have fallen off in places.

For frozen fish, there is nothing worse than being refrozen. But, unfortunately, in supermarkets, already thawed fish are often packaged in beautiful thick bags and re-frozen. You can determine whether the frozen fish being sold has not been defrosted by eye: good quality fish should not have ugly ice growths, the carcass is even, of a natural color (without yellowing) and not stuck together or frozen, in a word - beautiful. Yellowed surface of fish is one of the main defects of frozen fish (especially salmon). This kind of fish is absolutely not worth buying. It's inedible. A fish that is crumpled or out of shape “speaks” that it has been defrosted and frozen again several times. Of course, you can’t smell tightly packed fish in a supermarket, but if you do succeed, know that high-quality fish should not have any foreign odors: ammonia, rotten meat, etc.

When buying fish, you should also take into account that after freezing, fish of valuable varieties is covered with a thin crust of ice - glazed. Glazing protects the surface of the fish from drying out, makes it difficult for air to enter and thereby protects it from premature spoilage. But often, looking at the store counter, you get the impression that the whole fish is “glazed”, and not with a thin crust, but with whole blocks. Thus, unscrupulous sellers add weight to the fish. Don't sponsor these sellers. And fish frozen in this way has already lost its quality. And if the seller also “cheats” during freezing, then you risk not only being disappointed with the amount of fish after it is defrosted, but also getting more harm than good from a dish prepared from this fish.

By remembering these simple rules on how to choose fresh fish, you will avoid unnecessary disappointment from buying low-quality fish. Be very careful when choosing fish. I wish you only conscientious sellers and great pleasure from delicious fish dishes!

When choosing a fish fillet, it will be much more difficult to control its freshness than a whole fish. Unscrupulous sellers usually use for fillet those carcasses that have already lost their marketable appearance, and therefore cannot boast of freshness. Of course, it is best to buy the whole fish and fillet it yourself, but if you still choose fillet, be guided by the signs that are still available to you: the smell, the elasticity of the meat and its appearance.

Refrigerators

When solving the problem of how to remove the smell of fish from the refrigerator, they turn to proven methods. You can use special chemicals, as well as effective folk remedies. Effective odor absorbers are also used.

Prevention

In order to avoid unpleasant odor, you need to follow the following rules:

Food products must be well sealed and product proximity must be observed (each type of product must be in its place, dairy products with dairy products, and so on). For example, it is recommended to wrap fish, meat and semi-finished products in cling film and place them in a container with a lid (this way, unpleasant aromas will not spread and the products will be stored longer).
From time to time you need to wash food storage areas.
It is also worth talking separately and in detail about the freezer, in which third-party aromas may appear due to spoiled food. You should not stuff it, as they say, to capacity, as this can lead to disruption of its functioning (the refrigeration element weakens). Because of this, stored food can quickly spoil. Therefore, from time to time it is worth unloading and treating the freezer with detergents and antibacterial substances.
The main rule to remember is that spoiled food has no place in the refrigerator!
As soon as signs indicating spoilage are noticed, you need to throw away the product! Fish has its own specific storage periods (in a temporary storage chamber it can be stored for no more than a day, and in a long-term storage chamber - from 2 to 3 months, depending on the type of fish).

Important Tips

Always seal food containers and bags tightly.
Ventilate the premises.
If you feel that the fish has begun to rot, throw it away immediately.
After cooking fish, wash the dishes thoroughly, and do not just rinse with water.
Do not place knives, plates, or cutting boards in the dishwasher, as this will transfer the smell to other dishes. It is better to wash them with warm running water using a sponge with detergent.
Always use different cutting boards for fish and other foods. This way the smells won't mix.
If you are preparing fish soup or frying fish in the kitchen, you need to close the door to prevent the “aroma” from entering other rooms.
Always wear gloves when handling fish or other strong-smelling foods, as skin absorbs odors, especially when wet.
Before frying fish, marinate it, for example, in vinegar. Or add parsley and celery to it, they neutralize odors perfectly.