Let's talk about whether it's possible to eat lamb that smells strange...
Looking for an answer to why lamb smells? Russian Breakfast will help you figure it out.
In general, this artiodactyl is famous for its specific smell throughout the world.
Lamb is not the most frequent guest on our table, compared to other types of meat, and this circumstance is partly explained by its specific smell and taste.
Sometimes lamb smells very unpleasant due to violation of the rules of feeding and slaughtering the animal. Another most common reason for the unpleasant odor of lamb is non-compliance with the temperature regime during storage.
Causes of unpleasant odor in meat
Did you know that lamb initially does not have an unpleasant odor? Let's look at the reasons why it appears.
1. The meat belonged to a boar.
2. Stored in a plastic bag that was tightly sealed.
3. The lamb is slightly or completely rotten.
If the lamb meat is completely rotten, then there is no way to fix it. And if you cook dishes from such meat, you will get poisoned. And there is no doubt about it. In other cases, there is a way out.
Lamb is a type of meat that if left in the room even for a while, it will develop an unpleasant smell. All this happens due to microbes that have found a suitable home for themselves. Therefore, you should not leave lamb in the room even for an hour.
Secrets of choosing the “right” lamb meat
It is important to know how to choose the right meat! A young lamb should not have a specific smell or dark color of meat.
Also, the pulp should not be slippery or sticky. High quality lamb should not have a strong odor. Also, the product should be free of blood and smudges.
If the meat is of good quality, cooking it is very easy! Lamb has a subtle, unique taste that appeals to many lovers of this meat. Therefore, there is no need to make any special efforts when preparing it. It's quite simple! Below is one of the simplest recipes for cooking lamb steaks.
How to get rid of unpleasant odor
1. Add one tablespoon of vinegar to a container filled with cold water. Put the meat there. It should be there within one hour. After this, you can immediately remove the meat from the water and rinse under warm running water.
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2. If the piece of meat is large enough, then cut it into small pieces. Rinse under running water, then soak in wine for one hour. You can also soak it in lemon juice.
3. Take mustard. Rub the meat with it. Leave it like this for a couple of hours.
4. Rub the lamb with salt. Then rinse thoroughly under running water.
5. You can also marinate the meat in the herbs you like best.
If none of the methods presented above work, then the meat can be thrown away because it has completely spoiled. Don't be sorry. It's better to throw it away than suffer from poisoning. This applies to the return of the smell when frying or cooking.
What affects the smell of lamb
Age affects the smell of meat
slaughtered animal:
- Lamb meat up to 3 months old, fed on mother's milk, is pinkish, low-fat, with a milky smell. You can buy it in the spring.
- Lamb meat from 3 to 12 months is deep pink, covered with a small layer of white fat that resembles wax. Some breeds do not smell, others have a slight characteristic odor.
- The meat of an adult animal over 12 months is red, dark, and has an intense odor.
The breed of the animal also affects the smell. Short-haired and scrawny-tailed breeds have no odor. If sheep often had to cover long distances and constantly move, then their meat smells more intensely compared to animals grazing not far from the shed.
The most “smelly” animals are:
- mature uncastrated breeding rams;
- mature sheep slaughtered before 21 days after estrus;
- animals that suffered damage to the bladder or intestines during slaughter, as well as sheep that were frightened before slaughter.
Plastic bag
Never store lamb meat or even any other meat in a plastic bag. There is a one hundred percent chance that the meat will have an unpleasant odor. It will appear not because of its damage, but because of the chemical components of the package. There are many other ways. Wrap the piece in several layers of parchment or paper kitchen towels. In this form, the meat will be stored longer and unpleasant odors will not appear.
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Helpful information
Tips for selecting, processing and cooking odorless lamb:
if you don’t want to deal with the smell, you need to buy lamb meat, the age of which does not exceed 3 months - you can buy the product only in early spring, such meat smells exclusively of sheep’s milk;- meat of dairy lambs from 3 months to a year is soaked for 30-60 minutes;
- young lamb is kept in brines and marinades for 1 to 3 hours;
- the meat of an old animal is soaked for 12-24 hours;
- to completely eliminate the smell of lamb when cooking soup, the water will need to be drained 3 times;
- After using any solution, the meat must be washed with clean water - this will ensure minimal distortion of the taste of the final dish.
You will find a lot of useful and important information on how to remove smell from different types of meat and cook it correctly here.
Useful tips on how to eliminate the unpleasant odor caused by polyethylene
Getting rid of the unpleasant odor caused by the bag is very simple. You just have to follow some recipes. Here are some of them that will definitely help you with this.
1. Take a large and deep container. Pour one liter of water into it. Dissolve two large spoons of salt in it. Mix these two ingredients well. Add some charcoal. Place a piece of meat with an unpleasant odor in a container with the solution. It must marinate for four hours. The longer the better. Firstly, you will completely get rid of the unpleasant odor. Secondly, the meat will acquire a pleasant aroma like from a fire due to charcoal.
2. Pour one liter of boiled water into a container. Add a tablespoon of chamomile there. Soak the meat for three hours.
3. Either nutmeg or cardamom will help get rid of the unpleasant odor in meat. Marinate the meat in these herbs and leave it like that for about one hour.
4. Pomegranate juice will help eliminate the odor, just not store-bought, but natural. Leave the meat in the juice for about half an hour. Pomegranate will also enhance the taste of lamb, making it bright and simply amazing.
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What to do with lamb meat
First, you should be more careful when you buy meat. Very often, sellers can deceive you and pass off lamb meat as sheep meat.
If you buy a product at the market, then take a piece of lard, run a lighter over it, and everything will become clear after this procedure. You shouldn't do this in stores.
If you do buy lamb meat, then get ready for the fact that you will have to soak it in milk all day. And change the milk every two hours for new and fresh milk.
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You should remove all the fat and cut the meat into small slices. Don’t forget about spices that will help you eliminate unpleasant odors. But this may not save the meat. Still, the unpleasant aroma will be slightly present.
It’s best to follow the advice of buying fresh meat and always paying attention to its color. It is better to buy a product with a delicate pink tint.
Why does lamb smell weird?
The most delicious, low-smelling lamb meat comes from young animals no older than three years. Lamb slaughtered in the fall does not have a heavy “aroma” either, since it is obtained from sheep that eat fresh grass from pastures all summer.
Meat from wild, sick, and very old sheep will be tough and foul-smelling.
If the animal was fed low-quality feed, raised under the scorching sun, or in damp conditions, then the smell can be very strong. Another reason why lamb smells is the large amount of medicines that were used to treat the animal.
Slaughter and smell
If a ram or sheep was slaughtered for a long time and painfully, the smell will be very unpleasant, like that of a wild animal that was being chased. Conditions of keeping/care also matter - if the stalls are overcrowded and rarely cleaned, the animals get dirty. When excrement gets on the “naked” meat during slaughter and cutting of the carcass, it will smell - removing such a smell is problematic and the question of why lamb smells cannot be resolved.
Smell and castration
There is an opinion that castration of sheep makes their meat less smelly. This is not so - castration is performed solely for the purpose of quickly gaining maximum weight for the animal. Thin-tailed sheep breeds are considered less “smelly” than fat-tailed sheep.
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How to deal with the unpleasant odor from old meat
If the lamb is more than one year old and you bought such meat, then you should take care of it. Here's what to do:
1. All fat must be cut off.
2. Cut the lamb into small slices. Rub each slice with garlic and herbs. Store in the freezer for three hours. Only after this can you prepare a dish from such meat.
3. Boil the meat for several hours in spices and carrots.
4. Soaking in salt water will also help you solve the problem.
How to remove a specific aroma when cooking?
There are different ways to cope with a specific smell. The following products will help fight off the unpleasant animal aroma:
Soak in water with a little vinegar. For 1 liter of liquid, 1 tablespoon of 9% acid is enough. The meat is left for 2-3 hours, after which it is rinsed with running water and the preparation of the main dish begins.- Soaking in lemon juice. To neutralize the odor, it must completely cover the meat. Exposure time – 1 hour.
- Marinating in white or red wine. This is one of the most effective ways to combat foreign odors. The meat should remain in the wine for at least 2 hours.
- Wrapping the product in a mustard “coat”. Both powder and paste are suitable for this method. Mustard must be applied in a thick layer. Then the product is wrapped in cling film and put in the refrigerator for an hour. After this treatment, it must be washed thoroughly.
- Soaking in kefir. The exposure time of lamb in a fermented milk drink should not be less than 3 hours.
- Soaking in carbonated mineral water. The meat is placed in soda and left overnight.
To prevent the meat from smelling, you need to remove all fat from it, including the veins. It is the fat component that has the most pronounced aroma.
How to cook lamb correctly
There are many different methods that will help you cook lamb properly without smelling. But first of all, you need to properly marinate the meat. For the marinade you can use the following combinations:
- soy sauce and garlic;
- natural yogurt and cumin;
- natural yogurt, cardamom and cumin.
There is another very popular marinade. You can marinate lamb in an onion-vegetable mixture. But it is better to marinate such meat for at least one day. Then you can achieve a certain effect. After marinating, meat should not be cooked for long.
It's better to buy a piece from the back. Hams are perfect for roasting meat over a fire or making juicy shish kebab. To ensure juicy chops, take the back.
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