Worst kitchen smell?

Doesn't that strong candle smell interfere with enjoying wine in your house? I would think it would be like sitting next to someone that is wearing too much perfume at a wine tasting.

Or at the next table in a restaurant. All quality restaurants require their service employees to be "scentless" at work.

chef, i agree. if the problem is food odors from the night before, maybe stuff should have been fresher. i mean, fish doesn't naturally smell bad - nor does lamb; but old versions - i mean how can you eat things the smell of which will revolt you later. i've been confusiled since the first post.

chef, i agree. if the problem is food odors from the night before, maybe stuff should have been fresher. i mean, fish doesn't naturally smell bad - nor does lamb; but old versions - i mean how can you eat things the smell of which will revolt you later. i've been confusiled since the first post.

It seems I have been confusing the masses here. Sorry about that. But to set the comments in this post straight...I do cook with fresh food, not old fish, old lamb. etc. For those of you who pay attention to my posts, you should know that!
Shall we just drop whatever I said that confused all of you and you can continue without my comments.

I can't believe we've gotten this far and no bean jokes.

Wrong room.

You never cooked with The Other Stupid.

[Robin Garr]

Old chicken.

Excellent pick, although I'd call it a draw with sour milk.

The worst kitchen smell ? The walk-in refridge of a lazy chef.

The worst food smell ? That cigarette stink, washing all over our table from the nearby waiter.

karen - i don't get it: you like you home odor free but you burn scented candles?

Yes David, I burn the candles at times because I do not like the BAD, or old cooking smells. There is a difference between offensive smells and good smells. These candles are called "cake candles". They are made back east, burn clean and have a very mild, pleasing scent. They make your entire home smell nice.....so does fresh air!
What I really dislike the most, is getting up in the morning and smelling dinner from last night.

No offense, Karen, but I guess "good" and "bad" smells are in the nose of the be-smeller.
Both my wife and her daughter are forever burning these kinds of candles, and they make me want to run screaming into the street. They make me actually long for the stench of a grease trap, or the pungent aroma of some bacalao sitting in the midday sun.

You have this in common with Len, John. So often we'll walk into a party where the hostess has lit festive scented candles throughout the house. He wants to turn around and leave immediately. (Of course we don't though.) I'm not a fan of them either, but I'm more tolerant than him. (Karen, please don't take offense. I know there is a huge market for scented candles.) I am a big fan, however, of these new "flameless" candles that look like they are really flickering. I don't have to worry that I'll forget to blow them out, creating a fire hazard. That's the best part.

[Jenise]

When I lived in an apartment building downtown they threatened to evict me if I continued to make my own beer. Cooking the wort would stink up the whole floor. I never received a complaint from the guys, but I sure got a lot of nasty looks from the females.

Understood. I made beer once. Just once.

[Jenise]

But to set the comments in this post straight...I do cook with fresh food, not old fish, old lamb. etc. For those of you who pay attention to my posts, you should know that!

We do/they do! They're just being wine geeks: scented candles can play havoc with wine smells.

So no-one else thinks burned cheese smells really, really bad?
I've had restaurant meals ruined by that smell coming from the kitchen!

Neither good nor bad but inconvenient - the aroma given off when steaming artichokes. If you're exposed to that don't try to taste wine for the next 8 hours because if you do you will find hints of artichokes in every red or white wine you taste!

And I adore artichokes!!!!

Best
Rogov

So no-one else thinks burned cheese smells really, really bad?
I've had restaurant meals ruined by that smell coming from the kitchen!

Actually, burned cheese is pretty OK.

The smell that comes out of the kitchen that makes me want to retch is that mop+bucket full of bleach. Can't they wipe the floor with something less obtrusive (nasally)?

A co-worker of mine in grad school used to melt Gruyere in the microwave (primitive raclette). Despite the fact that I love Gruyere, that smell drove me out of the room. The smell of cooking liver vies with that for worst all-time for me.

Mark Lipton

Worst smell? Rotten cabbage (carbon disulfide).

-Paul W.

The smell of Smoked Mackerel is right up there folks. Also pan-fried Snapper!

Have you people never smelled a dead, aging chicken???!!!!

I have to add my negative vote about scented candles. I can't even shop at Bed and Bath anymore because the entire store stinks like that, and if you buy anything made of a porous material, it might be months before it stops smelling sickeningly sweet.

On the other hand, I sometimes pick a lemon or rosemary or mint or scented geranium, and put it down the garbage disposal or boil it in a little pot on the stove-- that smells better.

Chef's right--rotten chicken is right up there in the bad smell department. I'd still have to rank rotten cabbage as more rank, though.

-Paul W.