How to cook fish without stinking up the house
 

I made fish for the first time a couple weeks ago. I'd found an article in the NY Times saying that if you cook the fish at high temp quickly, it won't stink up the house for days.

It still stank up the house for days.

Is there a better way to cook fish that doesn't result in a long term stank?

Try wrapping the fish in parchment paper and then cooking. I have done this with baking in the oven and then pan searing.

To rid the area of course open windows and clean using a vinegar solution. By next morning it should be good.

Addition: What kind of fish?

Not many fish I cook smell although I do try and avoid frying them which seems to be the smelliest way. For instance fried kippers are well known for filling the house with a lingering aroma....it used to upset the wife when I made them in the UK. I did read cooking them by sinking them in boiling water for a few minutes prevented them smelling but never tried it.

I now mainly poach fish or make fish pie and haven't heard her complaining.

What kind of fish? How did you prepare it?

I've never noticed a smell after cooking fish, but certainly have, say, after preparing something with a lot of garlic, or meat that emits a lot of grease/smoke (like roasting a chicken).

Go to a Korean supermarket and get some giant charcoal blocks. Korean uses them to absorb the smell from making kimchi. It takes out all the bad odor from the kitchen after cooking fish, crab cakes, etc....

Or you could grill the fish outside at the BBQ! I use a Sizzle-Q griddle.

I'm not allowed to cook fish in the house. The gas grill is right outside the back door on the deck. I like that I could do it inside without stinking up the place but I'd be afraid to try and fail. Then I would have to sleep next to the grill for a week.

Its the fish oils (or really, oils of anything that might smell). Other than having an effective extractor fan... (lots on the market are either ineffective, improperly installed or don't vent outside).

If sauteing fish, try the old trick of cooking with vermouth.

It's been a dozen years and at least 3 houses since I had an exhaust fan that vented to the outside. I tried the charcoal inserts and they helped some but not enough to eliminate the stink.

If you do a smoke test, I think you'll find that most extractor fans aren't very effective to begin with (microwave-fan combos particularly), and I bet the charcoal inserts make them even more ineffective.

I can't say these are tricks, per se, but...

Take the trash (including skin and bones) out of the house after cooking.

Wash the dishes or run the dishwasher immediately.

Have a candle burning in the kitchen while cooking.

Choose non-oily varieties of fish.

Set out a bowl of white vinegar while cooking and overnight.

Fry outside, all the time.

The smell lingers inside. If you have to, I'd bake it.

What about the cooking fish in the dishwasher trick? That's supposed to work quite well and it might contain the smell - you could then run a ishwasher cleaning cycle.

Huh?

Haddock.

I sauteed it in some butter and olive oil in my All-Clad frying pan. I think I also deglazed the pan with vermouth, come to think of it...

You can cook fish in the dishwasher, well at any rate you can cook salmon. Apparently it works very well, i've never tried it. I think the idea is that you wrap the fish in foil and the heat/steam of the dishwasher cooks it.

Barbecue. Either grilled over the flame, or wrapped in foil with butter/oil/seasonings.

Tout suite!

That would do it, liquid in vermouth evaporating over high heat in a short time and then circulated around the house.

i used to live in an apartment complex with a few small outdoor grills in the center. some of my neighbors loved to grill mackerel, obviously to avoid stinking their unit - so everyone in the entire complex got to enjoy it (not).

when my spouse and i first moved in with my in-laws, our bedroom was directly over the kitchen, and my mother-in-law would grill mackerel almost every day. i'm surprised we even lasted one month!

First of all, make sure that the fish you buy is fresh - if it's been sitting around for a day or two in the supply chain, then it will smell, whereas straight off the boat won't smell much, if at all.

Second, as stated above, use a proper extractor fan and keep the window open.

Third, remove the leftovers, including the packaging, to outside.

Following the above, the smell has always gone by breakfast.

Yup, it is possible. :)

Just remember not to load up the detergent tray.

Seal the foil tight and you can multi-task! :p

I believe I must place this in the weird category.

I mostly cook fish (salmon, mahi mahi) in the oven these days, in a pan with some liquid and herbs, and that approach doesn't seem to produce strong or lingering odors.

I concur with the following pieces of advice:

- eat fried fish and seafood at restaurants, not at home
- cook on the grill if you have suitable recipes
- wash pans and dishes right after dinner and take garbage with fish packaging outside quickly

Hadn't heard of the vermouth trick, and I do like vermouth for cooking, so I'm going to try that soon.

Hmm, come to think of it, I think the trick might be for removing the fish smell from the cooked dish - which might explain the OP's kitchen stinking of fish.....

and leave the rinse-aid container empty unless one uses vinegar.

Buy a non-stinky fish in the first place?

It was haddock! Not a stinky fish.

Ah, yes, en papillote! Works very well with many types of fish.


And don't use a rinsing agent!