Why do chitlins smell so bad

WASHINGTON, Nov. 13, 2010 — With chitlins about to make their annual appearance on Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year’s Day menus, scientists have good news for millions of people who love that delicacy of down-home southern cooking, but hate the smell. They are reporting the first identification of an ingredient in cilantro that quashes the notoriously foul odor of chitlins — a smell known to drive people from the house when chitlins are cooking. Their report appears in ACS’ Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry.

Yasuyoshi Hayata and colleagues note that chitlins — hog large intestines — are infamous for their foul smell, which is reminiscent of the waste material that once filled the intestine. However, many people enjoy the taste of the southern delicacy. When boiled or fried, chitlins are most popular in the United States during the winter holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year’s Day. However, hog large intestine also is a year-round staple in the cuisines of the Caribbean, Latin America, and Asia.

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Hayata’s group knew that cooks long have used fresh cilantro, an herb also known as coriander or Chinese parsley, to mask the unpleasant smell of certain foods, as well as add flavor. They previously showed that cilantro could help to remove the fecal or sewage-like odor from chitlins. In the new research, they set out to discover the identity of the deodorizing chemical compounds in cilantro.

The scientists treated samples of hog large intestine with cilantro extracts of different concentrations. A panel of human sniffers identified the concentrations that were most effective in reducing the odor. Using high-tech instruments, the scientists then isolated the main deodorizing ingredients in the most effective extracts. The scientists identified several cilantro ingredients that appeared to suppress the foul odor of chitlins. One of the substances with the tongue-twisting name of (E,E)-2,4-Undecadienal had a flowery fragrance that seemed to completely erase the odor. That substance worked at concentrations as low as 10 parts per billion — an equivalent to about 10 drops of substance in an Olympic-size swimming pool.

Credit: Wikimedia Commons

I ordered a meal that has chitlins in it today, and I genuinely almost threw up when I smelled it. It smells like literal human feces. What the hell. Who eats this shit. I can't get the smell out of my head either. It is engrained in my brain like branding iron on cow hide. I know that in history people learned to "eat the whole animal" and stuff, but godDAMN how was nobody like "hol' up, I don't know about this one guys, it smells like shit, tastes like shit, what are we doin' here?" Seriously.

Chitlins: 0/10.

Best tips on how to get rid of chitterlings smell?

Seems as if everybody wants to know, "how to get rid of chitterlings smell", maybe even you. 

One visitor recently asked....

How do I cook chitterlings and eliminate that horrible smell that they make while cooking? I want to prepare chitterlings for Christmas Day, however I do not need to have my house smelling with that foul odor when company arrives. What can I do?

Right around, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Years this is a common question we get all the time related to cleaning those chitterlings we love to eat, but hate the smell.

There's not a lot you can do to uncooked and uncleaned chitlins, they just plain ole stink. However, there are a few things you can do to lesson the smell and even eliminate the stick of chitterlings while they are cooking.

We recently discovered a little know way to get rid of the fouls smell of chitterlings. Guess what works really well--cilantro. Yes, cilantro gets rid of chitlins smell.

Cilantro is just one way of many to remove the foul, stinky smell of chitterlings. For a few other methods see what's written below.

How to get rid of chitterlings smell

In response to the frequently asked question of "how to get rid of chitterlings smell?" we provide the following tips and techniques that will surely reduce and eliminate the smell of chitterlings while they cook. Before I forget these response were all provided by visitors to this sight who are real cooks just like you. Enjoy!!1

• Sliced Oranges (By: Anonymous) - Put sliced oranges on the lid of the pot while they're cooking. Seriously it absorbs the entire smell. You'll be shocked. 
• To rid Chitterling smell while cooking (By: Anonymous) - You must clean the chitterling well. WASH, WASH, WASH, WASH and WASH more. Bring to a boil and drain all water from this first boil. Now, you are ready to add your seasonings, veggies and last but most importantly (secret ingredient) add 10-15 cloves of garlic. I've prepared them this way many times and there is no smell. TRUST ME ON THIS! It works and the chitterlings do not taste garlickly.
• Smell (By: PHIL H, Peoria, IL) - I have been cooking chitterlings for +30 years, and I thoroughly clean them and use plenty of onions and potatoes. The potatoes seem to soak up much of the odor. 
• How to calm down the Smell of Chitterlings (By: Anonymous) - It's very simple to clean them very very well. You will be amazed at how there will be little to no smell at all. But what you could also do put about 2 to 3 medium size potatoes in your water while cleaning your Chitterlings and the potatoes will soak up most of the stench. I hope this helps.
  
• How to get rid of Chitterlings Smell With Cilantro (By: Anonymous) - I didn't believe it when I first read about it but I gave cilantro a try and yes it did work. I just bought some fresh cilantro from my local grocery store. Made my own spice bag using cheese cloth and added it to my pot of bowling chitterlings until it absorbed all the smell. I then discarded the cheese cloth that contained the cilantro.
  
• It's all in the cleaning (By: Anonymous) - You must first soak the chitterlings in cold water with table salt for about an hour before cleaning. This makes it easier to separate the fat from the chitterlings because the fat is where the poop is stored. Put the chitterlings in a pot with a cut up onion and boil for about ten minutes. Drain the water off and put clean water in the pot and let the water boil a second time. Then you repeat step one by pouring the water off. Do a third boil with cut onion and garlic and any other seasoning you want to add. No more chitterling smell.
• Reduce Chitterling Smell (By: Centsibull, a man who likes to cooks) - Well, you cant get rid of the smell of chitterlings completely, just like any food, but here's what I do.  Put the chitlins' and hog maws and everything else in one of those roasting pans (with the white specks), that has been sprayed with non-stick spray, cover it and cook them in the oven at about 350 degrees for three or four hours (or more), depending on your preference. Now here's my secret touch. Avoid opening the pan during the first couple of hours or so cause the smell to me is worse then than later. This should reduce down the nasty smell. It doesn't eliminate the smell entirely but cuts it down quite a bit. 
• Use Lemon To Get Rid of Chitterlings Smell (By: Niki H.) - Quickly rinse them when you take it out the bag and put them in a container and use either 4 cut up squeezed lemons or 2 cups of lemon juice and let it sit in the container for like 3 hours. The lemons or lemon juice will kill the bacteria that causes the odor. Then you can clean them and cook them without the deadly stench of hell.... Lol. Lemon is used in many ways as a disinfectant to kill bacteria... Look at your cleaning products.. It contains lemon.
• How to get rid of Chitterlings Smell With Cinnamon (By: Michael) - Forget about it. Even if you clean, clean, and clean. They will smell, smell and smell. They are chitterlings. Clean them, cook them, and enjoy them! After cooking, boil a pot of water and add cinnamon. This will help eliminate the smell some. 
• HELP (By: Anonymous) - Staying in a house where one of the ladies brought in chitterlings that were cooked in another residence. She heated them up in the microwave. I've never smelled anything so revolting. How do I get the smell out of the microwave? HELP!
• Getting rid of (Chitterling) chitlin smell (By: A lil old school) - The way I help eliminate the chitin odor is, I clean and soak them in vinegar, plus the vinegar helps to cut a little of that grease away. 
• Try cooking chitterlings outside (By: etcetera) - Clean, clean, clean is excellent advise. BUT remember chitterlings just smell when they cook. Just to keep smell out of house cook them outside on the grill. Of course in a pot of water with the same ingredients you would normally use, the only difference your cooking outside. 
• Cut the smell of Chitterlings (By: Diahann) - First things First- Please Clean Them and Clean Them and Clean Them--enough said. Cut 4" Celery (2 pieces) and add some carrots (baby carrots). Add this to a 10 lbs portion of Chitterlings. This is to cut the smell. I think, the reason why they can smell so bad is if they are not cleaned well enough. 

Hopefully you have enjoy all of our tips and techniques on how to get rid of chitterlings smell. Try this stuff out really works.

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