I just bought a value pack of GV canned Chunk Chicken Breast and it smelled horrible when I opened and it tastes fine though. Why would it smell horriblem
In: Biology
I had to look into this one, I had a few ideas, but wasn’t sure. First and foremost based on canning forums here on Reddit and elsewhere, this seems to an issue with pressure-canned chicken products even when they’re made fresh at home. On that basis I did a bit more looking around and lo and behold, found a few plausible reasons.
First, chicken protein breakdown products include a non-trivial amount of ammonia, to which our noses are very sensitive. It’s volatile and in small amounts though so it stinks when you open the can, but then it’s basically long gone by the time you’re eating it.
Second, the canning process itself might be a factor. Remember the chicken is put into the tin raw (or par cooked) and then the high heat and pressure of the canning process cooks them. Part of the smell could be byproducts from that high heat.
Third… a LOT of canned things have a pretty distinct aroma, and not a pleasant one. Chicken is one of the stronger smells to be sure, but that might come down to the higher presence of ammonia in odor making it volatile. I think if you got a good sniff of any freshly opened can, it would have a somewhat unpleasant odor.
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