Does a strong smell when cooking spinach indicate anything?
I have some frozen spinach that I fry in a pan along with some other vegetables and meat. While it’s heating up, the spinach doesn’t smell like anything, but after several minutes, it starts to give off a fairly strong smell. I don’t know how to describe it, but it isn’t especially pleasant.
Each time, the rest of my food was cooked at that point, so I stopped cooking. The spinach looked and tasted fine. Does the smell from the spinach mean anything in particular? Does it mean that the spinach is probably done cooking? Did I overcook it?
Best Answer
True, you may have cooked it too much and spinach is cooked when it reaches 160 degrees F. If the spinach overcooks, it does not necessarily mean it is bad, it is just overcooked. In my opinion, eat it, I have because mine did not taste bad as I understand yours did not taste bad.
Now, another idea is that when you have smelly spinach, you might have cooked in on very high heat and you burned it or overcooked it, you could still eat it. Again, if it does not taste bad, it is ok to eat it.
Another idea is that you used rancid oil, which using the rancid oil on the spinach would taste bad and you would then get rid of it. That would taste bad.
Also there is the problem of listeria, which is some kind of a bacteria, I think, and the spinach is bad to begin with and will or might make you sick. Please look that up, lettuce also has that problem. I think the spinach would have a blackish hue to it and taste bad. Get rid of it.
Lastly, what I read about spinach is that you do not re-heat cooked spinach, eat it cold. I make big batches of creamed spinach, my family loves it, takes it to their homes, nukes it, and nobody has gotten sick. I am no doctor, so take that info for what it is worth.
Lastly secondly, I use frozen spinach to make dips. I make too much of that also and I make my own creations of that. My family likes to take that home also. What I do with any dip is put out smaller portions at a time and fill up as necessary. It is time consuming but as a safety issue it makes me feel good and when you feel you are doing your best to keep people eating safer, it is worth it.
At very Last, use your judgement, don't take chances. When in doubt, throw it out. I do what I do because I have a lot of experience, but that does not mean I don't get into trouble once in awhile. Good Luck
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Quick Answer about "Does a strong smell when cooking spinach indicate anything?"
How does the spinach look? If you go to open your bag or container of spinach and you get a musky or sour smell then do not cook or eat it. Fresh spinach should smell fresh. Like lettuce or kale, it will start to smell when it is going bad.Why does my cooked spinach smell like ammonia?
In the case of spinach, the ammonia is produced as a consequence of protein catabolism: the accumulation of ammonia is responsible of leaf dark deterioration.How can you tell if cooked spinach is bad?
How to tell if cooked spinach is bad? The best way is to smell and look at the spinach: discard any that has an off smell or appearance, do not taste first.Can you cook bad spinach?
As usual, if you're not quite sure if it's still okay to eat it, discard it. If you're considering eating spinach that's starting to wilt and turn yellow, it's best to use it in a cooked dish. The taste of the green will be acceptable at best, so using it in a dish will help to cover that up.Does spinach smell like sulfur?
Now, it's clear that the sulfosugar in spinach can also produce hydrogen sulfide, aka smelly gas. On the contrary, research has also indicated that spinach provides a host of benefits to the gut microbiome, which means you should still eat spinach and leafy greens regularly.Spinach Benefits and Caution Explained By Dr. Berg
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Answer 2
From Fresh-cut baby spinach: off-odour development inside the package still an unresolved problem
In the case of spinach, the ammonia is produced as a consequence of protein catabolism: the accumulation of ammonia is responsible of leaf dark deterioration. The effects of MAP conditions on the quality maintenance of fresh-cut spinach have been widely evaluated.
Answer 3
I was curious about this too. I am cooking fresh spinach and to me it smells like oysters. Not in a bad way though! I like oysters!
Here is my theory:
Spinach is high in iron Oysters are high in iron
Spinach contains chlorophyll (in cells) Oysters eat chlorophyll (from plankton)
So I think it could be a combination of iron and chlorophyll being boiled that gives off a smell we think is fishy.
It's just my guess. I'm not a scientist or anything haha!
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