any tips for removing fish smell from mason jar?

Paul

Paul

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had some salmon fresh from Alaska sent to us in mason jars. would like to keep the jars but are they salvageable? Regular washing and soaking in soapy water has not helped.

 
third suggestion is a gem

have not tried those. How long would you soak in vinegar?

 
I can tuna in my jars regularly; you need to: . . .

get a scrubbie and scrub the inside of the jars. First, if you have one, run the jars through the dishwasher, and make sure your water to the washer is HOT by running hot water to the sink then immediately turning on the dishwasher.

If the jars are still smelly (I have never had them still be smelly) and /OR they still have residue (this is what happens to me) you need to fill the jars with hot water, let them soak briefly and then hand scrub them out with a scrubbie. If you cannot get your hand into the jar, put the soapy scrubbie into the jar, scrub as well as you can with your fingers and then use the handle of a wooden spoon to scrub out the places you cannot reach. Of course you must use a detergent, something that will dissolve oil, for doing this; some times you need more detergent! And you need to scrub, scrub, scrub.

If the jars' residue seems especially obstinate, fill with HOT, HOT soapy water and let soak for a longer time, maybe a couple of days (highly unlikely)..

IF you are re-using the lids for on-the-counter storage, stop, as you may never be able to get the smell out of the sealing compound!--and this may be where most of your smell is coming from.

Works for me. smileys/smile.gif

 
Me? I would dump it in, swirl, scrub and dump out. Fishiness isn't something I can

live with. After that attempt, if they still smelled, they'd go into recycling.

I even have a hard time going into fish markets and walking past the fish stall at Publix.

 
I think the old Polident denture tablets trick should work--fill jars to very top

give them a good shake and soak overnight.
Be sure to get unscented. Good luck!

 
perhaps it is the jars. if you send me a few jars

full of fresh salmon, I could test the theory out for us.

 
Lemons?

Once we came back from 2 weeks' vacation to find that our electricity had gone out a few days after we left. The freezer was disgusting and I just wanted to throw it out. After cleaning it thoroughly it still stank, so we cut up a few lemons and closed them up in it. A week later, the freezer smelled of rather mouldy lemons but not of stinky meat.

But the dishwasher should work - it works for my grill tongs that I can't get the smell off any other way.

 
that is awesome but I was teasing MarilynFL and wouldn't want to take advantage

although I am in no way beyond begging or otherwise creative forms of manipulation, petty theft (like snagging something off your plate when you ain't lookin) and a wide variety of schemes and machinations to get food from people...

 
All boils down to a little elbow grease and detergent. AND . . .

put a bleached GLASS jar in the sun and soon no odor. Bleach is very fugitive that way, especially when well rinsed.

 
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