I bought some pork chops at Lee’s Farm Market near Benson, NC a couple of weeks ago. I didn’t repackage them and put them in the freezer right away, and when I did, I noted an “off” smell. The first one that I cooked had a strong smell, and I thought, “did I let this spoil.” But, I cooked it and it didn’t taste bad. Several years ago, at I think it was called the “New York Cafe,” in Fayetteville, I had breakfast and some of the bacon had a similar, “off” smell, which smelled like urine. After this aroma recurred during repeated breakfasts, I think I asked about this. I think I was told that during certain times of the year, the meat took on this off smell, but the meat was still good. *And, I didn’t get sick off of three different pork chops that I cooked from Lee’s. However, I didn’t like this aroma, and I decided to buy some pork chops her in Fayetteville. I think I bought the pork chops at the IGA across town. They were thinly cut, maybe only 2 oz. per chop. Although they didn’t have that overpowering “taint” smell, they did have a hint of the smell. So, for the first chops I cooked today, I made some buttermilk (add a little vinegar or lemon juice to regular milk) and marinated them for a couple of hours, as I went about town getting groceries, drugs and money from First Citizens, before cooking. The soaking in buttermilk did make the aroma almost unnoticeable, and I will probably do this again.

I’ve made homemade buttermilk about 3 or 4 times since I read online how to do this and I’ve been very happy about the results. The milk thickens up and has a little tartness to it. For years, I’ve read about using buttermilk to marinate various meats, and I’ve done this a few times, but the problem was always that even a quart of buttermilk, meant that most of it would go bad before I used it again. Now I can make a cup or half-cup of buttermilk, use it, and not have to worry about wasting any left over.