Ghost sausage?

November 16, 2005 9:12 PM

Our kitchen has smelled like pleasantly spiced cooked sausage since last Saturday afternoon. But we didn't cook sausage that day. In fact, we haven't cooked sausage since we moved into this new townhouse 2 months ago.

My husband thinks it's coming from the (clean and not overpacked) fridge, but I don't smell it there. It clears out when I turn on the fan over the stove, but comes back almost immediately when the fan stops. I cleaned the drains with baking soda and hot water, but the odour isn't coming from there, either. The garbage has been taken out.

The thing is, I could understand how we might have missed, say, a spill from thawing meat somewhere. But that would smell fairly bad to start and even worse now. This isn't a rotten meat smell: it's really quite delicious. And both my husband and I smell it, so it's not a single person's olfactory hallucination.

Any ideas how I could track this down?

posted by maudlin to home & garden (13 comments total)

Could it be fat in the filters on the rangehood? Frying can leave a lot of goo up there.
posted by cardboard at 9:26 PM on November 16, 2005

You say you live in a townhouse... connected to other townhouses? Could someone nearby be cooking sausage regularly?
posted by stefnet at 9:34 PM on November 16, 2005

Any paranormal phenomena we should be aware of? Maybe a poltergeist who's fond of german cuisine. What for the scent of sauerkraut in the bedrooms.
posted by falameufilho at 9:39 PM on November 16, 2005

Worst case senario? A tiny mouse smouldering against an exposed wire in your wall...
posted by shanevsevil at 9:49 PM on November 16, 2005

That's just offal!
sorry!
posted by rob511 at 11:52 PM on November 16, 2005

Wurst case scenario...
What kind of heating system do you have?
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 12:08 AM on November 17, 2005

Maybe it's two other odors...fat and sage would be my guess, that together are reminiscent of sausage. Have you cleaned out the range and stove themselves, and the filters too?

Other thought - maybe it's treated wood and someone else is using their fireplace? Does anyone else smell it or is it definitely coming from your place?
posted by iconomy at 4:08 AM on November 17, 2005

Heads of garlic, when they start to go bad, make a smell similar to what you describe - have you pulled the oven out to make sure nothing's fallen behind it?
posted by ugf at 5:13 AM on November 17, 2005

The filters in the stove/oven fan?
posted by barnone at 7:09 AM on November 17, 2005

Thanks for the ideas so far.

* The fan and filter in the range hood are squeaky clean.

* We have gas heating, but it's been so mild that the furnace hasn't switched on yet. The new stove smelled gassy the first few times we used it, so I'm not confusing gas odor and the sausage smell.

* If we had slow-roasted mouse on the menu, I think that cats would be drooling. Seriously, mouse smells like spicy pork?

* No garlic or other stuff behind the oven.

* There are no wood-burning fireplaces in this development.

* It might be the neighbours' cooking but we haven't figured out exactly how to ask them about their menu yet. We haven't asked anyone else if they smell the same thing.

* If it's a ghost, I think we'll keep him. As I said, it does smell pretty good.
posted by maudlin at 9:09 AM on November 17, 2005

I'd say it's one of your neighbors. I used to live above a Korean family and my cupboards and vents would smell like Kimchi all the time.
posted by Mike C. at 1:17 PM on November 17, 2005

My money's on folie a deux.
posted by ikkyu2 at 8:38 AM on November 18, 2005

Yes, it must be folie à deux.
posted by weapons-grade pandemonium at 1:06 AM on November 19, 2005