Today while simmering split peas with a good meaty ham bone, the whole works smell so bitter. I'm wondering why. I love pea soup but haven't made it very often.
In the end it did taste fine but had a really bad smell like it was going to taste bitter. I added the onions carrots celery and garlic a bit later. I did have to use salt and that helped. Used 10c of water. It ended up fine… my husband had 3 bowls! I just thought it smelled off.
Best Answer
One of the first things that comes to mind is that you have some beans burned to the bottom of the pan. This is a common issue when cooking a large quantity of beans if they aren't stirred enough. Burnt food items omit a bitter flavor as well as smell.