Serene Vannoy wrote:
>
> Back in May, I wrote to ask if salt pork normally has an "off" odor.
> Tonight, I opened a new (they just ordered it special for me) package of
> pork belly, and I got the same whiff of offness as it started cooking,
> so I did some research. No WONDER the kid and I could smell it, but
> James couldn't:
>
> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boar_taint

Just goes to show you Wikipedia can be wrong.
That article blames skatole for some cases of
boar taint (for example, in female animals).
It's a widespread myth among chemists that
skatole has an odor, probably because commercial
reagent-grade skatole ordered from a chemical
supplier has a strong odor. Ultrapure zone-refined
skatole has no odor.

Whatever is causing the odor can't be skatole.
It may be a related compound(s) or even an
unrelated compound with similar properties which
make it difficult to separate from skatole.