Kitchen Odours

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csalt

Sous Chef
Joined
Jul 23, 2006
Messages
909
What brilliant ideas, apart from opening the windows!, have you got for getting rid of kitchen smells which threaten to permeate the house?:ermm:

I love the smells while I'm cooking but hate it when they seem to linger on no matter what! I just don't like the idea of anyone dropping in and smelling the dinner of a couple of hours ago!:rolleyes:
 
csalt, prices candles for kitchen odours, found in most UK supermarkets are EXCELLENT! the green ones are specially for kitchen smalls, and they really are very effective. The pet and tobacco ones are quite good too, but I use the kitchen ones most :) We need someone sciencey here, but I think a burning flame helps whether scented or not....I remember at school someone told us that taking a cigarette lighter into the loo helped with odours, and we were always doing that, lol!

In addition, I do a lot of cleaning with malt vinegar, which smells like a chip shop while your cleaning, but then lifts to a fresh vibrant clean smell, and I also clean with lemon juice and bicarb...the bicarb is great for smells :)
 
Given I live in Chicago and it's cold more months then it's warm odors are an obvious problem. Also given the fact that I cook a lot of Indian food and the spices are strong it is important to get rid of the lingering odors.

I have tried a few things but nothing works as well as opening a window. Here are some things though that do work.

A small air purifier plugged into a kitchen outlet works great. Another thing that works is if you can leave some white vinegar in a bowl right by the stove when you are cooking. The vinegar absorbs the foul odors as you are cooking.

I normally like to leave my ventilation system on all throughout the duration of my cooking (I have a downdraft with a 400 or 500 cfm blower that sucks the odors out and vents them outside). If odors still linger I like to blast them with an air neutralizer (we get a product called Oust in US that works really well, it does not mask odors like candles, potpourri and other fragrances) it actually sucks the odors after a few sprays and the house smells clean.
 
Interesting Yakuto, I never knew that about Oust. I usually burn a Yankee Candle in my tart burner - they are super strong and make my whole house smell good. I will look for Oust.
 
Oust is wonderful. We used it all the time in the doctors office where i used to work. Great for getting rid of that awful smell after kids get sick all over the room or baby has a messy one or the folks who don't bathe! Works well in the kitchen too. Just yesterday one of the onions I was dicing was really strong and after I got home from class the kitchen was still smelling of onion. A few spritzs and viola! no more onion smell!
 
A hood fan ventilated to the outside is essential as Robo said. I also like candles, but I hear that putting some baking soda in water on the stove for a few minutes works. I've never tried that one though.
 
the two smells that get me are fish and duck, duck being the worst for lingering odor.

we usually just light some scented candles and open the windows.

so then the house smells like a duck looking to get lucky...
 
This Forum never fails to make me smile or just sit here laughing!
 
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