I put pans of water + spices on top of the radiators. It humidifies the dry winter air, the spices smell wonderful, and I don't waste energy running the stove just to make the house smell delicious.

marniejoyce, great idea!

Cambria, great post! I know from personal experience that you are not exaggerating! ;-) I had a simmer pot of orange peels (from 2 oranges), 2 cinnamon sticks, cloves & ginger peels going last year when a dear friend stopped by. When she walked in, her face lit up, she inhaled deeply & asked me “Girrrl ... what are you baking? It smells heavenly!”. She did not believe that it was just a simmer pot until I showed it to her.

Simmer pots have several uses/benefits besides smelling wonderful:
- humidify! Moving from a newer home (central air with whole-house humidifier & air cleaner) to an older home (baseboard heating) was a rude awakening for my sinuses ... as soon as we turned the heat on for the first time. Simmer pots were so soothing. I added essential oil (i.e., tea tree, lavender or lemongrass) & white vinegar to the pot to the peels & spices to try to sanitize the air as well. This is great after cooking pungent dishes like fish.
- great as prep for making iced tea – I have dropped lemon or orange peels (just the zest not the bitter white portion of peel), ginger root peel or slices & cinnamon stick into water before bringing it to boil to make iced tea. Letting those items steep with the tea makes delicious tea while filling the house with great fragrance in the process. I always scrub the fruit with a handful of baking soda or a veggie brush to thoroughly clean the peel when I do this
- facial treatment?! Sometimes I steam my face over a pot of water with a towel as a tent over my head as part of a facial. I'm tempted to try this at the table with the simmering pot.

That is a great idea marniejoyce!

I'm not sure I quite get this concept. Why go to this much trouble for just the smell? Why not just bake or cook something?

@mdorothy: I've done this when I don't have the time or ingredients to bake.

plus, as others mentioned it also helps humidify dry winter air!

@mdoroothy You would get similar scents by cooking something but you get the added benefit of humidification which is sorely needed in some parts of the world particularly in the winter time.

Also, if you want the smell regularly, like everyday, baking everyday is way more work. And cooking something with orange or cinnamon or cloves everyday could get redundant.

It is just a simple fun way to get that cozy authentic autumn aroma without all the cooking work.

I am going to set one up right now. :-)

I like the simmering effect for those long days and weeks when I don't bake. It's a great filler, who can bake every day, all day long?

To recipe #4 I'd add lavender and/or rosemary...they blend great with citrus, especially lemon.

Ironic - post says to avoid use of petroleum-based candles by simmering spices over a natural gas flame...

These days, I simply enjoy the aroma of a Trader Joes cinammon broom. It doesn't permeate every nook and cranny, but the long lasting aroma travels quite far in a warm house.

I wish I had a radiator. I'd set one of these up in my bedroom for sure.

Seems like you could do this with a crockpot too and not worry about the gas....

I haven't done this in years, but I should. I love the idea of using the heat from radiators. In our old house, we had an ancient gravity furnace with the big floor grates. I always had bowls of water and essential oils sitting on the out of the way vents.

Talk about timing... I just did this today. I invited my mom over for dinner, and the apartment smelled like steamed broccoli (I don't like that smell), so I heated some cinnamon, nutmeg, vanilla and star anise on the stove and TA DAAA, all better! When she walked in she commented on how good it smelled in my place. :) I enjoyed this post and now have some new "scent recipes".

Ok I might be crazy, but I have to ask. Would it destroy my warm steam humidifier to put a cinnamon stick or some lemon/apple juice in the water? Just tell me now, that's a dumb idea. But I want to!!! Delicious fall smells!!!!

I WISH our radiators got hot enough for us to use them this way!

(...One day I will control my own thermostat!!!)

Dakotablue has read my mind!

Also, while I love the idea of filling the air with those gorgeous smells, I would rather that they eminated from something I was actually cooking to eat and really, I wouldn't want to be smelling them every day of the week!

I place a small, lidless jar of water with a few drops of essential oil in it, on top of my gas fire and allow the heat to disperse the scent. One thing that this post has made me realise is that I could do the same thing using the top of my grill while it's in use!

As for the petroleum issue, there are plenty of soya-based/vegetable wax-base candles out there that take less time to light than it would take to peel an orange! ;)

I really like marniejoyce's idea of a water/spice pot on the radiator, but mine are curved on top and I'd be too worried about spilling it. Anyone have a creative solution to keep a pan secured to the top of a non-flat radiator?

turketron, you could try using a small jar instead and hanging it from the radiator so that it is against the side of the radiator rather than sitting it on top? The glass jar that I use on top of my fire is an empty handcream one, about 5cm across. it works well enough without a great deal of heat. If I have a little water left in the kettle, I usually use this to top it up as the heat from the water gives it a 'head start'.

My mom has done this for as long as I can remember, but she just told me that it damages the pot. (but she doesn't know why) I can't seem to find anything about this damaging pots ... has anyone heard of this causing damage or what to do about it?? (I have a pot on the stove now... the smell is worth it!)

I have a candle warmer and keep old jars from my yankee candles to throw old bits and pieces of candles in...think I will use an old jar and put the ingredients in on the warmer. :)

Hey, I didn't know this was a 'thing'! I don't know about doing it for that 'fall smell' (?!) but I stumbled across it when a pot of hot cider heating with oranges magically made a burned-on-the-bottom-of-the-oven smell fade away. Now when that happens again I put oranges (we have a tree) and some lavender oil in a pan and let that fix the burned problem. Like once or twice a year when we have a full-blown party - this for sure wouldn't be a daily thing, it boils down so fast and is so...so...fake?

I just keep a pot filled with water and cinnamon sticks to make Canela tea. In our house we drink it almost every day because smells great and it's tasty.

Turketron, these humidifiers hang off the side of the radiator. I've purchased several from this site. http://www.tullulastreasures.com/page/page/756906.htm

LOVE simmer pots :)

In Jamaica, I cut fresh lemon grass and boil in water for a fresh cup of tea that also makes the house smell like lemons. When I lived in FL, I had a pot on the stove and the person fixing my dishwasher said the house smelled like lemons. I told him what it was and he said his wife would love some of the grass, and I pulled some with the root for he and his wife to enjoy.

Y'all do realize that natural gas and petroleum are actually two different things, right?

I use cinnamon sticks, whole cloves and coriander seeds! Awesome. Sometimes I throw in orange peels, but not very often.

i think i might try our coffee pot and coffee maker for this so i won't feel so wasteful letting it sit for hours.

This may be a stupid question...what do you mean when you are referring to "cloves"? I immediately think of garlic cloves....?

Who the heck are all you people who bake?! Maybe I'm just the type who rather do the eating part than the work.

Mom was never a baker either, but something she always swore by was a little pair of ceramic pots that sit one on top of the other. The top on she'd fill with water and all sorts of lovely spices, and the bottom one would hold a votive candle. Once the candle was lit voila! The air was pleasantly scented and the stove wasn't left on for hours.

@zoowedding cloves are aromatic dried flower buds, sometimes ground and used as a spice or kept whole. You may have seen them poked into oranges? They're also made into cigarettes. A spicy sweet smell and taste...

I love using cardamom pods, cloves, and cinnamon sticks!

just repinned on pinterest and put on the stove with an additional teaspoon of cocoa powder, you made my evening ;) btw: to try with some extra coffee beans as well!

Great ideas! If I have a couple apples or oranges that are past their prime, I quarter them and add them to the water and spices in a simmer pot. it makes me feel like I didn't TOTALLY waste them...;)

Thanks so much for this terrific info and all the great comments that followed. I hope you don't mind, but I have taken the liberty of sharing your Simmer Pot idea in a free report I've tied to my Kindle book, "How To Get Your Kids Begging For Chores."

I just summed up the idea briefly and then included a link so folks could head over to this site for the far more complete info here! Feel free to contact me if you've got any questions or concerns - mostly just hoping to give credit where it's due :o)

I use cinnamon with vanilla and sugar, its great spices ingredients.