12 Ways to Prevent (and Get Rid of!) Cooking Smells in Your Entire Home
Kitchen smells aren’t so bad when you’re actually cooking, but who wants to wake up to the smell of last night’s dinner in the kitchen? Instead of trying to remove food odors after they linger, try to prevent them from getting out into the air, your walls, or your textiles before the stench happens.
How to Prevent Lingering Cooking Smells
It’s important to get rid food odors before they get into the air, walls, or textiles. There are several ways to prevent lingering cooking smells, including using a charcoal filter splatter screen while you cook or cleaning surfaces, the fridge, and trash can regularly. Read on for more ways to keep kitchen smells at bay.
Learn how to get rid of cooking smells with the preventative measures below.
1. Use a charcoal filter splatter screen.
Of course, any splatter screen will keep food and liquids from splashing onto your stovetop or backsplash while you cook, to play a small part in preventing smells. But this charcoal filter will also absorb cooking scents as you cook, which means both splattered tile and kitchen smells could be a thing of the past in one fell swoop.
2. Boil a vinegar-water solution on the stove.
Steam is another powerful way to prevent scents in the kitchen. Ryan Nicholas, owner of Simply Clean Oxford, suggests boiling a half cup of vinegar with a cup of water in a small saucepan if you’re going to be cooking with potent ingredients. “After adding the ingredients to the saucepan, boil or simmer on the stove to produce steam, which will absorb odors in the air,” he says. “Run your stove vent to produce even better results.”
3. Simmer potpourri while you cook.
Nicholas also says boiling then simmering a potpourri simmer pot of orange or lemon peels, cloves, and cinnamon sticks in water will eliminate odors during the cooking process. Similar to the vinegar solution, the steam from the potpourri will absorb smells you don’t want to spread, while the potpourri will leave a more palatable scent lingering. Aim for citrus ingredients when you can since lemon is known to cut through yucky smells.
4. Try a countertop or plug-in air purifier.
Nicholas also recommends running a small, portable air purifier while you cook. It’s not only a convenient solution for deodorizing your kitchen before a scent spreads — especially smoke-related odors—it will also remove bacteria, viruses, mold, and pet dander from the air. An air purifier will help deodorize rooms that already stink, too.
5. Cook with a bowl of baking soda nearby.
Rather than just masking smells, baking soda literally absorbs them, so it’s a good idea to keep a bowl of baking soda around when you’re making something potentially stinky — especially acidic foods like tomatoes, fish, or veggies. Since most unpleasing smells are acidic, a neutralizing agent like baking soda will balance the pH, reducing odors along the way.
6. Make sure your fridge is set to the right temperature.
Most refrigerator smells can be prevented by tossing expired items, but if your fridge continues to stink, there might be a temperature issue. To keep your fridge from smelling off, make sure it’s set to 40°F or below. Higher temps will cause your food to go bad more quickly, leading to odors.
If you suspect your fridge’s built-in thermometer might be wearing out and reading incorrectly, you can buy an inexpensive thermometer to hang from the shelves inside.
7. Sprinkle some baking soda in your trash can.
Baking soda is a cost-effective, odor-absorbing superhero—and it’s versatile, too. To keep your garbage from stinking up your entire kitchen after disposing of smelly foods (like fish), sprinkle some baking soda in the bottom of your trash bag before throwing anything away. (Keep baking soda in a well-labeled salt shaker to make this easy effort even more simple.) You can also put a little baking soda in a garbage bag that’s already begun to stink.
8. Drop some lemon in your garbage disposal.
Hang on to your lemon rinds! Flushing lemon down your garbage disposal with other food scraps can decrease food-related smells in your sink area — plus, the oils from the lemon will cut through grease buildup in the disposal. A delicious-smelling win-win!
9. Add kitty litter to your trash can.
Because it’s designed to absorb cat-related odors in a litter box, kitty litter will do the same trick in the bottom of your trash can before you put a bag in. Just make sure to replace it when it becomes damp.
10. Run your hood vent and open the windows.
A big part of preventing kitchen smells is running your hood vent when you cook (especially if you’re sauteing or frying something particularly odorous on the stovetop). Since many hood vents just circulate air instead of bringing fresh air inside, it can also help to pop your windows open while you cook when the weather allows. You can also just open up windows, or even a door if you don’t have a vent.
11. Set out a bowl of coffee grounds.
Before you toss those old coffee grounds, sniff around your kitchen. If it stinks, you can leave a bowl of coffee grounds on the counter, ideally near the source of the bad stench. Coffee is acidic, so it can help cut through unwanted smells (along with adding a better smell on top of that unwanted one).
12. Stay on top of cleaning.
Cleaning your kitchen isn’t just for aesthetic purposes and hygiene. Food residue, over time, can contribute to a rank-smelling space. Make a routine of cleaning out your fridge regularly and tossing any expired food. You can also scrub the inside of your trash can in case it’s harboring any lingering odors, and be sure to stay on top of cleaning out your garbage disposal, whether you use disposal tablets or toss half a lemon wedge down every so often.
How to Eliminate Cooking Smells After Cooking
First things first, make sure you clean up after you cook. Leftover pans and garbage will cause cooking smells to linger. You can use your range hood to help eliminate the scent, though.
“Imagine your range hood as a bouncer at an exclusive club (your kitchen) where only good smells are allowed to stay,” says Forrest Webber, founder of Bear Brothers Cleaning. “When you cook, all those funky smells and greasy particles try to crash the party. The range hood steps in, grabbing those odors and booting them out of your house or giving them a little makeover through a filter. In short, it keeps the unwanted from overstaying their welcome.”
Webber suggests having the range hood running both before you start cooking and while you’re cooking. Spend some time familiarizing yourself with the fan settings and use higher speeds for recipes that cause a lot of smoke or steam.
After cooking, leave the fan running for about 15 minutes. “It’ll help make sure those sneaky smells get the hint and leave,” Webber says. You can also crack a window to help remove any lingering odors.