I have a nice large kitchen and it's where i spend most of my day on the computer. (Yes, the computer is in my kitchen!) The problem is that when I cook fish or Prawns(Shrimp) the kitchen smells for days. I eat them several times a week as part of my diet. I have tried bowls of vinegar, checked the drains, used Plug-in air fresheners, potpourri but nothing seems to get rid of the smell well enough.
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You can cook your fish on an outdoor barbecue and thereby eliminating the smell in the kitchen
I alway cook fish in my electric skillet on the back porch. Good luck.
Thank you for these replies,but i have a slight problem in that i live in a first floor apartment!
But i appreciate your comments to me.
Thank you Edieparks & Sherri.
Monique x
We installed a top end (quality wise) fan over our stove. Very quiet and very powerful. No more linguring smells in our home and also no more extra humidity in the house either. What do you have for a kitchen fan? Change it to a better quality, it's well worth the extra money that you will spend.
Also...where does your fan move the air to? Ours exits outside but my daughter's inlaws' kitchen fan blows the air back into the room and doesn't get rid of anything. What is the point in that?
If you do change the fan and later when you move out of the apartment ...put the old one back in.
Try burning a vanilla candle. That has worked for me.
Use a hotplate outside on picnic table or workbench in garage when cooking fish to avoid kitchen odors,or"try sushi."
Simply heat vinegar on the stove (do NOT boil) for several minutes and it absorbs any bad smells. The vinegar smell quickly dissipates.
Pour bleach down the drain after cooking, wipe all surfaces with a 2 parts water and 1 part bleach solution. do not use porous cooking utensils ( wooden spoons inexpensive plastic ware) wipe all pots and pans with a dampened cloth from the bleach solution.
When I cook smelly foods like garlic, onions, peppers, deer meat, I take a small sauce pan, put about 1/4 cup of vinegar and a teaspoon full of cinnamon and 1/4 teaspoon full of cloves, add a cup or 2 or water and heat on the stove, let it simmer. Cinnamon is very good for removing odors, you can also heat it in a fry pan but watch that it does not burn.
Thank you for all your replies.
I really appreciate your help.
Thank you Enchanted, i do tend to use my wooden utensils so i will swap to plastic. Never thought of that. Also the bleach idea is very good i will do that too. I'm not sure if i can get Wizzard Domes here in the UK but i will look out for them or something similar. Thank you for your help :D
Thank you Suzie. I have tried the heating vinegar trick but didn't like the smell of the Malt vinegar. I now have some white vinegar so now you mention it i have this second put a pan on the stove to see if that's better. :D
Thank you Maggymay, i love the smell of Vanilla.
I also have lots of candles in the lounge too but have never thought to use one in the kitchen!
Next time i am out shopping i will buy one.Thanks :D
Thank you Valleyrimgirl, you have certainly made me think! I have a powerful extractor fan but it didn't occur to me that the air might very well be coming back inside as there is a vent on the same wall. So it's taking it away then it comes right back through the air vent. I will look into this and perhaps block it or at least cover it withsomething- like a Tumble dryer fragrant sheet. So at least the air can still get through but takes away the smell.
Many many thanks to all of you for helping me. I think i'll have the problem sorted now thanks to you all.
Best wishes
Monique x
Somerset UK
If the air just comes back into your kitchen, don't block the vent; that may cause the fan to break. Maybe your nice fragrance sheet is a good idea, though. If you have a window in the kitchen, try opening it and another window to get some cross ventilation. Put a fan in either window or somewhere between the two windows to speed up the ventilation. Either do this, or make sure your outside-venting fan is on, while you are cooking.
Then anything you normally toss in the garbage, either seal it in a plastic grocery bag first or store it in the freezer until just before you take out the trash to minimize that source.
(Or get nose plugs for everyone!)
I don't have a suggestion about the odor problem, but please do not use the Plug-in type air freshners. These things are a terrible fire hazard.
We live in Alaska so we cook fish a lot. Any time I cook fish, I spray everything down with Clorox Clean-Up, or regular dilluted bleach would work. I am careful to wipe the WHOLE countertop of the area I fried the fish in (although I don't fry foods any more) as well as all around the sink. You figure that you wash the utensils, pans, etc. in the sink transferring the oils and odors to that area. I bleach all utensils (plastic or metal), pans, etc. I even soak the scrub brushes used and I do not use a kitchen sponge. THOSE TRAP BACTERIA.
I have hear that if you place a dish with vinegar water in your oven on low temp. for 30 mins. or so, it will absorb the odor from there, but I have not personally tried this. Also, when cooking in the kitchen we do not realise how much we transfer around or drop onto the floor. A few drops of fish oil on the floor and your whole kitchen stinks until you mop it well. Sounds like a lot of hard work just to cook fish, but if you clean one area and the smell is still there, keep going to eliminate the odor. I have also heard that if you burn a candle near the area you are cooking in that it will dissipate the odors. Have not tried this, but it may be worth the try.
I've heard that adding a little vinegar to the water you are cooking in will stop the smell. I don't think it affects the taste of the food.
Several tips I recommend.
- Liberal use of baking soda and vinegar.
- Making sure your kitchen is truly clean everywhere, in hidden corners and every thing. Identifying and attacking any previously unknown source of smell is always better than just trying to cover it up.
- Open windows to let in fresh air as much as possible.
- Don't use plug-ins or scented candles. Plug-ins are a harmful chemical cocktail which don't "freshen" the air, but rather, poison it. Ditto for Febreeze and aerosol type "fresheners."
- Scented candles are made with paraffin wax which produces a toxic waste, again, the chemicals used to scent it wind up masking the smell.
- Pure beeswax candles are the best candles to burn for freshening the air. The beeswax leaves a lovely sweet honey scent too, and it is non-toxic. They may be more expensive but the burn times are forever, not to mention you're getting real wax rather than a cheap fake.
I moved into an apartment and one cabinet must of had a non stop supply of spices. The cabinet has been cleaned by a professional and myself. I personally have used Lysol wipes and aersol spray to clean and rid the pungent smells of spices (garlic, cumin, curry and many others I assume). The smell seems to go away once I completed the cleaning task....I do not keep any food in this cabinet, just some small electric appliances and bakeware. However, every morning when I open the cabinet the smell has returned. Does anyone have any suggestions to rid of this offensive odor?
Try wiping countertops with Lemon juice.
if you have a bad kichen odor problem. first in a bucket of water pour a bit of dishwater like dawn and also some bleach (3-4tablespoon) and clean these with a sponge. Dry with a cloth after the kitchen is dry usePLEDGE REVITALIZING OIL WITH NATURAL ORANGE OIL(spray over the counter and then pass it over with with a dry cloth)
I had stored some cans of cat food in the pantry because we have a problem with racoons and my husband sometimes put a cage on the roof and they love cat food. We don't kill the racoons after we catch them we release them in the wild. Anyway one of the cans most have went bad because it busted and now the smell it awful in the pantry. I've cleaned and done everything I can think of, any suggestions?
Girls! (or boys) Thanks, I was going crazy with my kitchen smell.. I live i na rental and there is a lot of wooden things in it. So when I cook Indian and Thai food which uses a lot of spices and leaves my kitchen all smelly. I am actually simmering some vinegar in water with a generous amount of cinnamon. It looks like it is working already.. at least for now. Thanks!!! :)
I KNOW CLEANER THAT CONTAIN ORANGE IS REAL GOOD TO GET BAD ODORS FROM A FRIDGE THAT NOTHING ELSE WORKED... SO I'M SURE IT WOULD BE A GOOD CHOICE OF CLEANER FOR COUNTERS ETC....
Try simmering lemon juice and water in the pan you used for the fish. Lemons also should take the fish smell off your hands. I know that when I reheat fish in the microwave, I always use a little lemon juice in water and bring it to a boil in the microwave while I'm cleaning up. Hope this helps. Good luck!
you must ckeck out this site. www.cookingodorscontrolled.info you will find help there
I read that peeling an onion & cutting it in half then leave in a dish helps rid paint smells, so it should maybe work with your problem too, charcoal is supposed to be good also. All the best to you.
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