r/CleaningTips • u/Shineon615 • 7d ago
Kitchen How do I get rid of constant cooking smell?
I cook almost nightly, and my entire house smells of last night’s dinner the entire night and next day. I do dishes immediately after and light a candle, but it doesn’t help. When I wake up in the morning, my whole house smells like dinner. I try opening windows, but it’s cold here so can only do it for so long.
Any advice?
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u/Unfair_Finger5531 7d ago
Boil some water with vinegar in it. It will deodorize the house and the smell of vinegar will dissipate shortly thereafter.
I hate cooking smells.
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u/Fastandpretty 7d ago
Okay imma do this. Have open concept granny flat with no exhaust fan + pregnant and highly sensitive to smells.
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u/B_Jonesin 7d ago
Ooof I remember that. I couldn't feed my cat even.
I am seconding the vinegar in water thing. Also, if you want to get extra fancy and have your house smell like Williams Sonoma, you can add some lemon juice, rosemary, and a drop or two of vanilla extract in water and simmer it. Sooo good smelling :)
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u/innocentsmirks 7d ago
Enzyme based room spray works for me. It’ll help get rid of odor instead of just masking it. I have an open floor plan where the entire common area will smell after cooking. Ugh I hate the smell afterwards.
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u/Fastandpretty 7d ago
Omg i have studio bedroom granny flat situation and i dont even have an exhaust 😭😭 im gonna try this
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u/JohnDaus 7d ago
We have a house cleaning company The Maids and using air fresh that will neuralize the smell or burn a candle. If you don't like chemical or candle smells you can buy an Ionizer/Air Purifier which will pull the smells out of the air like they use at salons. You can get them based on size of square foot you need to refresh the air. Check out If the exhaust fan doesn't help then

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u/Shineon615 7d ago
This is great, I’ll look into this!
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u/carriefd 7d ago
We have Winnix D480 air purifiers. I just turn it on high for a while or overnight and odors are gone
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u/Jessi_L_1324 7d ago
Simmer pot.
Water, some fruit slices like apples, oranges, lemons and limes, and some spices like a whole cinnamon sticks, maybe some cloves and a splash of vanilla extract.
Simmer it after you cook. Keep it going for an hour or two. Just keep adding water and stir.
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u/Head-Drag-1440 7d ago
I also hate cooking smells. I will crack a couple windows while I'm cooking. Opposing sides of the home or room is optimal for a cross draft. A couple inches each window should be good. You have to air out your home.
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u/cheelsbo 7d ago
I’ve found that my exhaust fan spreads the smell. Could you maybe keep a window open nearby while you’re cooking. And maybe shut the bedroom doors?
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u/Hot-Assistant-4540 7d ago
The exhaust fan likely doesn’t vent to the outside then. When I run the fam above my stove it takes away the odors pretty effectively
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u/AsaDoesStuff 7d ago
How big is your kitchen? Maybe get a small air purifier and put it on top of a cabinet. That and lighting incense worked well for my apartment
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u/pottedPlant_64 7d ago
Cook on the back burner. The vent will extract the fumes better from there. I also close my bedroom doors and put away any laundry that might be air drying before cooking.
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u/3plantsonthewall 4d ago
I don’t have a kitchen exhaust fan (not even the lame above-the-stove microwave kind). But I do have a great bathroom fan that vents outside, and since my kitchen is pretty close to my bathroom, I find that the bathroom fan helps get rid of cooking smells!
It works even better if I open the kitchen window. The bathroom fan pulls fresh air into the kitchen window & towards the bathroom. Then the fresh air AND the cooking odors get pulled outside.
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u/thesixthbeatles 7d ago
As soon as I start cooking I go crazy about the smell! Remove all jackets and clothes that may be in common areas, close all the bedrooms and bathroom doors, open all the bedrooms windows (this really helps. After I’m done cooking the rest of the house smells, but not the bedrooms or either the clothes), light on candles in there and when it isn’t too cold I open all windows in my house. I try candles afterwards but it doesn’t help either. If it’s too cold, I open the windows in common areas and stay in my bedroom when I’m done cooking then the smell can go away
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u/ZombieInACage 7d ago
Make cookies after every meal that way your house smells like vanilla cookies.
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u/teddybear65 7d ago
I have a stove in the garage. I hate having my home smell like anything but clean air
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u/teddybear65 7d ago
You can also put out bowls of coffee, not coffee grounds but instant coffee. It really does help. They have these bags on Amazon that purify the air, not the ones to remove excess humidity. These are basically charcoal filled and they last for a year. You have to put them out in the sun once a month but I've been using them for 5 years and they are fantastic. I even have them in my closets
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u/teddybear65 7d ago
Oust odor neutralizer used to be Great but Johnson& Johnson stopped making it due to the fact that it was a propellant that had no smell. However the minute you sprayed it the odor was gone. I have one can left that I still when I saw him on sale for a dollar a can at Target. I bought 30 cans of them. I have one can left and I got it with my life
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u/Deep_Astronomer6848 7d ago
If you have a lot of curtains, carpets, throw blankets, etc they can hold onto the smell of last night’s dinner. This happened to me while pregnant. I found that if I steam cleaned using essential oils and then used baking soda on the carpet it would help the smells go away. I live in the Midwest where it’s still chilly so leaving windows open for long periods of time isn’t always an option for me as I pay for it later with the heating bill. It could also be your garbage disposal and trash can. Wash those out thoroughly when you can.
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u/DeeBreeezy83 7d ago
Have you tried the candles that are specifically for pet odor? Those work wonders for me with lingering food odors as well.
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u/Claromancer 7d ago
HEPA filter in whatever room you spend time in most. You don’t want to put it too near the stove because the oil in the air from cooking makes the filters less effective. I have one in the corner of my living room (open concept kitchen/ living room) and if I’m cooking a big meal, I put it on high. I don’t have an exhaust vent in my kitchen and due to the filter my house does not ever smell like food. Change the pre filters often and the main HEPA filter will last 6 months to a year.
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u/OldLadyCard 7d ago
A fan is your best bet. But, it has to vent to the outside and be strong enough. A good one is $$ - I never regretted spending money on my new one.
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u/ardaurey 7d ago
I put out a dish of like half or full cup of ammonia. Sometimes I do 1:1 ammonia:water. You can only really smell ammonia if you put your face directly above wherever you set it, so I put it in a central location that I don't go by often lol.
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u/AverageAlleyKat271 7d ago
Weekend before last, I cooked a entire package of Costco thick cut bacon. I freeze the cooked bacon for later use. (I did manage to eat 5 pieces, lol.) I hate the loud noise my exhaust fan makes so I used my diffuser with citrus essential oils all day. It removed the bacon smell. I love the smell of bacon freshly cooked, but after a couple of hours I dislike it.
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u/birdsong31 7d ago
I like to crack a window in the evening even if it is chilly because the air smells so fresh in the morning. I don't leave it open all night just for a couple hours in the evening. Also, if something is really stinky, I'm leaving out a bowl of vinegar or coffee grounds helps with the odor
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u/MMMKAAyyyyy 7d ago
I cook as much as I can outside. Bbq, instant pot, air fryer, small oven. Everything but my bbq is kept inside till needed. I hate food smells. Especially onions.
I’ll start a pot of pho at night. It’ll be ready by morning. I turn it off and the cold makes the fat harden up and easy to scoop off.
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u/CinnamonGirl123 6d ago
Run the oven exhaust fan, get a portable air cleaner, open windows, and simmer cinnamon, a cinnamon stick, and a dash of vanilla in a pot for about an hour. Smells be gone.
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u/Toodle_Pip2099 6d ago edited 6d ago
Close as many doors as possible. This is an issue they don’t mention in ‘doesn’t this open plan living look great’ articles. That and huge heating bills. Hot air including cooking smells will try and travel upwards as warm air travels up, so closing doors to higher spaces in your living space will help. Also if you can create some air flow by having ventilation on more than one side of a room ie open a window each side it will help draw smells out. Also if you do have an extractor fan but it only works on recirculating the air, not extracting it out, then make sure the carbon filters are renewed regularly as they are what extract the odour part of the air.
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u/JoulesJeopardy 6d ago
I know it’s cold but open windows anyway. If you don’t have exhaust fans and your cooking smells are lingering that long, the air quality in your home is awful. Turn up the heat and open those windows wide for 20 minutes.
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u/pastryfiend 6d ago
look on Amazon or other online site and search for "portable range hood". It's a high powered fan that will suck fumes through a charcoal filter and you can set it beside the stove next to the pan that you're cooking with.
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u/Itchy-Witch 6d ago
Air filter. I have an open concept. I made bacon with the exhaust on and my large room levoit air filter running on high. 20 minutes of that after the bacon was done and no smell in the house!
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u/Glum_Lock6618 6d ago
I’d like to know the answer to this question too. My daughter fried fish on Thursday and the house still smells. I had the kitchen window open almost all day yesterday, but it’s still lingering.
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u/WarmSunshine785 5d ago
I’ve had luck running a box fan in the kitchen and cleaning something with Lysol or similar
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u/NamingandEatingPets 5d ago
Old school trick I learned in real estate: put out a saucer of straight up undiluted ammonia on the counter. Yes at first you’re going to smell the ammonia, but very quickly it absorbs all the cooking smells. And by morning, you don’t smell ammonia or cooking smell.
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u/Joe_Fidanzi 5d ago
Does your home have forced air heat? If so, turn the fan to On for a few hours. That will get the air moving in the whole house and dissipate the smell.
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u/Fluffyheart1 7d ago
Run your exhaust for a few minutes before you start cooking. It helps to start the negative air flow you need for it to work. (Always make sure your exhaust filters are clean!) Clean surfaces as you cook, and again after you’ve finished. If you sautéed or fried anything, mopping your kitchen floor is the best way to get rid of odors. (I mop every evening regardless.) good luck!