Fridge odors can be especially annoying and embarrassing in the summer. Who wants to serve ice or French Vanilla ice cream that carry the faint flavor of red onions thanks to that gazpacho you're cooling?
We keep a small box of baking soda in the refrigerator and another one in the freezer. We try to use the special "Fridge and Freezer" packages of baking soda. These packages are designed to allow for better air flow. Better yet: since these special packs of baking soda don't need to be ripped open at the top, they can't spill when you're reaching into the deepest corner of your freezer searching for a long lost Klondike bar.
Arm and Hammer says baking soda used to keep the fridge and freezer smelling fresh should be replaced every three months. (This is pretty obvious, but don't even think about using the baking soda from the fridge in your next batch of Irish soda bread. The baking soda will transfer those off odors and flavors to your food.)
The August issue of Real Simple magazine suggests another cure for smell that baking soda can't cure: the Fresh-N-Cold food preserver. This $30 gadget can be revitalized monthly for one year, by sitting it in the sun for 4-5 hours.
If your refrigerator is haunted by a smell you can't see, it might be in the drip pan.
Buyer Beware: Consider potential odor problems the next time you shop for a refrigerator. Our old fridge never had this problem the way our new bargain model does.
if you are a coffee drinker save your $$ and put your used coffee grounds in an open container at the back of the fridge. i've been doing this for several months and it absorbs odors MUCH more successfully than baking soda. (i think i got the tip from at:la!)
view eat more lemons's profile
Call me weird, but I never saw a point in deodorizing my fridge. It smells like food, like it's supposed to.
Now, the fridge at work was pretty rank since it had been sitting in storage for some time without being cleaned beforehand. It took a cleaning, several boxes of baking soda, and a cup of coffee grounds to defeat the smell.
view verily's profile
I've used boxes of baking soda for years and loved it when they made the special ones with the tear off sides. I looked recently and realized I had 4-5 boxes in the fridge at the time cuz I hate a smelly refrigerator. When I put a fresh baking soda in the frig I pour the old one into my disposal drain to freshen there on the way out.
view Alice's profile
Eat More, how do you store the used coffee grounds in the freezer? Never heard of this technique before
view gochrisgo's profile