Try This! DIY Air Freshener in the Crockpot

Getting rid of lingering food odors is a constant challenge for home cooks. We've tried candles and open windows (even in winter) and simmering pots of vinegar. Here's one more trick to add to our list from Stephanie O'Dea of A Year of CrockPotting!

Stephanie's technique is to mix a few tablespoons of baking soda with water in the bowl of a crockpot or slow cooker. Set the crockpot in whichever room is most in need of a little freshening and set it to LOW with the lid off. She says the warm baking soda seems to literally pull the odors from the air.

For an extra perk, you can also add a few drops of essential oil or nice-smelling spices to the pot.

While we're not exactly looking forward to the next time food smells get the better of us, we'll definitely be eager to give this a try when they do!

• Check out the full post: The CrockPot as Air Freshener/Odor Neutralizer from A Year of CrockPotting

(Image: Stephanie O'Dea from A Year in CrockPotting)

Comments (4)

My favorite odor killing weapon is my Lampe Berger. It is a catalytic lamp - you fill it with an alcohol based fragrance solution, then let the rope soak this up. Then you light the coal on the top, let it burn for 2 minutes, blow it out and then the process begins.

It actually breaks down odors in the air, kills of bacteria and releases a fragrance (if you hate fragrances, they do have an unscented soluation). There are quite a few companies making these lamps, Lampe Berger was the very first and is what I have. Love it. After my room mate makes fish, or if we burn something I get my lamp going. Within about 30 minutes the whole downstairs smells great and the odor is gone (not just covered up). Usually it'd take a couple days to get burned bacon stench out of the house...

Anyway, that's my spiel!! Everyone needs a Lampe Berger!! I bought my lamp and solutions on ebay and it worked out great.

posted by GStelz on December 12th 2008 at 11:37am
view GStelz's profile

Sorry, some edits (they'll bug me):

kills *off* bacteria...

unscented *solutions*...

posted by GStelz on December 12th 2008 at 11:39am
view GStelz's profile

Baking soda = one of the most miraculous substances ever. I went out of town for about two weeks for work and returned to find that my fiance had not cleaned out the refrigerator at all during those two weeks. Needless to say, it smelled terrible. I cleaned everything out and emptied about half a box of baking soda onto a cookie sheet and stuck it in the fridge overnight. The next morning the fridge was totally fresh-smelling. Between that and scrubbing off burned bits from the stove, removing coffee smell from my thermos, cleaning the sink, making cookies... we probably go through four or five boxes a year. I don't have a crock pot, but I'm going to give this a shot in a double boiler the next time I have bad food smells in the house. Genius!

posted by arbequina on December 12th 2008 at 1:58pm
view arbequina's profile

Baking soda sure is miraculous. I keep a box in the shower and mix it with my soap to wash my face. My skin is more radiant than ever! Baking soda is the key to life, you can't go wrong with it.

I am a real person, not an actor.

posted by megomgean on December 12th 2008 at 4:44pm
view megomgean's profile