Help: advice on eliminating cooking odors from the house

Discussion in 'Recipes and Cooking' started by jbravo10, Sep 8, 2006.

  1. jbravo10

    jbravo10 New Seed

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    Hi all,
    I'm a newbie to this forum. I'm a recent college grad. All through my college years, I've lived in small carpetted apartments. I love to cook especially asian food...stir frys and currys, they stink up the whole place. The smell remains on the carpet for a long time (upto 2 days). The way I tried to reduce the effect was to turn off the central AC (prevents the smell from reaching the bedroom)..and kept the window in the kitchen open to dissipate the smell outside...

    Now I've moved into a bigger townhome, that has a kitchen is open to the (carpetted) living room for easier entertaining. But the cooking odors still stay on the carpet for days. If you grill a steak on my cast iron pan or make Vietnamese Pho, the smell still stays for 2 days and its very embarrasing.

    Glade air freshners make the living room smell like barbeque done in field of flowers...:)

    Don't know if this is the right forum, but any advise is appreciated.

    Thanks all,
    Arun
     
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  3. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Hi Arun, an extractor fan above a cooker set to high power can do a good job of extracting the smells while cooking. Short of that. I don't think you will find something that can 'soak up' the smells, rather you will need something that can 'extract' the smells out into a nearby opening.
     
  4. bethie

    bethie Young Pine

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    If you think the smell has actually settled on the carpet buy some Unscented Fabrize and lightly spray that around. I have big dogs in my house and I use this all the time. 8)
     
  5. jbravo10

    jbravo10 New Seed

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    Thanks for the suggestions guys.

    The kitchen in the new townhouse that I moved into does not have an extractor fan, which is why I'm trying to find other alternatives. Since I'm only renting, installing an extractor duct is out of the question.

    The febreeze seemed to help a bit, but only after a couple of days after the actual cooking was done :)

    I'm currently trying the following method.
    1. I've added a table top fan that forces the smoke away from the living towards an open porch door.
    2. Scented candles and incense for an hour after cooking.
    3. Not turning the central AC on until im absolutely sure, there is no residual smoke in the air.

    Arun
     



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  6. Frank

    Frank GardenStew Founder Staff Member Administrator

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    Are you currently trying this Arun or have you tried it and it has worked?
     
  7. jbravo10

    jbravo10 New Seed

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    I'm in the process of trying this. I'm still a little afraid to do heavy cooking with a lot of spices.

    I also picked a Hamilton Beach air purifier at the local Target. It has good reviews for eliminating cooking odors (even when cooking curries).

    I'll let y'all know the how it worked out soon.

    arun
     

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