6 Ways To Keep Your Kitchen Smelling Its Best

When the smells wafting from the kitchen are good, they're great: freshly baked banana bread, sizzling aromatics, or a spicy curry enrapturing your senses and making your mouth water in preparation of what you're about to eat. However, if you're not keeping your kitchen cleanliness up to par, you might find yourself instead losing your appetite at the stomach-turning smell of a too-full trash can, clogged garbage disposal, or even overripe fruit.

There's a lot to keep track of in the kitchen, from meal prepping to organization, but if you want to enjoy the time you spend there, keeping the space smelling fresh is one way to do so. While cleaning your kitchen after cooking can be a daunting task, it can also be vitally important to enjoying your home. From those hidden nooks and crannies that you didn't realize need to be cleaned to specific ways to cover up burnt or otherwise unpleasant cooking smells, we've got you covered with six ways to keep your kitchen smelling its best.

While it's easy to remember to wipe the countertops or take out the trash, there are other spots in the kitchen that can be a little more out of sight. However, if you don't want your kitchen to smell, make sure they're not also out of mind. This includes things like your dishwasher and garbage disposal which, rather counterintuitively, are tools you probably use to clean your kitchen but simultaneously still need to be cleaned themselves in order to get rid of any trapped pieces of food.

An easy lemon hack for cleaning your kitchen garbage disposal involves putting individual wedges of the citrus fruit through the garbage disposal one-by-one while the water is running, along with a couple of ice cubes. The tough peels and solid ice will scrape against the disposal blades and freshen up your sink's aroma. If lemon isn't your thing, there are countless other cleaning hacks you can use — from an in-sink baking soda and vinegar reaction to simply scrubbing the rubber garbage disposal cover with an unused toothbrush. However, the lemon trick has an added bonus that might make you reconsider another tactic — you can put the other half of your cut lemon on the cutlery rack of your dishwasher for a cycle to bring that same citrusy, fresh smell to the oftentimes grimey appliance.

Some home chefs out there prefer to eat fish that doesn't taste, or smell, too overwhelmingly fishy. While the primary flavor is ultimately going to come down to the kind of fish you cook — and the spices and/or sauces you pair it with — if you're looking to make sure your kitchen doesn't smell like a marina for the 48 hours directly after serving up salmon, there's a simple trick you can use to reduce any lingering smells. 

By cooking your fish on a baking sheet in the oven, wrapped in parchment paper or foil, rather than on the stovetop you can minimize the fishy smell that might happen as a consequence of cooking your favorite seafood. Just like that, the smell will be encased in a cover that you can remove, say, near an open window, or even outside — effectively banishing fishy smells.

Have you ever burnt popcorn and had it stink up your kitchen for the next three business days? Burnt aromas can be a stubborn, and yet all-too-common occurrence in the kitchen. Luckily, there's something you can do to overpower the smoky smell — and it even comes with the added bonus of a hot drink. Brewing a pot of coffee can replace the scent of whatever you might have cooked a little too long with the deliciously nutty smell of brewed caffeine instead. 

Plus, this method has the added bonus of allowing you to pour yourself and/or any guests a cup afterwards. Don't forget to repurpose your used coffee grounds by placing them in small bowls around the kitchen overnight. This will not only help to absorb any lingering odors while you sleep but it's also a great way to reuse and repurpose materials rather than buying something new — allowing you to live a more low-waste lifestyle. 

Another way to replace bad smells also allows you to dig deep for your inner green thumb — while simultaneously shortening your grocery list. By growing fresh herbs on your kitchen windowsill, you can naturally introduce a variety of woodsy, floral scents to the room while also creating a functional ingredient supply. Rosemary, basil, and thyme are good starter herbs and have lots of uses in common dishes. 

To make your life a little easier, you should try using a well-draining windowsill planter and starter plants from somewhere like Trader Joe's or your local nursery — rather than starting from seeds which can take longer and require more work. As an added bonus, in addition to these herbs smiling great, the aroma of herbs like basil and rosemary plants can actually ward off unwanted pests like flies and mosquitos keeping your kitchen smell, and pest, free.

Since refrigeration keeps food chilled, slowing down bacterial growth, it's sometimes easy to forget that items in the fridge still can and do go bad. It's especially important to keep a handle on this to avoid mold or any other odor contamination from reaching other, still-fresh items. So, how can you mentally track all that's in there and ensure you don't leave an old onion to grow a whole ecosystem in a far corner behind your leftovers?

The most effective way of doing this to simply implement fridge clean-outs on a regular basis, such as every couple of weeks. This can be a great time to take stock of what you have, reorganize, and wipe off any questionable-smelling surfaces for improved freshness. Keeping your grocery shopping receipt on the front of your fridge with a magnet is another great way to help you remember what you have — plus this give you a better chance of repurposing your unused ingredients before having to sacrifice them to the trash bin. Keep a pen on top of the fridge or nearby to cross items off once you use them.

Similar to using coffee grounds or baking soda, but a lot more reusable, porous activated charcoal packets can effectively absorb odors from your fridge, sink, or wherever else you might choose to place them. Look for multipacks of absorbers, and even packs that come with hooks to make them easier to hang around the house. 

One of the really unique things about using charcoal is that it can be recharged, or refreshed, by being placed in direct sunlight to dry out — this also means that individual sachets can last for years. The bags also work well to absorb any persistent smoky aroma if you've burnt something while cooking and aren't a fan of the previously mentioned coffee technique.