Cook is a fun way to explore tastes, experiment with new flavors, and give yourself exactly what you want. But when the scent of last night’s dinner still lingers in the air, the fun stops. Try these tips to get the angriest scents out of your apartment kitchen.

How to Get Rid of Bold Cooking Smells from Your Apartment

Cooking Smell: Fish

Solution: put out some vinegar and then let the spices simmer

Seafood, in general, has an intense after cooking smell. Beat the stink with a double attack. Once you finish cooking, put some white vinegar on the counter overnight. When morning rolls around, simmer some cinnamon sticks, ground up ginger, and lemon peels in a cup or two of water on the stove for 15 minutes or longer.

Cooking Smell: Burnt Toast

Solution: coffee grounds on the counter

An open bowl of coffee grounds is like a sponge for some annoying smells. The acid in the java beans will attack the scents connected with charred food.

Cooking Smell: Bacon Grease

Solution: put together a DIY spray for aromatherapy

If you have access to essential oils, leave the Febreze and store-bought sprays on the shelves. Get a water spray bottle and add eight drops of eucalyptus, lavender, and lemon. Spritz your homemade spray around your stovetop and the vents, then run the fan for five minutes.

Cooking Smell: Garlic, Onions, and Peppers

Solution: boil a lemon

Stir-Fridays and fajita nights are fun to cook and even better when they are on the table, but the flavor remains. Chop a lemon in half then chuck it into some boiling water for ten minutes. Add some rosemary for even better results.

Cooking Smell: Curry

Solution: soak potatoes and salt

Whether you went with Indian, Japanese, or another country’s native curry, this scent will stick around and make itself known. Rinse off some potatoes, cube them, then put them right into the used pots or pans with a healthy dose of salt. Cover and let it sit for at least two hours. Depending on the state of your cookware when you put the potatoes in, you could make a nice, flavored potato dish if you don’t mind the extra salt.

Cooking Smell: Baked Ziti or Lasagna

Solution: let the tea bags steep

Any Italian dinner will hang around for days due to the baking. Fight the after-flavor by rinsing your pans, then throw in some tea bags (green tea works best), some hot water, then let the bags steep for at least 15 minutes before sending the cookware through the dishwasher.

Take these tips and test them out. These have worked for us, but people invent DIY solutions every day! Experiment and see what success you find to keep your apartment smelling fresh!