Mumsnet Talk

We don't have fried food that much, but about once a week we will have a roast dinner, or sausages, or gammon etc etc and it stinks the whole house out.

I try and keep internal doors shut, but most of our downstairs is open plan - I also open windows and have the extractor fan on full, but the smell still lingers for a couple of days.

Any solutions? I'd rather remove the smell than mask it (air fresheners usually give me asthma attacks, so not really an option) but as I have vegetarian DSD coming on Monday and we have roast pork planned for tomorrow I could do with sorting something sharpish!

Cheers

I know it's more smell masking than removal, and it's not something I do, but my mum used to put a drop or two of vanilla essence on a piece of bread, then put it in the oven on low, with door afar if possible. It gives a baking smell without the effort, although obviously if you forget it then you end up replacing the smell of frying/a roast with that of burning bread.

door ajar

Put a halved lemon in a bowl of water and microwave it for 5 mins.

For some odd reason this works. Try lighting a piece of newspaper and blow out the flame quickly then waft the smokey singed paper about. (Watch out that it does not ignite again)
Once the horrid smell of the singed paper goes, so will the animal cooking smell.

Is your oven clean?

No the oven is filthy at the moment - I'm 39 weeks pregnant and can't use the nasty oven cleaner while pregnant so waiting for sprog to drop before I clean it!

I thought of asking DH to clean it but...

It's the same with sausages and steak though, and we fry them on the hob, so not just the filthy oven!

Will try the microwaved lemon though - that sounds good

Excellent advice here. Have the same problem too. Since I butter basted a chicken wrapped in bacon on Sunday (Delia recipe) we are still suffering from the effects of meal. The smoke was unbelievable when I opened the door. Despite having all windows open the smell still remains. Will buy a lemon tomorrow. Will never butter a chicken again for roasting!! Perhaps I should have wrapped it in foil.

Boil some cabbage.
That ought to shift it.

Cabbage

arf