The Little-Known Coffee Grounds Trick That Removes Burnt Smells From Your Microwave

There are quite a few ways to use coffee grounds around the house before tossing them in the trash or adding them to your compost bin. This free and eco-friendly coffee-brewing byproduct is especially useful for neutralizing odors. For example, you can deodorize a smelly fridge with coffee grounds or scrub cutting boards with them to remove the scent of onions. Coffee grounds are even effective at evicting the smell of burnt food from your microwave. The sooner you notice a burnt smell coming from this appliance, the sooner you should clean it and use your leftover coffee grounds to deodorize the area. In addition to preventing scorched food from festering inside, addressing the issue quickly can keep the odor from spreading to nearby cabinets, where it may linger for quite some time.

So, how do you use coffee grounds to scare away the ghosts of charred popcorn, overcooked fish, and other unpleasant smells? Mix some of your coffee grounds with water and use them to scrub your microwave's interior, and then pour the rest into a dish to absorb the scents that cleaning doesn't remove. Let the coffee grounds sit in your microwave overnight so their nitrogen soaks up a significant amount of sulfur, a key component of many odors that humans find particularly nasty. Additionally, the grounds' porous structure will trap bad smells, decreasing their intensity.

A word to the wise: Don't run the microwave while the de-funkification process is underway. Also be sure to remove the deodorizer in the morning so it doesn't get zapped by accident when a sleepy family member tries to prepare a bowl of instant oatmeal.

Using coffee grounds to get burnt smells out of a microwave isn't an exact science, but there are a few things you can do to boost your chances of success. First, let your coffee grounds dry out completely to prevent mold growth. Allow them to air dry or accelerate the evaporation process by dispersing them on a cookie sheet and baking them in your oven at 200 to 250 degrees Fahrenheit. Second, put the coffee grounds in an open container to promote air circulation. Third, make sure you're using enough grounds to neutralize the offending odor. In general, about a cup of them is enough if you let them sit in the microwave overnight. 

Running low on coffee grounds? Mix what you've got with some baking soda, which is also good at absorbing odors. Or, use coffee grounds in tandem with other natural ingredients for deodorizing your microwave — say, vinegar and lemon juice. You could even add some vanilla extract to your coffee grounds to help them emit a pleasant scent as they absorb the unpleasant one. If you suspect that the burnt smell has infiltrated your cabinets, put bowls of coffee grounds in there as well to keep the stench from sticking around.