Farewell To Fried Food Smells: The 2-Ingredient Mixture That Banishes Them Fast

While they may not be the healthiest choice, fried foods of all sorts are extremely popular across the country. Beyond the taste, the smell of fried foods is enticing for many. However, if you made your favorite fried food at home, you may soon grow tired of the lingering smell that the process leaves behind. Even if you take steps to get cooking smells out of your home, such as turning your vent hood fan on high, you may find the scent of your fried food still sticks around long after the meal was prepared. However, you can say farewell to fried food smells by simmering or boiling a simple two-ingredient mixture of white vinegar and water on your stove top.

The reason why food smells tend to linger is because odor-causing molecules go airborne during the cooking process. These microscopic particles then adhere to numerous household surfaces they come into contact with, from fabric items to wall paint. The greasy nature of the molecules released when frying food causes them to become even more stubbornly attached to surfaces. At that point, the only way to get rid of the fried food smell is to counteract it with a deodorizer that will attack and eliminate — or at least neutralize — the offending particles.

This is where the main player in the two-ingredient mixture comes in. You may already know that a homemade vinegar cleaning solution is commonly used to clean and deodorize, and this kitchen essential can also come in handy when you're stuck with fried food smells. The acetic acid in white vinegar is the key. This substance is attracted to and bonds with the molecules that are responsible for fried food smells, effectively neutralizing the odor they create.

There are all kinds of ways vinegar can clean your home, but simply using a DIY spray won't completely resolve the situation that fried foods create. Although materials cleaned with a vinegar solution will no longer smell of fried foods, it is impractical to wipe down every surface in your kitchen. Additionally, some smelly molecules may bury themselves in fabrics and other porous surfaces. 

A simple way to ensure the acetic acid particles are able to go everywhere that the fried food molecules did is to essentially replicate the cooking process. Steaming a solution of water and white vinegar is an effective way to send the acetic acid particles airborne, allowing them to follow the trail of the fried food molecules. This is easily accomplished by pouring one cup of white vinegar and one cup of water into a saucepan and bringing it to a boil. For most ordinary odor issues, allowing this mix to boil for around 15 minutes is adequate. For stronger odors, you may want to let it simmer a little longer. You can also have this going while you're cooking to help limit the lingering scents in the first place. While the smell of vinegar will initially replace that of the fried food, the scent typically doesn't stick around long, especially if your kitchen is well-ventilated.