Tabitha Brown’s Simple Secret to a Fresh-Smelling Home
By Alan BlakeFeb. 7 2024, Published 10:39 p.m. ET
Tabitha Brown is an online personality widely known for her unique approach to cooking vegan food. Besides her remarkable cooking skills, she's been a host in a cooking competition, Its Complicated, as well as the children's program, Tab Time. She is also the author of the New York Times bestseller, "Cooking From the Spirit," and the CEO of healthy haircare line Donna Recipe.
As a cook, Tabitha advocates for a thorough cleaning of the kitchen area after a cooking session to get rid of the funk smell. Her approaches are simple and actionable, and here's what you can expect.
Dealing With Lingering Cooking Smell
Tabitha affirms that the smell from cooking may be delicious, but she doesn't advocate leaving the scent to linger around the home permanently. After a big cooking session, Tabitha's advice is to simmer a small pot of vinegar. Boiling vinegar is beneficial in purifying the air as it contains acetic acid as an active component. This acid has disinfectant properties. This makes it effective at killing viruses and bacteria. Brown admits that this trick works whenever she wants to combat fishy odors.
The splatter from food when cooking can leave the home with a burnt food smell. Her advice for dealing with such an issue is to use the splatter screen. The screen will prevent liquids and food from splashing on the stove while absorbing cooking scents while preparing meals. Another great hack is to boil a mixture of cinnamon sticks, cloves, and lemon peels. Like vinegar, the steam from a mixture of these solutions leaves a palatable smell lingering in your home.
Tabitha also notes that the kitchen sink is one of the places that can cause bad smells to persist around the house. As such, she advises homeowners to scour the drain by pouring a cup of salt, followed by baking soda. This should be followed by pouring boiling water, which helps to activate the soda and salt mixture. Next, they should let the drain rest for a few minutes before running cold water to freshen it up and wash away the residue.
Keeping The Kitchen Clean and Tidy
As a vegan cook, Tabitha is regularly testing recipes in her home. That being the case, she always has lots of pans, pots, and dishes to clean. This creates a big mess within a short time if not promptly addressed. The trick to address this issue is to clean on the go. When it comes to cookware, particularly Cast Iron Skillets, Tabitha advocates against using dish soap. By using soap when cleaning, it can make the food taste soapy.
Tabitha notes that the best practice after cooking on cast iron is to scrap off as much food as possible. When the pan is cooled enough to handle, rinse it using hot water. If there is stubborn stuck food, consider dropping coarse salt in the pan and cleaning it with a regular sponge. The salt will help to remove the food without causing damage to the seasoning of the pan.
Creating a Cleaner and Inviting Home
For many cooking enthusiasts, the aroma of the rood may be a good enough replacement for an air freshener. While it may be inviting, it doesn't have a lasting effect. This is why it's crucial to find different ways to deal with it permanently. While plenty of options are available to address this concern, natural odor-removing remedies remain a top pick. It's also important for people to avoid piling up utensils after use as it prevents the buildup of the bad smell.