How to Make Your House Smell Amazing With a Simmer Pot – In Any Season
**This post may have affiliate links, this means I may receive commissions if you choose to purchase through links I provide (at no extra cost to you). For more details, please see my Disclaimer**
One of the quickest ways to eliminate kitchen smells is to whip up a simmer pot on your stovetop, you may have also heard this called stovetop potpourri. If you have ever sold a home, no doubt you’ve heard of the old realtor trick to bake cookies or even bread to create an enticing scent throughout the home.
A simmer pot is a great way to accomplish this without all the mess and fuss of actually baking bread or cookies. All you need is a stock pot large enough to hold 5-6 cups of water and some good smelling fruits, spices or herbs (or all of the above) to get started.
In this post, I’m going to share with you my four favorite recipes for each of the four seasons and the basics you’ll need so you can make your house smell amazing no matter what time of year it is.
Essential Items You Need:
- Stock pot (around a 3.5 or 4 quart)
- Aromatics, such as:
- Cinnamon
- Oranges
- Cranberries
- Fresh rosemary
- Apples
- Fresh sage
- Fresh mint
How to Set Things Up
Add water & your aromatics to the stock pot and bring to a boil. Once the water is boiling, turn the heat down to a simmer. All you need to do now is check on it periodically and add more water if it’s getting a little low and you shouldn’t need to run a simmer pot for more than 2 hours.
Recipe Ideas
Winter – Cranberry Orange Simmer
- Handful of cranberries (you can use frozen, just defrost prior to simmering)
- 1 Orange, sliced
- 1 Star Anise
- 2-3 Cinnamon Sticks
- Sprig of Fresh Rosemary
Spring – Lemon Rosemary Simmer
You can find more recipes over at White & Woodgrain
- 2-3 Lemons Sliced
- Sprig of Fresh Rosemary
- 2-3 Cinnamon Sticks
- Splash of Vanilla Extract
Summer – Iced Mocha Simmer
For more summery simmer pot ideas, please head over to The Wholesome Witch
- Handful of coffee beans
- 2 Cinnamon Sticks
- Tablespoon of Cocoa Powder
- Teaspoon each of Almond and Vanilla Extract
Fall- Cinnamon Apple Simmer Pot
Apartment Therapy has some excellent additional recipe ideas to try out for Fall.
- 3 Cinnamon Sticks
- Apple Slices
- Orange Rinds
- Whole Cloves
Conclusion
Your simmer pot aromatics can be dried out and stored in the fridge for up to four days for reuse. You can also leave your pot on the stove, with a cover if you don’t have anything like fresh fruit in your pot for around four days as well and simply reheat to get that inviting scent wafting through your kitchen once again.
Be sure to share this post on your favorite social media platform and don’t forget to pin it to Pinterest so you can refer back to it when you need to!
Until next time, stay crafty!!
