If Your Kitchen Is Giving Off Bad Odors, This Appliance Might Be The Issue

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If your kitchen has a gross funk you can't quite place, there are a number of potential culprits. The trash can is always a possibility, as is the fridge if something is leaking or has gone bad. Less obviously, the filter of your dishwasher can contain some serious grunge, to the point where you can increase the life of your appliance by cleaning it. If you've exhausted all these possibilities but your cooking space is still reeking, take a whiff inside your oven.

Oven interiors can get particularly disgusting in almost no time. All it takes is one overflowing casserole pan or baking dish, and you've got a mess on your hands. Burning food on oven surfaces can be a malodorous problem, but these issues should be easy to see and remove, even if you have to scrub some baked-on gunk off the (cold) burners. Similarly, cooking food can cause greasy or fatty deposits on your oven racks, floor, and/or door over time that can really stink up your kitchen and even leach into your food. This buildup may not be visible, but you might just smell it nonetheless. 

Of course, if you have a gas oven and smell an eggy, sulfuric odor, you should immediately evacuate your home and call your utility company. This particular stink could be indicative of a dangerous gas leak. That last issue notwithstanding, let's consider how to effectively clean your oven so that any rankness is washed away.

Although it might seem like the logical first step, there is a reason to avoid the self-cleaning setting on your oven. While the extremely high heat of this function can loosen up baked-on grease and ick, it doesn't eliminate the need to scrub off the grunge by hand — and, in the meantime, it will fill your kitchen with heat, stink, and possibly even smoke. The setting also locks your oven for several hours, which prevents you from using it and may increase the chance of your appliance shorting a fuse or otherwise breaking down.

In our experience, the best way to clean an oven is when it's been heated. The temperature will loosen grime and debris, making it easy to (carefully!) remove with a damp towel. More stubborn messes require a bit more elbow grease, as well as some assistance in the form of an oven cleaner like Goo Gone Oven and Grill Cleaner, which has high reviews, and a razor blade scraper that will help to shave off years of baked-on grossness. 

Of course, the easiest way to avoid a stinky appliance is to add your oven to your regular cleaning rotation. No judgment here, as very few people think to clean their ovens on a schedule. Many sources recommend a thorough scrubbing every three months, or possibly more frequently if your oven sees heavy use. Of course, you should spot clean immediately when you have visible spills or splatters.