As someone who writes about food, I obviously cook, a lot. And one of the hazards of the job can be that my house is often filled with a bunch of different smells if I am cooking multiple dishes at once. I’m often cooking things in the slow cooker overnight. And I mean, let’s face it, living in Canada means that for many months of the year, I can’t just open to window to freshen up the house and rid my kitchen of that fishy or bacon-y smell (although some might argue that smelling like bacon might be a good thing!). So you have the problem of how to get rid of the cooking smells and, in my case, that means, how to get rid of them without filling the house with a strong perfume which I don’t like either.
I am not a huge fan of scented candles (especially with a cat in the house who might just knock them over) and regular spray air fresheners and those plug-in type affairs are too strong for me (and often simply mask the smells, not neutralize them) so I was extremely interested when I was offered a Lampe Berger to try out. I know about the Lampe Berger from living in Europe and I remember even from years ago that the perfumes are subtle and that they really do work to neuralize, rather than mask cooking smells. Not familiar with the Lampe Berger? Developed in France in 1898 in response to a major preoccupation of the time – sepsis in hospitals – by Maurice Berger, a pharmaceutical dispenser, this is a system of scent diffusion which purifies the air in enclosed rooms. This was quickly adopted for use in private homes, giving birth to the Lampe Berger company.
Very popular in the 1930s, the Lampe Berger quickly became a collector’s item, each lamp being associated with a famous name designer such as Cristal de Baccarat or René Lalique. Coco Chanel, Jean Cocteau, Colette and Picasso each had a Lampe named for them. Today, there are over 5 million litres of fragrances and 800,000 lamps sold every year around the world and Lampe Berger is distributed in 56 countries.
So, how does it work, exactly?
It’s easy! Simply fill your lamp with your fragrance (or non-fragrance) of choice. If it’s your first time using the lamp, wait 20 minutes while the wick soaks in the liquid. Light the lamp and allow the flame to burn for 2 minutes, then blow it out and replace the decorative cap. You should allow 20 minutes of “burn time” for each 8 metres squared you are treating. When you are finished, simple replace the stopper. No mess, no fuss.
Apart from looking pretty stylish (there are 80 different lamp styles!), the Lampes come with a variety of over 40 fragrances, including the one I most wanted to try out – Neutral. This is a “non fragrance” which deodorises and purifies the air but does not release any fragrance. It can also be used to dilute other fragrances to control their intensity and when used in between 2 fragrances, it will optimise the functioning of the oil burner, cleaning it and therefore increasing its lifespan.
I’ve tried out the Lampe and the “Neutral” oil during and after cooking three pretty strong smelling foods – fish, lamb and bacon – and have been pretty impressed at how it was able to diminish the smell of these foods once I had finished cooking. It doesn’t completely take away the smells (which I like – I like to smell the food I am cooking when I am cooking it!) and it even has a tiny scent of its own – hard to describe but it’s there briefly when the Lampe is lit. It does a great job of making sure smells don’t linger long after you’ve enjoyed your meal which is perfect for those of us who cook in cold climates that don’t always allow us to open windows when we are cooking! I love that the Lampe is so very compact and fuss, mess and flame-free too! I haven’t tried out any of the scents to be honest because they are not my thing, but I am loving the Neutral!
Win a Lampe Berger prize pack ($200 value) – Canada only
That’s right – thanks to the kind folks at Lampe Berger Canada, I have one prize pack valued at $200 to give away to one lucky reader in Canada. The prize pack contains 1 x LONDON (white) lamp, 2 x trio packs (3x180ml) and 1 x 500ml neutral oil.
To enter:
1. Leave a comment below telling me what’s the one food/ cooking smell you have a hard time getting rid of.
2. For a bonus entry, tweet the following message:
Enter to win a @LampeBerger_CAN prize pack from @eatlivtravwrite ! Details: http://bit.ly/1BbS0QI #lampeberger
Then come back to leave me a comment telling me you did.
Eligibility and contest rules
- Open to to Canadian residents only.
- No purchase of any product necessary for entry.
- Winner will be chosen using Random.org from all qualified entries on Tuesday December 9th 2014 after 6pm EST.
- Winner will be contacted via email on Wednesday December 10th 2014 and will have 48 hours to respond.
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Disclosure: Lampe Berger Canada provided me with a lamp and some oils for review purposes. I was not compensated for writing this post and all opinions are my own.
I have a hard time getting rid of the smell of popcorn.
I tweeted https://twitter.com/NewfieChic/status/540103493638692864
I love cooking with curry Mardi, but Richard can’t stand the after smell!
Edite –
Even my Indian friends complain about the small of curry, good luck! I’m in the U.S. or I’d be entering!
And I just tweeted it!
FISH!!! I cook it for my husband but I can’t eat it and I don’t like the smell of it. Even a can of tuna 🙂
Has none of my family doesn’t like fish or anything to do with fish.
Fish is the MOST hated smell in my house hold. Meaning I cook fish rarely as I get too many complains from the family due to the smell!
But it’s a good way to get the house to myself 😉
The smell of curry definitely lingers too long.
I have never heard of these! Onions drive me crazy… I’ll wake up in the middle of the night and think I can still smell it.
Any cooking smell is offensive to me after the meal.
I find it hard to get rid of the smell of fish.
thanks
flower_child_23(at)Hotmail(dot)com
tweet
https://twitter.com/flower_child_23/status/540177505123332099
Although many think I can’t cook !! I can !!! The worst smell for me is the smell of fish and seafood.
Getting rid of cabbage smell is the worst!
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/nonna_mahoo/status/540200562785288192
I have a hard time getting rid of the smell of burnt food!
Tweet~ http://twitter.com/glogirl3/status/540217673561673728
FISH!! OMG! hate the smell of fish. unless its fish and chips.. then I am in.. but any other smell of fish and yikes! I’m running!
Fish! It makes our entire main floor smell for quite a while and it’s really hard to get rid of it with just a candle because they intermingle together and the result is not good! 🙂
tweeted https://twitter.com/missplewes/status/540243375211806721
Tweeted: https://mobile.twitter.com/Brandeelh7/status/540253152428056576
My husbands hot pepper sauce. The smell kills me!!
The food that smells that i love to cook is definitely stirfry. I have had a lamp berger for a gift 6 years ago and would love to have another one.
We down under are not offended at, once again, being left off the list of potential prize winners.
I think it would be less useful here as the weather is milder and house windows are mostly open (except on suffocatingly hot days).
Anyway, the Lampe is a nice idea. It’s interesting they’ve been able to create a ‘neutral’ odour. That would be hard to do, I think.
OMG Onions and Curry. My house has smelled like curry for 3 days now!! It was delicious but don’t like the smell lingering for that long!
I tweeted! https://twitter.com/RebTheCatSitter/status/540306378112258048
I find it so hard to get rid of anything you deep fry! It gets all over the house and the clothes I am wearing.
I tweeted here and followed too!
https://twitter.com/magscheung/status/540311679167651840
I have a hard time getting rid of the smell of buckwheat!! Ugh. My husband likes it; I do not.
Cheers.
Tweet:https://twitter.com/Alexandrina_M/status/540345776254099456
Cabbage rolls I would say. I’ve tried using collards green instead of cabbage, same smell.
It’s hard to get rid of the smell from the deep fryer.
tweeted
https://twitter.com/Butterfly_012/status/540387268150558720
I’ve never heard of these before but they are stunning! Perfect for a guest bathroom and to have all around your home. They’re beautiful and so unlike all the others that are obvious diffusers.
I just checked their website and see that they are carried here in my city in the U.S. I’m very excited about these. In fact, I think I’ll purchase some to give as a holiday gift or hostess gift. Hopefully they won’t take it as an insult thinking that their house smells! So pretty!!!! Thank you for sharing this. I wish I lived in Canada so I could enter to win. I will definitely be purchasing some – today!!
burnt milk!
https://twitter.com/imheckifiknow/status/541016008991842304
Anytime i burn anything…pizza
Tweeted @spazss
I tend to only cook lamb on the BBQ but if the smell could be eliminated successfully I might cook it more often!
Here’s my tweet as well! https://twitter.com/habanerogal/status/541974242351669248
Meat from our smoker. It’s delicious but the smell takes forever to go away!
Deep fat fryer after making my spring rolls. Smell lingers and lingers and lingers and … 🙂
Fried onions!!
https://twitter.com/Jemrah1/status/542761632657838080 – tweeted!
i find the smell of fish is really hard to get rid of!
I find it hard to get rid of fish smell
i tweeted https://twitter.com/JemsW16/status/542765052240343040
BACON BACON BACON! We love bacon! After! Nasty. If not for my lamp berger I would not cook bacon anymore in the house. I am aware that your contest is over. Just wanted to let you know, if you’re still researching, I am completely addicted to lampe Berger. I have tried 50% or so of the fragrances
Thanks, not researching, very happy with my Lampe and the neutral scent!