Kitchen

[eddyandme]

The other day I was nuking some rice in the 'plastic' microwave cooker Mark Charles Muselli used to sell on QVC.  I've used it, quite frequently, for a couple of years - especially for cooking rice.  I was sauteing chicken on the stovetop and suddenly smelled this awful burning stench.  Did not burn the chicken, so looked in microwave.  Lo and behold, black smoke was spewing thru the top of the pot!   I pulled it out and found that the bottom of the pot was blackened and melted on the carousel.  Cleaned everything up, but everytime I nuke something, I smell that burnt stench.  Can anyone tell me how to get rid of that smell? 

[vicalynn]

Sounds like it is NOT going to an easy smell to get rid of.   To freshen up my microwave I put in glass container of water with some lemon and bring it to boil and turn off.  Let it sit and steam away.  Microwave easily wipes clean and the lemon leaves it with a freshened up smell.  But that is for just run of the mill cooking odors, splatters and spills.   I have a plastic cooker too, I will most definitley keep a close eye on it now!

[Ravenwolf]

Fill a microwave safe bowl or cup with half a cup of white distilled vinegar, and nuke for 30 seconds. Let it sit in there for 5 or 10 minutes, and then dip the corner of a clean washcloth in the vonegar and wipe down the inside really good. Follow that up with a water soaled clean cloth and wipe down again. Then get a bowl and fill it with baking soda and then let that sit in the mocrowave closed oover might. Hope this helps.

[chickenbutt]

Good ideas about the distilled white vinegar, or setting some baking soda in there overnight, or nuking a bowl of diluted lemon juice.

One bit of advice that might help some people in the future - I've learned that my microwaves stay a lot better if I leave the door open after EACH use, for an hour or so.

What that does, beside dissipating any food odors, is to let the condensation dry up so that you don't end up with rusting down the road.  

For a while my husband was eating these fish Lean Cuisines every day.  It was brutal on the microwave until I figured out that leaving the door open for a while after use allows all the fish smell to leave the inside of the microwave.

Also learned about the rust thing after my first couple of microwave ovens.  Microwaving creates steam and that leaves it on the inside walls.  Leaving the door open for a while after use, even if it's just to nuke some water for tea, allows that to dissipate completely and quickly.

[eddyandme]

Thanks everyone for your tips.  I'll do the vinegar and lemon thing - then, leave baking soda overnite - hope it works!  I'l start leaving the door open, too; good advice - never thought about the steam - makes a lot of sense.

[Toppers]

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@Ravenwolf wrote:

Fill a microwave safe bowl or cup with half a cup of white distilled vinegar, and nuke for 30 seconds. Let it sit in there for 5 or 10 minutes, and then dip the corner of a clean washcloth in the vonegar and wipe down the inside really good. Follow that up with a water soaled clean cloth and wipe down again. Then get a bowl and fill it with baking soda and then let that sit in the mocrowave closed oover might. Hope this helps.

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This is what I would try doing, and I would repeat it if necessary. 

[debic]

I'll guess you probably pushed an extra button.    I did that once with microwave popcorn.   I was amazed I didn't actually start it on fire.   I even had a guy pull into the driveway to see if the house is on fire and call 911.   We never could get the smell out of it and broke down and bought a new one.