How to Make Simmer Pots for Every Season

There are lots of ways to make your house smell heavenly. Burning scented candles, incense, smudge sticks, brewing coffee, or baking bread can make your house smell like a home. Plus, these are all great alternatives to using store-bought chemical air fresheners.

Another wonderful way to fill your home with a sweet aroma is to make a simmer pot. These are cheap and easy to make, you can use things that you have on hand, and it doesn’t require any special equipment or too much time.

Another great bonus for using simmer pots is that they help to humidify the air. Dry air can be an issue for some, especially during the winter.

To make a simmer pot, you simply get a pot and fill it with water and wonderfully smelling stuff. Fruits, herbs, spices, foliage, and maybe a few drops of essential oils are great candidates. You can get very inventive and create blends to suit different times of the day or year.

You can use food scraps such as apple and orange peels so that you don’t have to cut into a whole piece of fruit. The result is the same. You can also choose to use fresh or dried fruits.  The smell from dried fruits might be a little more intense.

Source: Home Made Lovely/Youtube

Once you have a pot filled with yummy ingredients, you simply need to bring the water to a boil and then, you guessed it, let it simmer. You can keep the simmer pot going for as long as you like.  You just have to be sure to keep an eye on it so that the water doesn’t boil dry. This could potentially burn the ingredients and become a fire hazard.

Winter Simmer Pots

Think about classic holiday aromas—pine, cinnamon, orange, cranberry, and cloves. There are often lots of lovely scents permeating from the kitchen around the holidays, but who doesn’t love a little extra yumminess? Here are a few ideas for wonderfully wintery simmer pots.

• For a holiday simmer pot, toss some orange slices, a couple of cinnamon sticks, some cloves, and a teaspoon of allspice into a pot of water and put it on the stove.
• For something a little different that works all winter long, how about combining some pine needles, or cedar sprigs.  You can still add a few spices like clove or nutmeg to round out the aroma.
• Sprigs of rosemary and a few sage leaves would work well with some apple and orange slices for a warm herby smell.

Spring Simmer Pots

Spring conjures to mind fresh and floral scents. Try playing with flower petals and fruits to celebrate the abundance to come. You can also experiment with sprigs of herbs, such as mint, lemon balm, rosemary, and thyme, combined with fruits such as orange, lemons, and lime to fill your home with fresh and vibrant aromas. Lemons smell like spring cleaning, right?

• Try blending some dried or fresh rose petals with a few drops of vanilla extract for a rich and warming flora scent that reminds you of seasonal blooms to come, or mix some sprigs of lavender and lemon slices for a floral yet zingy aroma.
• Orange slices could be combined with sprigs of mint or lemon balm.
• Take a few sprigs of rosemary, some lemons, and a few drops of vanilla for a clean yet yummy aroma.

Summer Simmer Pots

Put some simmer pots together that remind you of the beauty and abundance of summer with all its fruits and fun. Think tropical fruits, flowers, and cocktails on the porch.

• Keep things fresh and zesty with slices of lemon, lime, and grapefruit.  You can also add some mint sprigs for a clean fresh fragrance.
• Simmer together a generous handful of mint leaves and some slices of lime to give you that summer cocktail mojito vibe.
• This lime, mint, thyme, and ginger simmer pot recipe combines fresh, zesty, and earthy tones for a rich summer evening blend.

Autumn Simmer Pots

Source: Know Your Produce/Youtube

It isn’t hard to imagine what might go into an autumn simmer pot. What would go into a pumpkin latte or apple pie? Just use that! Think warming spices, seasonal fruits, and walks in the woods. You can create an aroma in your home to make you feel cozy, warm, and fall-time festive.

• A simple orange peel, cinnamon stick, ginger, and clove simmer pot with fill your home with just enough to keep you warm and snuggly.
• You can also try using some apple slices (or apple cores and peels) along with some star anise and cinnamon sticks.  Your house will smell like apple pie all day long.
• If you have pumpkin spice seasoning on hand, you can go ahead and use it and add some extra cloves, nutmeg, and a little vanilla for a classic autumnal aroma.

These are simple ideas to inspire you to come up with your own simmer pot blends that suit you, lean towards what you have on hand, and celebrate the seasons.

Related Content:

• 6 Kitchen Scraps That Make Your House Smell Amazing
• Cool Ways to Make Your House Smell Like Fall (No Chemicals Required!)
• 9 Hacks to Make Your House Smell Great Without Any Dangerous Chemicals
• 5 DIY Ways to Make Your Home Smell Like Autumn

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