Easy Simmer Pot Recipes (Stovetop Potpourri) with Vanilla Beans

Do you want a better and safer alternative to artificially scented candles and air fresheners? All you need to do is bring a small pot of fruits, spices, or other aromatics to a simmer – your house will fill with the most beautiful smells. Here are some Easy Simmer Pot recipes with Vanilla Beans to start with. 

What is a simmer pot?

If you are wondering, a simmer pot is basically a homemade air freshener made from boiling fragrant pieces of fruits, herbs, and other spices or aromatics in water.

Simmer pots are very easy to make, not expensive, and really effective at making your home smell nice. Better yet, they are completely all-natural, without toxic chemicals or dubious artificial scents. They are sustainable too, a great way to utilize food scraps like fruit peels.

What can I use for a simmer pot?

Anything you love the smell of! Fruits and fruit peels or rinds left over, warming spices or your favorite aromatics, and even foraged plants you picked up from your nature walk. 

How to make a simmer pot? 

Fill up a large pot with ~2 inches of water. Gather your ingredients and put them into the pot together, submerging them in the water. Turn on the stove to simmer and wait for your house to smell amazing! Can be left on the stove for a few hours, as long as the water is still remaining in the pot. Add more water if most of it evaporates and you would like to continue simmering. When you are done, strain out the water from the ingredients and compost the used herbs/spices/fruit. 

Combination Ideas: 

• 4-6 Dried or fresh orange slices or another citrus kind (lemon, grapefruit), 4-6 dried or fresh apple slices (can also use rinds/peels of these fruits if you don't want to dry slices), 2 cinnamon sticks, 10-15 cloves, 10-15 peppercorns, 3-4 star anise, 10 allspice berries, a sprig of dried or fresh sage, a sprig of dried or fresh pine, a sprig of dried or fresh rosemary, a splash of vanilla extract or 1 vanilla bean 
• Dried chamomile, dried rose petals, 2-3 small sprigs of dried or fresh french lavender leaves, 4-6 dried or fresh orange slices, 1 vanilla bean or a splash of vanilla extract
• Any combination you like and what is available!

Different ingredients can symbolize different things to you.

Citrus

Lemons, limes, oranges, and grapefruit either whole, half, peels, or rinds, add a fresh, clean scent for positivity, happiness, and abundance. 

Whole Spices

Whole cinnamon sticks, cloves, peppercorns, and star anise all add a wonderfully warm fall scent to simmer pot blends. Whole vanilla pods will add a warm sweet velvety scent. Cinnamon represents fertility and good luck while vanilla beans are often associated with purity, caring and calm.

Herbs and Flowers

Herbs like Rosemary symbolize peace and protection while Lavender flowers symbolize elegance and grace. There are a few other herbs and flowers like sages, bay leaves, and rose petals that can be wonderful to add to the simmer pot's blends.

Woodsy things

Pine or spruce twigs, pinecones, tree barks, and tree buds add a nice woodsy scent to the simmer pot blend. They symbolize virtue and longevity.

These simmer pot blends in a jar are an amazing idea to make gifts for special occasions like this holiday season. Pretty and easy (they smell lovely too). Here are some of the materials we carefully pick from our lovely friend at The O zone.

About The O zone Red Hook, NY

This marketplace specializes in supplying bulk-refill items, including body soaps, shampoos, lotions, detergents, and household cleaning products. Products are sourced from companies including Vermont Soap, Chagrin Valley Soap & Salve, Meliora Cleaning Products, Ecos, Bees Wraps and U-Konserve to name a few. For a full list of our bulk refill options, click here!

Buying in bulk provides tangible environmental, economic and nutritional benefits; it is the most sustainable option for consumers. By serving as a market for bulk goods, The O Zone’s patrons will produce less waste by reducing the amount of packaging that is utilized while shopping. By offering alternative solutions to the plastic-heavy goods that are available in today’s retail super stores, The O Zone is engaging community members in proactive environmental measures.