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Is it okay for me to mix lemon juice and water, than bring to a boil on the stovetop? I want to make the house smell like lemons.

Robert Corey
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    I was a little tempted to close this as unclear what you're asking - is there something specific you're worried about here? – Cascabel Nov 29 '15 at 20:49
  • That it will explode or catch fire. – Robert Corey Nov 29 '15 at 20:56
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    If things like this (basically water with a little sugar and aromatics) were explosive or flammable, then everything would be, and you'd never have had cooked food. – Cascabel Nov 29 '15 at 21:09
  • And note that the "lemony scent" is typically not produced by the juice but by the oils in the rind. – Stephie Nov 29 '15 at 21:40
  • @Jefromi I didn't posses that knowledge, thanks for explaining it to me. Do you have suggestions on how I could have made my post clearer? – Robert Corey Nov 29 '15 at 22:13
  • Well it's fine now, but I dunno, just be specific. I know you didn't realize this, but it was kind of a baffling question, since we don't really eat a lot of insanely flammable or explosive things (besides oil), and water is pretty much the least flammable thing in the kitchen, so it was hard to guess what you were worried about. – Cascabel Nov 29 '15 at 23:52

2 Answers2

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To make the house smell like lemons, a better way might be to bake leftover lemon rinds (whole lemons work too, but the rind is really all you need) on a foil-covered baking sheet. I occasionally do this with oranges and cinnamon sticks. Bake them at around 250 or 275 degrees (F). Bake them until they turn dark brown and start to smell toasted.

James
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Yes, that's safe. I don't know if it'll really make the house smell that strongly, but yes, you can safely boil (or otherwise cook) any food you want, especially if you're not even going to drink or eat it. (Yes, there are exceptions like oil and alcohol, but anything you'd actually eat or drink in large quantities is fine.)

Food safety issues are generally things like "that meat has bacteria so you need to cook it thoroughly" or "you left that food out too long so it's not safe anymore." It's not really a safety issue to cook something in the first place, unless you're doing something that'll start a fire or something.

I suppose if you're going to leave this boiling so long that the pot cooks dry, that'd at least mess up your pot and conceivably could be a fire hazard. So don't, say, start it boiling then leave the house for hours and hours. But yes, boiling water is safe.

Cascabel
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  • There are exceptions to "any food you want" - boiling a quart of booze or oil unattended would be a significant fire hazard, and frying even a couple of thai or habanero chilies in hot oil (not rendering them inedible) can at least give you quite a choking and coughing experience. – rackandboneman Nov 30 '15 at 10:04
  • @rackandboneman I know, I almost didn't bother making a general statement, but the OP seemed to be afraid that basically any food could potentially catch flames when heated, and I wanted to dispel that notion. – Cascabel Nov 30 '15 at 15:56