How to Make a Simmer Pot
This easy simmer pot fills the house with the scent of citrus, cranberries, cinnamon, and fresh herbs. Make it on the stove or in a slow cooker, and keep it going with a top-up of hot water.
Servings: 1 simmer pot
Equipment
Ingredients
- 12 dried citrus slices orange, blood orange, grapefruit, lemon, and lime
- 1/4 cup fresh cranberries
- 2 cinnamon sticks
- 1 sprig fresh rosemary
- 1 sprig fresh sage
- 6 cups water plus more for topping up
Instructions
- Twist the rosemary and sage sprigs to bruise the leaves a little.
- Add the citrus slices, cranberries, cinnamon sticks, rosemary, and sage to a wide pot or Dutch oven.
- Pour in the water, and bring it to a simmer over medium heat.
- Turn the heat down until the water barely bubbles, and leave the pot uncovered.
- Check the water every 30 minutes, and add hot water whenever the level drops, so the pot never boils dry.
- Turn off the heat before you leave the house or go to bed.
- To use it again, let it cool, cover it, and refrigerate it overnight. Then bring it back to a simmer with fresh water.
Notes
Amounts: Use enough water to float everything, and adjust the fruit, spices, and herbs to fit your pot. A wide pot spreads the scent faster than a tall, narrow one.
Citrus: Dried or fresh slices both work. Fresh slices go soft as they simmer, and dried slices keep in a jar for months.
Topping up: Add hot water from a kettle, so the pot stays at a simmer. If it boils dry, the fruit sugar scorches, the pot smokes, and an empty pot on a hot burner is a fire risk.
Safety: Keep towels, oven mitts, and curtains away from the burner, and turn the pot off before you leave the house or go to bed.
Slow cooker: Add everything to a slow cooker, cover it with water, and set it to low with the lid off or tilted. Check the water now and then, since it can still run dry.
Reusing: When the scent starts to fade, add a fresh slice of citrus or a new cinnamon stick. A cooled pot keeps in the fridge overnight. Once fresh additions don't bring the scent back, compost it and start over.
Other combinations: Try apple slices with cinnamon and cloves in fall, orange slices with spruce or fir at Christmas, or lemon with rosemary and thyme in spring. Leave out yew, which is poisonous.