We should Absotively Posilutely never do that!
Putting cooking grease down the drain?
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polkanut
Well-known member
In our household we save some of the glass jars that the pickles we buy come in. When the grease has cooled a bit we carefully pour it in the jar using a canning funnel, and when full it goes in the trash.
Dumping the oil followed by hot water is one of the worst things you can do.The water cools down quickly as it goes thru the homes main drain line to the street sewer line.With other debris in the line the oil hardens.Again-don't do it.Put the oil in a jar that you can put in the trash or fat recycling.
You really shouldn't
Since learned how to cook and all through having one's own establishment have never poured grease/oils down toilet or sink. It just can lead to all sorts of problems both with drains in building and whatever else outside (septic, sewer system).
Once cooled have a large funnel used just for when pouring used oils into a container (empty cooking oil bottle, can, etc..., even a Ziploc bag). Container is then closed/sealed, placed in a sturdy plastic bag then at once thrown out with the rubbish.
Solid fats are scrapped out into old newspaper, wrapped again in same then placed in rubbish.
Don't make bacon often as back in the day; but when did those drippings were saved to use when baking or cooking other things. That seems to have been normal as you can find special vintage canisters (mostly aluminum) with "Bacon" printed on.
Since learned how to cook and all through having one's own establishment have never poured grease/oils down toilet or sink. It just can lead to all sorts of problems both with drains in building and whatever else outside (septic, sewer system).
Once cooled have a large funnel used just for when pouring used oils into a container (empty cooking oil bottle, can, etc..., even a Ziploc bag). Container is then closed/sealed, placed in a sturdy plastic bag then at once thrown out with the rubbish.
Solid fats are scrapped out into old newspaper, wrapped again in same then placed in rubbish.
Don't make bacon often as back in the day; but when did those drippings were saved to use when baking or cooking other things. That seems to have been normal as you can find special vintage canisters (mostly aluminum) with "Bacon" printed on.
As far back as I can remember..
Grease down the drain was a deathly sin. Hah maybe not quite... but I remember getting yelled at too, once I was old enough to cook, that grease goes in the trash not the sink.
My Mom was very thrifty and washed up and saved just about any reusable jar or food container we bought something in no matter what it was made of and our grease usually ended up in a butter tub or cottage cheese container. She would let it cool slightly but it never melted the plastic even fresh from the burner (I know because I rarely had patience to let it sit a bit).
The containers lid snapped on tight when it was full (since they're constructed to be airtight to keep the contents fresh originally) so as to keep the grease particles that stayed liquid safely inside. To this day I still do the same in my own cooking. Just ingrained in my brain at this point.
Grease down the drain was a deathly sin. Hah maybe not quite... but I remember getting yelled at too, once I was old enough to cook, that grease goes in the trash not the sink.
My Mom was very thrifty and washed up and saved just about any reusable jar or food container we bought something in no matter what it was made of and our grease usually ended up in a butter tub or cottage cheese container. She would let it cool slightly but it never melted the plastic even fresh from the burner (I know because I rarely had patience to let it sit a bit).
The containers lid snapped on tight when it was full (since they're constructed to be airtight to keep the contents fresh originally) so as to keep the grease particles that stayed liquid safely inside. To this day I still do the same in my own cooking. Just ingrained in my brain at this point.
I don’t like to put grease down the drain either, I just pour it into whatever empty can, jar, bottle of container that is handy in the garbage at the time. My paternal Grandma was from Missouri and she always saved the leftover bacon grease in a cup that she kept on the shelf of her Okeeffe and Merritt gas stove.
She used it for cooking. She believed that you couldn’t cook any green vegetable without either ham hocks or bacon grease for flavor, especially fresh green beans. And she always used bacon grease to grease the pan or griddle for pancakes. All the rest of the leftover grease or fat went into coffee cans. She would make lye soap with it, or just dispose of it in the trash.
Eddie
She used it for cooking. She believed that you couldn’t cook any green vegetable without either ham hocks or bacon grease for flavor, especially fresh green beans. And she always used bacon grease to grease the pan or griddle for pancakes. All the rest of the leftover grease or fat went into coffee cans. She would make lye soap with it, or just dispose of it in the trash.
Eddie
Like most everyone else here, I never pour grease / fat / oil down the drain if I can possibly avoid it! It will either be wiped up/out with a paper towel, go into sealable container or a ziplock bag, into the freezer (if it's a large amount) then the trash on trash day.
Growing up my mom always had a quart size(??) covered aluminum can next to the stove for bacon grease. The removable strainer kept particles and burnt bits out of the grease, which was always used for frying, sauteing or otherwise adding flavor. When I fry bacon (rarely these days) I'll pour the grease into a bowl for re-use and cover it with plastic wrap after it's cooled.
Never had that problem in the Deep-South. Nobody ever threw out good grease. Country folks put bacon grease in everything but the iced tea.
iheartmaytag
Well-known member
It's a never here.
The city asks that people don't put grease or oil down the drain, and have ads that demonstrate how difficult it is to remove from the waste water, as well as adding cost to the treatment process.
I understand that there is a small amount that is washed away from cleaning pans etc, but usually this waste is emulsified by the detergents that are used in cleaning. Still restaurants are required to have grease traps to prevent oils and fats from entering the sewage system.
As far as septic tanks. That should be a BIG NEVER, I can only imagine what these would do to the leach field.
The city asks that people don't put grease or oil down the drain, and have ads that demonstrate how difficult it is to remove from the waste water, as well as adding cost to the treatment process.
I understand that there is a small amount that is washed away from cleaning pans etc, but usually this waste is emulsified by the detergents that are used in cleaning. Still restaurants are required to have grease traps to prevent oils and fats from entering the sewage system.
As far as septic tanks. That should be a BIG NEVER, I can only imagine what these would do to the leach field.
I'm on the city sewer system, but I never pour grease down the drain. I keep a large trash bin under sink (lined with drawstring plastic and on a roller shelf for easy access). Usually there's enough debris in there already that a small amount of grease can be added the ther other stuff will absorb it. For larger amounts I keep old oil containers and add the spent oil/grease to them, Then they go in the trash. Although I've heard biodiesel facilities will accept oil/grease donations. Never tried it myself.
IMHO garbage disposers get a bad rap for clogged drains/septic tanks. But then I only use my disposer for stuff that's difficult to just remove by hand from the sink. This keeps the amounts that get into the drain system relatively small. I've heard some avid composters hook up a disposer to a bucket that is then used to feed a compost pile. I haven't gone that far, but sometimes I'll take a lot of food waste and mix it in with the compost. If done correctly, it all disappears and makes for a great soil amendment.
When I as a kid my mom used to make soap from kitchen grease. It was brown and kind of nasty smelling, but I guess it worked OK. She was from the generation that scrimped and saved, and went through WWII where every bit of oil and grease was saved to make ammunition. Or some such.
PS-Did you know that Canola/rapeseed oil was found to be perfect for lubricating old steam engines? It tends to cling to metal surfaces even in the presence of hot steam. A lot of rape was planted in Canada during WWII to help produce the valuable oil. Selective breeding created rape plants that produced oil with fewer potentially toxic components, for human consumption, and became known as Canola oil.
IMHO garbage disposers get a bad rap for clogged drains/septic tanks. But then I only use my disposer for stuff that's difficult to just remove by hand from the sink. This keeps the amounts that get into the drain system relatively small. I've heard some avid composters hook up a disposer to a bucket that is then used to feed a compost pile. I haven't gone that far, but sometimes I'll take a lot of food waste and mix it in with the compost. If done correctly, it all disappears and makes for a great soil amendment.
When I as a kid my mom used to make soap from kitchen grease. It was brown and kind of nasty smelling, but I guess it worked OK. She was from the generation that scrimped and saved, and went through WWII where every bit of oil and grease was saved to make ammunition. Or some such.
PS-Did you know that Canola/rapeseed oil was found to be perfect for lubricating old steam engines? It tends to cling to metal surfaces even in the presence of hot steam. A lot of rape was planted in Canada during WWII to help produce the valuable oil. Selective breeding created rape plants that produced oil with fewer potentially toxic components, for human consumption, and became known as Canola oil.
London ended up with a giant 'fat berg' under the city that was the size of 11 double-decker busses and the length of two football pitches.
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...topsy-reveals-growing-health-threat-londoners
https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news...topsy-reveals-growing-health-threat-londoners
mark_wpduet
Well-known member
I will admit
I did this once. I would say maybe it was a cup of oil. I do not do this anymore because I always knew it couldn't be good. But when I did do it, I ran super hot water and squirted a huge amount of DAWN down the drain with the hot water running. I think in my mind doing that would cut the grease to keep it from building up anywhere.
I did this once. I would say maybe it was a cup of oil. I do not do this anymore because I always knew it couldn't be good. But when I did do it, I ran super hot water and squirted a huge amount of DAWN down the drain with the hot water running. I think in my mind doing that would cut the grease to keep it from building up anywhere.
Please don't put it down the drain
Find a nearby friendly restaurant or club that has a grease disposal dumpster next to or near the regular dumpster. They get paid for the grease that gets picked up so they should be very amenable for people like yourself to add to the kitty. More good news is that the grease is reused for things like fuel and feed so this is a green solution to your problem.
Find a nearby friendly restaurant or club that has a grease disposal dumpster next to or near the regular dumpster. They get paid for the grease that gets picked up so they should be very amenable for people like yourself to add to the kitty. More good news is that the grease is reused for things like fuel and feed so this is a green solution to your problem.
I know over here, Irish Water (the publicly owned water utility company) requires that restaurants and other places with large scale food prep. have grease traps installed to prevent serious amounts of grease running into the public sewage lines.
The advice here for households is just to dispose of normal greasy food plate scraping type stuff into your compostables bin.
The advice here on disposing of large amounts of cooking oil (from deep frying) is to pour cool oil back into a plastic oil bottle and just place it into the normal non-recyclable garbage. I've always been a bit baffled by that as it would likely just burst and end up running around the garbage truck.
Or, if your city/county council has cooking oil recycling facilities, you can bring it there.
Solid organic fats like butter, can be disposed of into the organic / compostable bin.
You shouldn't really be disposing of large amounts of oil in the sink or leaving huge amounts of oils and fats on plates going into a dishwasher.
The advice here for households is just to dispose of normal greasy food plate scraping type stuff into your compostables bin.
The advice here on disposing of large amounts of cooking oil (from deep frying) is to pour cool oil back into a plastic oil bottle and just place it into the normal non-recyclable garbage. I've always been a bit baffled by that as it would likely just burst and end up running around the garbage truck.
Or, if your city/county council has cooking oil recycling facilities, you can bring it there.
Solid organic fats like butter, can be disposed of into the organic / compostable bin.
You shouldn't really be disposing of large amounts of oil in the sink or leaving huge amounts of oils and fats on plates going into a dishwasher.
Bags of grease in trash trucks-----Makes a BIG MESS when the packer is activated.The grease can spray on the trashmen.Thats is why a prudent one will not stand in front of the hopper when the compactor is turned on.Liquid grease may escape from the hopper scupper into the gutter.Try to put the grease in a more rigid container.There is a video of a bunch of grease filled trash bags collected from a restaurant burst and made a HUGE mess!!!At least the hopper was lubricated!They would need to pick up a few mattaresses to clean and polish the hopper floor.
Find someone local running an old Mercedes or VW diesel that burns it and donate to them
As far as septic tanks. That should be a BIG NEVER, I can only imagine what these would do to the leach field.
When I was about 3 years old, our neighbors had to have the entire yard dug up and new field lines installed because she told me she used to put grease down the drain. Their house was built around 1968 after ours was so this was around 1974. Grease wreaked havoc in six years time and there were only two people living in that house.
When I was about 3 years old, our neighbors had to have the entire yard dug up and new field lines installed because she told me she used to put grease down the drain. Their house was built around 1968 after ours was so this was around 1974. Grease wreaked havoc in six years time and there were only two people living in that house.
Grease traps are nasty!
I knew a few people that had septic tanks, and grease traps on the kitchen drain lines. One of them was my mom's friend Marguerite, and I remember them having trouble with it the day we visited them in late Winter '62. She had fixed a nice lunch for us, and when she was cleaning up after we ate, the sink drain was clogged. When she turned on the disposer, the dirty water came up in the other side of the sink. She had their son get a plunger. She plunged on the disposer side while my mom held the stopper down on the other side. The water went out of the sink, but when Marguerite opened the Frigidaire dishwasher, a tidal wave of yucky water ran out across the floor. We had to get towels to wipe it up. Her husband Bill then went to the basement and proceeded to clean out the grease trap.
I also worked at a Steak 'N Shake restaurant during the Summer of '78, and they had a problem with the grease trap clogging one evening. Water from the dishwasher and sinks came up out of the floor drains, causing the restaurant to close so we could clean up. Luckily, the plumber was able to come early the next day to fix it.
I knew a few people that had septic tanks, and grease traps on the kitchen drain lines. One of them was my mom's friend Marguerite, and I remember them having trouble with it the day we visited them in late Winter '62. She had fixed a nice lunch for us, and when she was cleaning up after we ate, the sink drain was clogged. When she turned on the disposer, the dirty water came up in the other side of the sink. She had their son get a plunger. She plunged on the disposer side while my mom held the stopper down on the other side. The water went out of the sink, but when Marguerite opened the Frigidaire dishwasher, a tidal wave of yucky water ran out across the floor. We had to get towels to wipe it up. Her husband Bill then went to the basement and proceeded to clean out the grease trap.
I also worked at a Steak 'N Shake restaurant during the Summer of '78, and they had a problem with the grease trap clogging one evening. Water from the dishwasher and sinks came up out of the floor drains, causing the restaurant to close so we could clean up. Luckily, the plumber was able to come early the next day to fix it.
I learned this the hard way ! My mom always said to never pour grease down the drain and I always listen until one year at thanksgiving I poured turkey drippings down the drain in my kitchen sink and it was very cold that night and it drained into my dishwasher hose and got hard and clogged my dishwasher hose and drain. I had to take it all apart and get a new dishwasher hose.
I later admitted to my mom that she was right and had many swear words over it. Ironically last year my brother did the same thing and it traveled all the way under his driveway and a plumber was nice enough to charge 400 dollars to snake it free
.
I later admitted to my mom that she was right and had many swear words over it. Ironically last year my brother did the same thing and it traveled all the way under his driveway and a plumber was nice enough to charge 400 dollars to snake it free
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