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Thread Number: 75792
/ Tag: Recipes, Cooking Accessories
Putting cooking grease down the drain? |
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Post# 996232 6/5/2018 at 01:06 (2,145 days old) by abcomatic  (Bradford, Illinois) |
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HI folks, Please give me your opinion on this. Is it ok to put leftover cooking oil etc. down the drain after you have finished cooking? Thanks, Gary | ||
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| Post# 996233 , Reply# 1 6/5/2018 at 01:23 (2,145 days old) by Spacedogb (Lafayette, LA) | ||
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I do it all the time. I've been in my house a year now and never had a problem. I also let my George foreman grill run into the sink instead of collection tray. I even drained ground beef grease into the drain today still no issues and I don't run water after or anything. | ||
| Post# 996238 , Reply# 3 6/5/2018 at 04:17 (2,144 days old) by woollyaxolotl (Devon, United Kingdom) | ||
This practice is certainly actively discouraged here. Oils in the altered pH environment of a sewer will harden and/or saponify, sometimes to the point where clearance equipment can’t cope and some poor soul has to dig them out by hand. As cities enlarge and test capacity of sewer systems there are an increasing number of ‘fatbergs’ forming under the streets. Particularly in areas with large numbers of restaurants (which should be able to demonstrate good practice with their waste oil disposal, but sometimes don’t). I can’t imagine it is much different elsewhere.
There was a rather off putting documentary here a few months ago called Fatberg Autopsy which was quite an eye opener. Another causative link was made with flushable wipes. Apparently ‘flushable’ simply means something will clear your domestic pipework with no obstruction. In a large bore public sewer with lower flow they often stick to flushed fats and accelerate blockages. Lovely! | ||
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Post# 996245 , Reply# 5 6/5/2018 at 05:35 (2,144 days old) by neptunebob (Pittsburgh, PA) |
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Frankie the Fish say:
Don't pour the grease down the drain, keep our 3 rivers clean!
CLICK HERE TO GO TO neptunebob's LINK | ||
| Post# 996246 , Reply# 6 6/5/2018 at 05:47 (2,144 days old) by Spacedogb (Lafayette, LA) | ||
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Well I guess I'm psycho. The townhouse community I live in has dumpsters and grease tends to build up in the bottom and smell terrible. Louisiana weather+grease=horrific smells. It also tends to attract all kinds of critters like raccoons, opossums, and things that creep and crawl. | ||
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Post# 996258 , Reply# 9 6/5/2018 at 07:21 (2,144 days old) by gansky1 (Omaha, The Home of the TV Dinner!) |
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We had family in town for the Memorial day weekend and made several meals, bacon and even french fries (outside) in the Presto Dixie fryer (Thanks, Don ;-)
The bacon grease congeals quickly and is easy to scrape, in small amounts, into the trash can on some paper towels but the fryer oil was funneled back into the bottles and disposed of that way. My brother owns a plumbing company in Tucson, AZ and has said for many years that grease poured down the drains is his "bread and butter" for residential calls. No wive's tale remedies like pouring bleach or vinegar/soda concoctions take the place of proper use precautions when it comes to sewer care. If you put it in the drain, you'll end up paying (him) to come rout it out. We used to keep a small coffee can in the freezer for pouring grease into and storing until the can was full, then put into the trash. My grandparents saved it in the same way but then it was given to a friend on a farm and used for feeding pigs and even the barn cats in the winter. | ||
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Post# 996263 , Reply# 10 6/5/2018 at 08:13 (2,144 days old) by turquoisedude (.) |
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 We always seemed to live somewhere with a septic tank so we were always reminded (OK, yelled at...LOL) by my father not to pour any quantity of cooking grease or oil down a drain. Even in later years on city sewage and with a half-decent disposer, we didn't even run cooked fat from steaks or chops down the drain.
Seeing some of those videos of 'fat-bergs' in city sewer systems is pretty scary, so I still tend to be very careful about fats and greases!
I also let grease set a bit then scrape it out into the trash OR, in the case of Ogden, into the city's compost bin. | ||
| Post# 996273 , Reply# 12 6/5/2018 at 10:43 (2,144 days old) by woollyaxolotl (Devon, United Kingdom) | ||
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I have often wondered what in sink disposals were like for pipework and sewage facilities. I have no experience as they are vanishingly rare here. I’ve only ever used one and that was in the US. It seemed like harder work than just disposing of waste the usual way, but I suppose it means there’s less perishable waste sitting in the house.
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Post# 996274 , Reply# 13 6/5/2018 at 11:04 (2,144 days old) by Yogitunes (New Jersey) |
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just be careful for your local area.....as some city water depts. will conduct robot cameras into sewer lines during a cleanout/clog issue....and if excess amounts are found coming from your pipes, you WILL get a bill for the cleanup, and possibly a fine....
we have a restaurant up the street from us.....the clog from their grease traps that were not maintained properly cost them plenty in cleanup of the street pipes, as well as back-up messes that flooded into homes... | ||
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Post# 996289 , Reply# 14 6/5/2018 at 14:07 (2,144 days old) by whirlykenmore78 (Prior Lake MN (GMT-0500 CDT.)) |
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Absolutely NO! | ||
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Post# 996293 , Reply# 15 6/5/2018 at 15:14 (2,144 days old) by DADoES (TX, U.S. of A.) |
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Post# 996330 , Reply# 16 6/5/2018 at 23:41 (2,144 days old) by jakeseacrest (Massachusetts) |
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| Post# 996338 , Reply# 18 6/6/2018 at 01:35 (2,144 days old) by woollyaxolotl (Devon, United Kingdom) | ||
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In the altered environment of the sewer system- different pH, different temperatures, different chemical mix- oils turn rock hard. Think of olive oil soap. The reaction is different but the principle is the same. Small amounts of fat washed down by one individual are probably fine for that person, but it does come down to chance rather than being best practice, unfortunately.
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Post# 996343 , Reply# 19 6/6/2018 at 05:31 (2,143 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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Post# 996346 , Reply# 20 6/6/2018 at 06:18 (2,143 days old) by polkanut (Wausau, WI ) |
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 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.
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Post# 996347 , Reply# 21 6/6/2018 at 06:20 (2,143 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996349 , Reply# 22 6/6/2018 at 06:51 (2,143 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996354 , Reply# 23 6/6/2018 at 08:28 (2,143 days old) by Sudsomatic (Indiana) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996373 , Reply# 24 6/6/2018 at 12:05 (2,143 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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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 | ||
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Post# 996389 , Reply# 25 6/6/2018 at 13:18 (2,143 days old) by Revvinkevin (Tinseltown - Shakey Town - La-La Land) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996408 , Reply# 26 6/6/2018 at 17:23 (2,143 days old) by Gyrafoam (Wytheville, VA) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996437 , Reply# 27 6/7/2018 at 08:07 (2,142 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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Well Steven, here you go | ||
| Post# 996443 , Reply# 28 6/7/2018 at 08:53 (2,142 days old) by Iheartmaytag (Wichita, Kansas) | ||
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. | ||
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Post# 996542 , Reply# 29 6/8/2018 at 02:50 (2,142 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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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. | ||
| Post# 996594 , Reply# 31 6/8/2018 at 17:53 (2,141 days old) by mark_wpduet (Lexington KY) | ||
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.
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Post# 996597 , Reply# 32 6/8/2018 at 18:19 (2,141 days old) by bajaespuma (Connecticut) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996611 , Reply# 35 6/9/2018 at 00:31 (2,141 days old) by robbinsandmyers (Conn) |
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Post# 996615 , Reply# 36 6/9/2018 at 02:11 (2,141 days old) by askolover (South of Nash Vegas, TN) |
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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. | ||
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Post# 996802 , Reply# 38 6/10/2018 at 21:10 (2,139 days old) by Dermacie (my forever home (Glenshaw, PA)) |
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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 😜. | ||
| Post# 996895 , Reply# 39 6/11/2018 at 19:59 (2,138 days old) by IowaBear (Cedar Rapids, IA) | ||
 I had never really thought about it. It was just drilled into me as a kid as "something to never do" - like running with knives, LOL.
Had a coffee can under the kitchen sink for grease and I still keep one today, although today's "can" is plastic. Nevertheless it has never melted on me.
I'm sure one day P&G will reduce the thickness of the plastic another few millimeters...and I will have a mess.
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Post# 996898 , Reply# 40 6/11/2018 at 20:13 (2,138 days old) by wayupnorth (On a lake between Bangor and Bar Harbor, Maine) |
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Post# 996941 , Reply# 41 6/12/2018 at 08:07 (2,137 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Disposing Of Grease & Old Cooking Oil Yay Ken, Post # 32, you are the first one to get it right, Everyone should save all their old used grease and cooking oil and RECYCLE IT at a local restaurants grease recycling container,
I have done this for decades,
I just fill old old quart or 1/2 gallon jars and take them and pour it in the grease recycling containers at local restaurants, then take the jars home and once run through the DW they are used again,
I can never believe how much stuff people throw away that can be easily recycled.
Why waste all this potential energy ?
John L. | ||
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Post# 996982 , Reply# 43 6/12/2018 at 17:34 (2,137 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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NYC has only just recently begun rolling out composting citywide, and not everyone is happy with that idea.
Am not holding used grease/oils/fats at home then driving around to find a place that accepts such donations. If and or when city launches a program where rubbish collection expands to grease; then maybe things can be different. Yes, there are commercial services that will take used oils/fats/grease from restaurants and such, but don't think they do the one off from households. | ||
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Post# 996992 , Reply# 44 6/12/2018 at 18:36 (2,137 days old) by ea56 (Cotati, Calif.) |
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I’m with you Launderess! I’m not about to begin truck’n all over hither and yon to dispose of old cooking grease. If they want us to dispose of it in a way that it can be recycled, then there need to be provisions made for it to be a no hassle task.
I’m responsible, in that I don’t pour it down the drain and trash the publc sewer system. I really make an effort to be responsible, recycle and not waste resources or pollute the enviornment. Throwing leftover bacon grease in the garbage isn’t such a terrible thing to do. But John does have a vaild point, in that this waste grease could be a source of energy. Garbage companies could make some money on it if they made it convenient for customers to leave it out for recycling with their trash pickup. Thats up to them to have their bean counters decide whether or not this would be profitable, but I’m not holding my breath. During WWll people saved it and turned it in for war time production of explosives, and other defense needs. I’ll bet that they had a fairly easy way for people to do this. Maybe it would be a good idea of refuse haulers to look into this. Eddie | ||
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Post# 996995 , Reply# 45 6/12/2018 at 18:47 (2,137 days old) by Launderess (Quiet Please, There´s a Lady on Stage) |
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City stopped collecting certian electronics/appliances
As part of normal sanitation routes. We are now supposed to bring such things to designated recycling centers. Some do, others simply chuck them onto street or on corner near public trash bins. Either way between dumpster divers, trash pickers or whatever the things are gone within several hours.
Maybe instead of a wash in; we all could save up grease and have a soap making event! *LOL* | ||
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Post# 997032 , Reply# 46 6/13/2018 at 02:11 (2,137 days old) by tolivac (greenville nc) |
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There is a cooking grease container at the transfer station dump area I go to.Right next to the cooking oil tank is one for used motor oil.Hope these don't get confused! | ||
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Post# 997392 , Reply# 49 6/17/2018 at 04:24 (2,132 days old) by DaveAMKrayoGuy (Oak Park, MI) |
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After putting unwanted meat juice in a coffee can to give my dad to give to his cats, I have actually been making soup (beef with beef or pork juice/fat, chicken with chicken, using bouillon cubes) with all that which I'd always avoided pouring down my drain, even no matter how small the amounts would be...
Unfortunately the most recent "soups" haven't agreed with me--I make the soup with kinchee noodles to add/enhance the flavor, but these soups got a little hard on the tummy, and my wife and kid won't touch any of this, so I don't know if I'm back to making cat food out of what is a little bit collected over time... -- Dave | ||
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Post# 997911 , Reply# 51 6/21/2018 at 06:42 (2,128 days old) by combo52 (50 Year Repair Tech Beltsville,Md) |
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Kitchen Sink Drain Lines That Close Up Inside This does not necessarily come from dumping grease down the drain. A drain line often adapts to the flow of water it is asked to carry, this type of build up is very typical from just washing dishes and greasy pots and pans.
The best way to keep drains as clean as possible is to not oversize the drain lines in the first place. Also kitchens that have a disposer [ that is actually used a lot ] and a DW usually have much cleaner drains.
A disposer puts out lots of particles that actually scour the drain lines and keep them much more open and cleaner, and if greasy pans and dishes are put in a DW WITHOUT rinsing the DW will emulsify any grease and it will flow far down the drain lines and not congeal right back onto the inside of the drain lines.
John L. | ||
| Post# 997948 , Reply# 53 6/21/2018 at 14:58 (2,128 days old) by vacerator (Macomb, Michigan) | ||
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So true. Mineral deposits can reduce the inside diameter of drains the same as all else. When we replaced our tub/shower drain to the main stack with a wider one for a shower only, the old pipe was half the size inside. About 50 years old galvanized drain pipe. | ||
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Post# 998488 , Reply# 55 6/26/2018 at 21:34 (2,123 days old) by SudsMaster (SF Bay Area, California) |
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In this town, by law, all drains have to be cast iron. Except of course for the stuff under the sink. And a previous owner used 1.5" copper pipe for the laundry closet drain. Seems to work OK.
As far as soup goes, when I bake a chicken I usually freeze the bones etc as the meat is removed. Then simmer them in salty water, sometimes with a little vinegar, overnight. Makes a stout and tasty broth. I have tried this with beef bones but for some reason the chicken seems to work better. It actually gels in the fridge, probably from the solubilized cartilage, which Is probably good for joint health. The vinegar can be neutralized at the end with a dash of sodium bicarbonate. Unless you want hot and sour soup. | ||
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