What to do with cooking grease?

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rede2learn

Assistant Cook
Joined
Sep 26, 2006
Messages
24
I have an outdoor cooker that we use on occasions to cook turkeys, fries, wings and fish for large groups. The problem with this cooker is maintaining the grease that we use. I normally reuse the grease until I can smell the food that's been cooked in it before. That usually will be 10 uses for a big commercial size jug you can find at Costco.
My question is really for people with experience in cooking with large amounts of grease. What type of container do you store it in. I have just been using the container it comes in. That poses a problem in my mind because when I go to clean the pot the day after we use it I have been dumping the used grease in with the unused grease. Also, how long should I be able to use the same batch of grease? What other types of containers can I store the used grease in?
Any safety concerns?

Thanks in advance
 
Try to find a used 5 gal PVC pickle bucket, with lid. You should be able to get a free-of-charge from any burger joint; just ask the manager.

Be sure to clean it out good, scrub it well with soapy water, and rinse. If it still smells of dill (and it probably will), try scrubbing with some baking soda. You may have to do this several times before all the smell goes away. You may even have to let it air out for several days or even weeks.

Once you do start storing oil in it, keep it labelled, and keep the lid tightly closed.
 
AllenOK said:
Be sure to clean it out good, scrub it well with soapy water, and rinse. If it still smells of dill (and it probably will), try scrubbing with some baking soda. You may have to do this several times before all the smell goes away. You may even have to let it air out for several days or even weeks.

rede2learn, you should also stuff the container with newspapers. Newspaper has a wonderful capacity for removing smells from many things. I've removed musty smells from many things by stuffing with newspapers and removing and stuffing again until the smell goes away.
 
I have a deep fryer, and I use canola oil in it, 1 gallon at a time. After about 5 uses on potatoes, 3 uses with battered foods and/or items containing meat products such as egg rolls or empenada, or 1 use with fish, out it goes.

To store it, I pour it back into the original 1 gallon container through a gold coffee filter stuffed inside a huge funnel.

To recycle the old oil, find someone who has a vehicle with a biodiesel engine. They're always grateful for donations.
 
I mix leftover oils/fats, little at a time, into our outdoor kitties' food. This is especially good for them in the wintertime to give them extra calories to stay warm. Our kitties eat pretty well. Even veggies.
 
and it doesn't give the kitties the runs, Katie?

I've thought of doing that for our doggies but they don't need another excuse to poop in front of the TV or down in the basement.

We don't use as much grease as rede seems to, so I pour all mine into an empty 3-lb coffee can and when it's full I freeze it until the next garbage day.
 
Katie E said:
I mix leftover oils/fats, little at a time, into our outdoor kitties' food. This is especially good for them in the wintertime to give them extra calories to stay warm. Our kitties eat pretty well. Even veggies.

You do that too?!?!?! I used to think we were weird for doing it, but the outdoor cats just love it. They aren’t even our cats, but my DW can’t help but feed them when they come up. They aren’t as picky as our indoor cats which, for some reason, believe they deserve caviar topped tuna served in a golden bowl three times a day.

We’ve tried all kinds of different can cat foods as treats for them, and they regularly turn their noses to it, which makes the outdoor kitties very happy because they get it. The only thing they (indoor cats) really eat these days as a treat is tuna in water (not oil). Spoiled!
 
Indoor kitties are the princes and princesses of the animal world and will let you know it in a heartbeat!

Had a friend whose little indoor male foundling refused to eat his food unless it was dressed with a beaten raw egg and some milk.

Outdoor kitties are so much more sensible and grateful.
 
mudbug said:
...Had a friend whose little indoor male foundling refused to eat his food unless it was dressed with a beaten raw egg and some milk...


That cat just wasn't hungry enough...
 
Amen, brotha. The cats I herded back in those days got dry Purina chow and liked it or else they had to go find themselves a juicy little mouse.
 
Try another way...

I have added used cooking oil / grease to sawdust in a milk carton (it absorbs it) and used it to start my fire - but your gallons of it may need too big a fire! Get yourselves a bio-diesel plant, and make your car fuel.
Anyway, I think oil is an unhealthy way to cook food, as after one use the oil structure changes and becomes injurious to our health. Why not try yummy oven baked chicken and potatoes instead?
 
chrissian said:
I have added used cooking oil / grease to sawdust in a milk carton (it absorbs it) and used it to start my fire - but your gallons of it may need too big a fire! Get yourselves a bio-diesel plant, and make your car fuel.
Anyway, I think oil is an unhealthy way to cook food, as after one use the oil structure changes and becomes injurious to our health. Why not try yummy oven baked chicken and potatoes instead?

The reason I got my outdoor cooker was for deep fried Turkey. Brine it, inject it, and fry it. It’s the best Turkey I’ve ever had. Baking, grilling, smoking….all are good ways to do a Turkey, but I’ve never had one better than when it’s properly fried. Wow.

The outdoor cooker is also good for fish fries, seafood and corn boils, etc, but it’s always number one for those Turkeys!

Also, as many people here have said before, fried food isn’t bad, badly fried food is bad (sorry, I can't remember the wise DC member that said that, but it really stuck with me).
 
I also have to add, chrissian, that as long as we don't have a steady diet of fried foods, they are good. The biggest problem with fried foods is, as keltin said, poorly fried food and I have to add...TOO much of it. As long as we enjoy things in moderation, we can have all manner of tasty delights.
 
keltin said:
... They aren’t as picky as our indoor cats which, for some reason, believe they deserve caviar topped tuna served in a golden bowl three times a day...Spoiled!


You are funny, keltin!:LOL: I had cats just like that, too! Now I have two rotten little dogs;) who, in addition to believing they deserve the doggie equivalent of "caviar topped tuna...in a golden bowl", also believe that a king size bed is the ideal place to sleep. They are spoiled, and we (DH and I) are suckers, lol!
 
Thanks for all the replies. We have dinners with about 20 adults and the same number of children after great days of fishing on the bay. If you have ever cooked for more than three people you know that using a small fryer is not the most efficient way to get dinner ready. You also can't fry a turkey in a small fryer. Since we don't cook with all the grease all the time I just wanted to make sure I was doing something right with storing my grease.
Baked chicken is ok once in a while but fresh fried flounder cooked for a big group will beat it any day.
 
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