What do you do with used oil from a fryer?
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If you have answers, please help by responding to the unanswered posts.
Cooper'sMom
Senior Cook
When I am done with mine, I put it in a plastic bag and throw it in the big bin. Or I pour it out in the corner of my backyard amongst the rocks away from where my dog can get to it.
buzzard767
Sous Chef
Down here there's a group of people who clean up the oil and use it to run modified Mercedes diesel engined cars.
Buzz
Buzz
Depending on where you live you might have one of several options. There are some places which will buy the oil from you for a few cents/gallon, some charge you a few cents/gallon to take it off of your hands, some will take it for free.
I keep a 1-gallon plastic milk jug under the sink ... pour used oil into it ... when full I take it to a fast food joint down the street and leave it by the used oil tank they have outside their back door. I'm not pouring it down the sink, not adding to the landfill, I'm not contaminating the soil or aquafer, and they sell their used oil - so they are making money for disposing of my used oil for me. I don't know who they sell it to but used cooking oil is converted to biofuels these days.
I win, they win, mother nature wins.
I keep a 1-gallon plastic milk jug under the sink ... pour used oil into it ... when full I take it to a fast food joint down the street and leave it by the used oil tank they have outside their back door. I'm not pouring it down the sink, not adding to the landfill, I'm not contaminating the soil or aquafer, and they sell their used oil - so they are making money for disposing of my used oil for me. I don't know who they sell it to but used cooking oil is converted to biofuels these days.
I win, they win, mother nature wins.
dave the baker
Sous Chef
Those cars that burn used oil; it's like following Micky D dowm the street. LOL
Michael had the best answer for disposal.
Michael had the best answer for disposal.
attie
Sous Chef
Good job Michael, we all should be more responsible
We don't do that much deep-frying but when there's oil to dispose of I save it in a large jug and pour a little of it over our outside kitties' food, especially in the wintertime when they need more fat for fuel.
I never pour it down the drain our put it in the trash.
I never pour it down the drain our put it in the trash.
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GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
It's not a good idea to put it down the drain, or outside, where it can get into the water table. Congealed cooking grease is a major source of clogged municipal drains.
lyndalou
Head Chef
I don't deep fry, but any fat I have goes into the refrigerator to solidify, then into the trash.
I like this idea. Thank you
Norai
Assistant Cook
- Joined
- Mar 21, 2009
- Messages
- 4
It would probably smell really funny, but you could conceivably make soap out of it. I'll have to try that sometime. :x
Would probably work best with half coconut oil or so. I wouldn't want to use it on my body, but it might make a good dish soap/laundry soap.
Would probably work best with half coconut oil or so. I wouldn't want to use it on my body, but it might make a good dish soap/laundry soap.
Callisto in NC
Washing Up
Aren't grease and oil two different entities? Grease clogs drains, oil just doesn't mix well with water but it doesn't become a solid. I found a few sites that said if you are composting adding cooking oil is acceptable if you do it slowly over a period of time. If it's okay for your compost pile, lightly spreading it in your back 40 isn't going to affect the municipal water system. And I'm talking oil, not grease.
I'm not saying it's okay to pour it down the drain, I wouldn't; but cooking oil won't clog the water system if you pour it into the land.
I do much like Michael. There is a restaurant 2 blocks away that DH used to work at and when he was there they told him to bring our fryer oil (they know I cater and use a lot) and they would dispose of it with theirs. He left there 2 years ago but they still take our oil.....and give us a free pizza once a month for it!!!
Works out nicely!
Works out nicely!
GotGarlic
Chef Extraordinaire
Sorry, I was using grease to mean cooking oil, but you're right - grease is rendered animal fat, not vegetable oil, which I presume is what is being used for frying.
I don't know what sites you were looking at, but this link - "cooking oil" clog municipal drains site:*.gov - Google Search - is Google search results for that search string.
Lots of local governments warn that cooking oil can congeal (it doesn't have to be solid), especially in colder climates, and clog municipal drains or make it difficult for local water treatment plants to do their jobs.
Callisto in NC
Washing Up
I understand but the laymen thought process is that cooking oil and grease are one in the same. However, those studies are limited because they don't presuppose that oil cannot freeze or congeal like grease. I left a vat of cooking oil out in the extreme weather we had this year in a metal container no less and it never solidified, nor does the oil in your car. I believe the "warnings" are a general public warning out of fear that oil and grease aren't differentiated in the general public. However, in a cooking forum, it's prudent to be aware of the differences.
The sites I looked at were composting sites. Vegetable oil is safe to compost which means it is safe to pour on the ground and cannot leach into water supplies or sewer systems. According the the composting sites I visited, cooking oil is biodegradable and does not pose a ecological threat.
Interesting information about adding used oil to compost. I might try that if there's any left after my outside kitties are fed.
Callisto in NC
Washing Up
Yes it is. Add some, stir the pile if you have a pile verses box, and then wait a day. Add some again and stir.
I was thinking that some municipalities might warn against all oils because of motor oil. There are still some that just don't get it and still dump motor oil which truly peeves me off that they do
I was thinking that some municipalities might warn against all oils because of motor oil. There are still some that just don't get it and still dump motor oil which truly peeves me off that they do
