Interesting…
We have an old glass jar that we will pour cooled fatty liquids or small quanities of oil into. It lives, covered, under the cooktop and when full, it goes into our regular trash. We have very little opportunity to recycle materials in this area so we repurpose as we can. We will put the cooled ‘poaching’ liquid from cooking sausage in there as well as the leftover oil from frying tortillas, if any. We don’t fry much in oil. A small amount of residual bacon grease gets refrigerated. I’d love to pour the grease on weeds or around wooden fence poles, however after the latest bear encounter, I’ll stick with the glass jar method.
3 Likes
I was lokking up whether I could put a cast ir9n stovetop griddle in recycling and noticed this;
" Mix cooking oils with absorbent material such as coffee grounds or cat litter. Place in tight lidded container and dispose of it in garbage .
And for local residents
“CURBSIDE COLLECTION - To have your used oil picked up curbside, please call Recology ###### at 448-2945 to request a free oil jug and filter bag.”!
Speaking of old cast iron griddles, we used to have a thread that talked about whether there might be an interest for different things at a thrift store; can anyone direct me?
1 Like
1 Like
Fry oil (or any larger amount of cooking oil that warrants this) gets the thickening agent that will solidify the oil so that it can then go directly into the trash. It’s a product I had discovered from a Japanese friend. Best used with an 1-2 inches of oil (or more).
Anything less gets poured into a jar (I keep a lot of my old sauce/condiment jars for this), and once it’s full, it goes into the trash with leftover bubble wrap or bubble wrap mailers to project it from breaking in the trash.
What’s a pain is oily water - think of leftover Sichuan broths that are often glistening with a lot of chili oil or something similar. I try to skim off the fat what I can, and the rest will go down the drain and try to flush it as much as possible with hot water and also those fat eating enzymes that are supposed to help maintain your pipes too.
1 Like
Such a nice and interesting idea. How often you do this? Do you do this every time after deep fry (probably)? Or do you do this only you see a good amount of brown bit floating around?
Just out of curiosity, who cares if it breaks once it’s in the trash? It’s not a bad thing relative to much of what goes into garbage trucks and then into landfills. What am I missing?
1 Like
I was curious too. I guess I consider it to be part of “food waste” and contributing to environmental problems. I’m sure it’s not that simple.
This doesn’t address the broken container question ( maybe not having it leak in your own bin, or dripping down your street?), but we have some California laws addressing food waste
“A State of California mandate (Senate Bill 1383) requires all local jurisdictions to reduce organic waste disposal, such as food scraps, by 75% by 2025. To achieve this mandate, the City and your hauler, Athens Services, have launched a food scraps recycling program for all residential customers. The Pilot Program that launched earlier this year successfully collected over 1 ton of bagged food”
This is specifically about cooking oil
" Small amounts of oil can be placed in tightly sealed, unbreakable containers in the trash. It is not recommended to dispose of large amounts in trash as containers may leak, causing problems with garbage trucks and at solid waste facilities. For more information about avoiding clogs, see our residential fats, oils and grease brochure."
One site called Baker Commodities, “dedicated to saving the environment by finding sustainable ways to support the food production and restaurant industries” says
“Used cooking oil and other waste products can damage vital natural resources such as freshwater and soil. This can be detrimental to wildlife, agriculture and drinking water supplies. It can also lead to foul odors, flammable land areas and other undesirable side effects. With improper disposal, used cooking oil can wreak havoc on facilities, appliances and the natural environment. With proper disposal, the oil will not end up in a landfill. Recycling is the best available option for used cooking oil”
2 Likes
I fry outside to avoid the oil stink. Then, when the oil’s done, I start a nice little fire for the Mrs. and me.
1 Like
I used to work in the plumbing industry.
FOG (fats, oil, and grease) are the biggest issue in waste drains, and are the cause of most clogs, whether single-family homes or municipal sewers.
I have seen more than enough videos showing massive FOG blockages* (and theyre horrifyingly nasty) to even consider putting any of it down the drain.
Smaller amounts are wiped out with paper towels, and the odd deep fry is placed in the county collection boxes as above.
*they are also blindingly expensive to remove, even with the current technology of crawler cams and remote control cutting tools.
5 Likes
B. I use a dutch oven for deep frying, and it’ll sit on the stovetop with some oil in it for days or weeks. I use a small skimmer to strain out big floaty bits, but once the oil gets grungy enough, I’ll whip out some gelatin and treat the oil. It’s almost magical how much cleaner the oil is afterward.
1 Like
I am going to start saving it in a big jug and take it to the Austin recycling center if I ever fill it up.
3 Likes
So just put enough gelatin and water, then mix? Then let it separates (water and gelatin sink to bottom and clean up the oil on top? Maybe I will give it a try. It will be interseting.
I was skeptical at first, TBH. It seems to work like magic!
1 Like
The most important thing for me with the glass jar is 1) safety of the workers (even though I know they wear gloves), but also 2) making sure it doesn’t cut or puncture the garbage bag before the trash pick up. I am lucky to never have had critters raid my trash, but I if I did, I would also hate for one of them to be potentially hurt by any glass too.
1 Like
vegetable cooking oils will decompose rather quickly, +/- a month in ‘good’ conditions.
now, that said,
(a) you need ‘good’ conditions - compost heap or large leaf pile
(b) not suitable for gallons of used cooking oil . . .
1 Like
When last I checked, Seattle Solid Waste and its organized crime recycle contractor forbade any broken glass of any kind to be recycled. If you tried and got caught, they could refuse to pick up anything and everything.
I find this puzzling, since: (a) unbroken glass gets broken in the totes through no one’s fault; and (b) my current recycling center allows dumping of glass totes into huge, deep steel bins, where a good % of all glass shatters.
Follow your local rules for disposal of cooking fats.
There are firms in NYC that service restaurants with proper disposal of cooking fats.
1 Like
I have heard of such services having contracts to sell the stuff to be converted to auto fuel.
