How to Dispose of Cooking Oil: Don’t Pour It Down the Drain
You’ve just fried up some chicken in several inches of vegetable oil, or maybe you’ve sauteed some veggies in olive oil. What do you do with the cooking oil? You might assume that because cooking oil isn’t the type of fat that solidifies at room temperature, it’s fine to pour it down the drain. However, cooking oil will clog your drains the same way that bacon fat, butter or any other fat that solidifies at room temperature will.
Why You Should Never Pour Oil Down the Drain
There are a few problems with pouring oil down the drain. One reason is that just because the oil doesn’t solidify at room temperature doesn’t mean it won’t solidify at all. For example, if you’ve ever put olive oil in the refrigerator, you’ve probably seen it turn solid. In cold temperatures, the same thing will happen to cooking oil in your pipes.
Oil doesn’t even have to solidify to create a clog. It will build up in your pipes and can corrode them. Your dishwashing detergent might say that it destroys grease, but it’s not going to dissolve any oil that you pour down your drain. Water or DIY drain cleaners won’t help much with buildup either. Cooking oil can play a part in creating clogs because it can catch food scraps, hair or anything else besides water that you wash down the sink. You also can’t get rid of cooking oil in your pipes using a garbage disposal.
In addition, cooking oil that goes down the drain is bad for the environment. Even if it makes it through your drains, it can build up in the sewer system with other substances. Eventually, the blockage must be removed, a time-consuming and expensive operation.
The Right Way to Dispose of Cooking Oil
1. Let the Oil Cool Completely
If you’re trying to work with hot oil, you could burn yourself or spill it. You can even leave the oil to cool overnight if you need to.
2. Pour It Into a Sealable Container
You can pour the oil into any container that has a lid. This might be the container it came in, a glass jar, a coffee can or a plastic milk jug. To avoid a mess, use a funnel to transfer the oil. If you don’t have a funnel, you can first pour it into a container that has a lip or spout, such as a liquid measuring cup or a pitcher. This makes it easier to then pour the oil into a narrower opening. Another option is to pour it into a sealable plastic bag and put it in the freezer.
3. Throw It in the Trash (Once Sealed)
If you don’t have much oil to get rid of, this is the best solution. You can throw larger amounts of oil away as well and it’s better than putting it down the drain. If you are still concerned about the environmental impact, you can look into recycling.
4. Recycle When Possible
It can be difficult to find a recycling company to take cooking oil from your home kitchen. Usually, these cooking oil recyclers only work with commercial kitchens. However, a restaurant might allow you to drop off your oil to be added to theirs. If there’s a place where you’re a regular and you have a good relationship with the staff, that might be a good place to start, but you can also just call local restaurants and ask.
5. Wipe Out Pans with a Paper Towel
Once you’ve poured as much oil off the pans as possible, you should use a paper towel to wipe them out and throw the paper towel away. You can then wash your dishes as you normally would.
What Happens If You’ve Already Poured Oil Down the Drain?
You should try not to let any oil at all go down your drain, but if a trickle has run down once, you’re probably fine. However, if any amount has gone down your drain, quickly flushing it with hot water and dish soap may help push it further along. This might stop a clog from forming in your pipes if you only do it once, but the oil will still go into the sewage system.
If you’ve poured oil down the drain and created a blockage, you might need to call a plumber for drain cleaning.
Let Melbourne Benjamin Franklin Plumbing Help
Melbourne Benjamin Franklin Plumbing can take care of the clog in your drain. Whether your sink is draining slowly, smells bad or is completely blocked, we’ll fix it for you. Best of all, we’ll do it efficiently, and we’ll turn up when we say we will. If there’s any delay it’s YOU we pay. Call us for all your professional drain cleaning and plumbing needs.
FAQs
Can I just dump the cooking oil out in my yard?
You shouldn’t throw the oil out in your yard because it can still drain into the sewage system or affect wildlife.
Can I reuse cooking oil?
If you’ve fried something in oil, the oil can usually be reused. You may want to strain it through a coffee filter or another type of filter. Storing it in the fridge helps keep it fresh longer. When it begins to look cloudy or taste bad, this is a sign it has gone rancid. At that point, you still need to dispose of it in the same way you would any other oil.
Can I compost my cooking oil?
The short answer is “it depends.” If you put cooking oil in your compost, you run the risk of attracting pests if there is a lot of it or it was used to cook meat. You also need to make sure that your compost pile gets hot enough to break it down. However, it may be possible to compost small amounts of vegetable oil if you used it to cook something plant-based.