Best Ways to Properly Dispose of Cooking Grease

Whether you have a septic system or your home or business is hooked up to a municipal sewer line, you should never pour grease down the drain. Any time you cook with oil or fat, it’s important to properly dispose of your cooking grease in Bethel, OH. With the winter holidays coming up, now is a great time to remind your family how to safely get rid of cooking oil.

What happens if I pour oil or grease down the drain?

Whether you’re deep frying a turkey or cooking bacon, cooking oil and plumbing do not mix. The fat might be liquid when it comes out of the pan, but if you pour it down your plumbing, it can solidify. This is even more likely to happen in the cold winter months.

When you pour oil down the drain, it coats the inside of the pipes. Over time, that grease starts collecting other food and debris, like crumbs and coffee grounds. This can lead to clogs in your pipes. Alternatively, the oil itself may solidify and form blockages.

How to safely dispose of cooking grease

The best way to get rid of your used cooking oil in Bethel, OH is to throw it in the trash—but don’t do that as soon as you’re done cooking. Hot oil can melt your garbage bags and plastic garbage cans. Instead, let the fat cool and solidify. Then you can scrape it into a designated container—metal coffee cans with lids are smart choices—and throw it in the trash when the container is full. Make sure you clearly label your disposal container “used cooking grease” so no one in your household mistakes it for something edible. Once the container is full, put it in a sealed plastic bag and dump the bag and can in your regular trash.

Another great way to get rid of your cooking oil and grease is to recycle it. There are many businesses that collect cooking oil (often free of charge) so it can be recycled into alternative energy sources like biofuel. Simply strain the used oil of food particles and collect it in a sealed container, then drop it off or wait for the company to pick it up from your site.

Finally, you can always reuse your cooking oil—with a few precautions, of course. You’ll need a clean, dry and airtight container for storage. Once you’re done cooking, as long as the oil didn’t burn, you can strain it and put it in the container. Store it in your fridge after marking it with the date and what the oil was used for. Before you use it again, smell it to make sure it hasn’t gone rancid—and if anyone in your home has food allergies, make sure their allergen wasn’t cooked in the same oil.

For more ways to get rid of cooking grease in Bethel, OH, or to learn more about our reliable septic and wastewater treatment assistance, call Gullett Sanitation Services, Inc. today.