How to Get Rid of Old Kitchen Grease and Cooking Oil

Home cooking creates all kinds of waste, much of which can safely be sent down the garbage disposal. However, fatty foods such as meat or butter drippings, cooking oils, gravy, and mayonnaise based dishes should never be sent down the drain. The cooler temperatures of the sewer pipes turns these items into solids which will build up on the walls of the sewer lines. Over time, this kitchen grease can clog your household sewer line and create line backups in your home. For getting rid of old kitchen grease and cooking oil, there’s really a much better way to get rid of them rather than pouring them down the sink.

How to dispose of grease

In the old days, people used what was called a grease can to collect kitchen waste oils and grease. Most of these looked like standard metal cannisters with a sealed lid. Some of the more sophisticated ones had a sieve built into the top to strain off the solids. Those old fashioned grease cans are a little tougher to find these days, but you can easily make your own from materials found in the recycling bin. All it takes is a metal can with a snap on plastic lid, such as a Clabber Girl Baking Soda can. Crisco cans will NOT work since these are foil lined paper cannisters which can not withstand the heat of hot shortening or grease.

To use the cannister, simply scrap the grease drippings, melted butter or lard directly into the can, then snap the lid shut. Once the grease has solidified, it can be scraped out with a spoon and disposed of in the rubbish can.

How to recycle or dispose of used kitchen oil

Oils do not solidify and should be handled separately. We don’t do a lot of deep fat frying in our family but for the few times we make donuts & hush puppies, the oil is saved and reused. Used kitchen oil is safe to reuse as long as it’s been strained, refrigerated, and used within a few weeks. For straining, an old tea strainer will work quite well.

When it’s finally time to get rid of that oil, tossing it in the garbage is not a good practice. Even if the kitchen oil has been decanted in an old container, the container will burst in the trash truck and create a mess. As an alternative to throwing out your kitchen oil, consider recycling it instead. Some communities will collect used kitchen oil for recycling into bio-fuel. For communities without local facilities, a neighborhood restaurant might be willing to send your kitchen oil to the recycling center along with theirs.

For small amounts of used kitchen oil, these can be safely added to your compost bin or sprinkled along the fence line. Used kitchen oil can also be used to lube squeaky hinges, wheelbarrow and wagon wheels, rose pruners, loppers, and garden scissors. I also apply a coating of used vegetable oil to my garden shovels and spades to prevent them from rusting. A thin coating of kitchen oil applied to the scoop of a snow shovel will also prevent the snow from sticking as you shovel the sidewalks.

If these options won’t work for you and the kitchen oil really has to be thrown out, it should first be solidified before disposing of it in the rubbish can. To solidify kitchen oil, try mixing it up with bark chips, kitty litter, or sand before tossing it in the rubbish can.