Foo - A strange greasy question

Really curious what everyone does with leftover grease from things like hamburgers, bacon, oven-baked chicken/turkey....

When I was young and naive I remember just pouring it down the sink, but as most learn that leads to problems.

I now compost every thing, but I don't put my grease in the pile, just doesn't seem like the right thing to do. So this is what I do:
I have several large trees that I mulch around, not just a little circle; I take the mulch out to around the dripline of the trees. So I take the grease out and cast it out into the mulched area, so as to not allow the entire contents to be concentrated in one area; many times I use a hose and scatter it that way -- with the nozzle set on the "Jet" high pressure mode.

So what do you do with your leftover grease?

Mix in wood ash, and make lye soap.

It makes a fine cooking oil and if you have a dog, he and his coat would love it if you pour it over his kibble.

Please be careful when feeding fats to dogs. They love it but too much can cause canine pancreatitus. http://www.swiftwaterfarms.com/swiftwater/p21Pancreatitis.htm . Yeah, I thought that was a bunch a baloney but a friends dog came down with it and he lived on table scraps. It's a food by-product, best to pour it into a large jug or container and dispose of it with the trash.
Ernest

Bikini wrestling pit.

For most grease, I pour it into a can and then discard into the trash.

For bacon, I cook it in the oven on a cooling rack set into a sheetpan. This gives me clean, unburnt bacon drippings that I pour into a jar and keep in the fridge. I then use the bacon drippings for cooking. An old Southern trick.

For most grease, I pour it into a can and then discard into the trash.

For bacon, I cook it in the oven on a cooling rack set into a sheetpan. This gives me clean, unburnt bacon drippings that I pour into a jar and keep in the fridge. I then use the bacon drippings for cooking. An old Southern trick.

Nah, just old. Everybody did it during the depression years. So I have been told.

When camping, bacon grease makes a delicious-smelling lighter fluid.

Clean bacon fat is a great oil for greasing a pan before frying, or for seasoning beans, frying eggs in etc. I aways keep that stuff.

Other stuff gets poured into the trash bag.

Mix in wood ash, and make lye soap.

+1

Pour it on the steepest hill of your local bike path.Sit back and watch the fun.

My grandmother used to save the bacon drippings in a can next to the stove. She also canned beans and peas. When she would open a jar of peas to heat, she would throw in a big spoonful of bacon grease. My first wife was real health-conscious and she really liked my grandmothers cooking. One day she was in the kitchen and noticed the spoonfull of grease going into the pan. She asked "what's that", and got the shock of her life.

My grandparents ate a lot of grease that way. My grandmother lived to 84, my grandfather lived to 94.

Bacon grease works great for popping corn. The rest goes into an empty can and then into the trash.

I don't fry too much, but bacon grease always goes into a can & then the trash; any grease from burgers will go to the dogs... yeah, they lick the pan, BUT I WASH IT BEFORE HANGING IT UP!!

it gets poured into a can WHICH THEN GOES INTO THE FREEZER. When the can is full of now frozen-solid grease, THEN it gets thrown out in the trash.

Mix in wood ash, and make lye soap.

technically, you filter water through the ash....it leaches out the lye. Just be careful...you can actually get a strong enough product to burn yourself with.

Saturate kindling with it.

I just pour it in a can that I keep in the freezer. When it gets full it gets tossed in the trash.

Why would you freeze the grease? I just pour it into a can and let it sit on the counter until it solidifies, and then toss the can in the trash.

into a can or jar, I prefer a jar for the sealable lid. when jar is full, out it goes.

Why would you freeze the grease? I just pour it into a can and let it sit on the counter until it solidifies, and then toss the can in the trash.

Personal preference - it's less likely to leak out of potential tears in the bag if it's rock solid. Plus I've got a big dog that has been known to sneak stuff off counters from time to time. 100lb lab/great dane + can of grease = big mess (and likely sick dog).

We wait for it to congeal then toss it in the trash. Smaller amounts we put down the sink with the hottest water we can find. I know the city says not to do this.

Growing up, my mom kept the bacon grease to put in waffles and put everything else in a jar for the trash.

Here in California, we are routinely given cans to put all are old grease in and it goes out with the trash. The key is not to send it out down the drain and into the ocean... I use old cans for everything greasy. In it goes and when full, the lid goes on tight and the can thrown away.

For most grease, I pour it into a can and then discard into the trash.

Same


For bacon, I cook it in the oven on a cooling rack set into a sheetpan. This gives me clean, unburnt bacon drippings that I pour into a jar and keep in the fridge. I then use the bacon drippings for cooking. An old Southern trick.

For all that that is economical and tasty (if the drippings don't go rancid) I had to bag that in response to a cholesterol test. Even if your liver just makes cholesterol out of whatever instead of sending it from your food to your blood, was too easy habit to ditch.

Also used to use fat from cow or pig to season cast iron cookware, but keep it to peanut oil now.

Nah, just old. Everybody did it during the depression years. So I have been told.

An egg or 2, some bread old enough to not be that good torn into smalish pieces, perhaps a bit of milk and bacon grease (not to rancid). Basic depression cooking. recipe courtesy of Johan Sebastion Bach Smith. Or is it Joan Smith?

I pour it onto old/moldy bread. It soaks up the drippings and leave it on my doorstep for the stray cats and other wildlife in the neighborhood. Helps me give back to mother nature.

I used to do more cooking and had more grease cast offs and would save into a recycled bottle with lid on it - and just save more to it till full and toss (and keep away from the cats) but now a days I don't do much with a lot of grease - but to keep the drain clean I put what little there is from the pan into a recycle can or glass container and reluctantly toss into the garbage. Other than that I recycle everything I can. Sadly no compost though. My next place hopefully.

We wait for it to congeal then toss it in the trash. Smaller amounts we put down the sink with the hottest water we can find. I know the city says not to do this.

Growing up, my mom kept the bacon grease to put in waffles and put everything else in a jar for the trash.

What does the city say to do with it?

I pour it onto old/moldy bread. It soaks up the drippings and leave it on my doorstep for the stray cats and other wildlife in the neighborhood. Helps me give back to mother nature.
That's kind of why I spread it around in my mulched areas of the yard. There's so much life in there (compared to grassy areas) that it gets swallowed up in no time. BTW, I throw out chicken/turkey carcasses for the neighborhood cats, but they must try and get it before a turkey vulture gets it; I then throw the bones in my compost pile.

Collect it in a can. When nearly full stuff a big wad of dryer lint in the can. This makes a nice yard torch that will burn all night.

Best to keep it out of the sewer. My company does work for the local sewer authority and we found out that it takes more waste processing to break down the grease, and therefore uses more energy and raises the cost of sewage treatment.

Best to keep it out of the sewer. My company does work for the local sewer authority and we found out that it takes more waste processing to break down the grease, and therefore uses more energy and raises the cost of sewage treatment.
That's why I never pour out grease; I scatter it, usually with a hose and nozzle set on "Jet" setting. I'm guessing here, but I think a pile of grease doesn't degrade from the inside out, strickly just from the outside and I doubt anything drills into it like they would with other degradeables, like bread, meat...

What does the city say to do with it?I cut and pasted this from the city website.

Approximately 60 percent of all sewer blockages are caused by grease in the system. Oil and grease will solidify as soon as they hit cold water in the sewage pipes and can cause a blockage. These blockages can result in raw sewage spilling into our waterways and ocean. Even mixing grease with warm soapy water doesn’t prevent clogs.


Never put any kind of grease or oil, whether it’s frying oil, salad oil, cooking grease or motor oil, into the sewage system by dumping it down the sink, in a toilet or into a storm drain.
Put excess cooking oil or grease into a container and throw it into the trash.
Wipe out greasy pots and pans with a paper towel before washing them.
Don’t use the garbage disposal to grind fat trimmings – wrap them up and put them into the trash.
Recycle used motor oil.

Sorry I missed that reply to my post.

I want to say the city says to trash it or maybe put it in a compostables can (we don't have one at our house). We probably trash 95% of the grease and all of the fat we generate, granted it isn't all that much. We don't fry very often at all and usually buy very, very lean meat.

Most of the rest of the grease is is stuck to pans, emusified by dish soap, and rinsed into the sewer.

Bikini wrestling pit.

We have a winner!