Don’t be a turkey with your kitchen clean-up this holiday season! Improper disposal of fats, oils and grease from your holiday kitchen is a common mistake, but we’ve got you covered with everything you need to know to keep a visit from the plumber off your to do list.
Never dispose of cooking oils, grease, or food scraps in your kitchen sink or garbage disposal. These substances can congeal and block pipes, causing sewer back-ups. Who wants that problem at a holiday gathering? It’s also a no-no to dump used cooking oil and grease outside in your yard or in ditches and storm drains. The grease and oil will be carried out to local waterways on the next rainy day causing a very not so merry mess for our local waterways and all the wildlife who call it home.
So what do you do with your unwanted cooking oil and grease? askHRgreen.org offers these simple tips for safely disposing of used cooking oils:
For small amounts of oil and grease from frying bacon, cooking meat, etc.
- Allow oil/grease to cool but not harden.
- Use an empty, heat-safe container, like a soup can, to collect cooled oil and grease.
- Cover the can securely and freeze.
- Toss the can with the hardened oils away on your next trash collection day.
For larger amounts of oil used for deep frying – There are a couple great options for disposing of large amounts of fryer oil:
- Trash it. Mix the cooking oil with unscented kitty litter, sawdust or sand to solidify the oil. Place solidified oil in a sealed container and place in the trash on your next collection day. Avoid scented or disinfectant types of kitty litter as they can react with the oil and cause a fire.
- Drop it off. If you have gallons of fryer oil to dispose of from frying a turkey, use your community’s drop off centers for safe disposal. Some localities may even recycle the fryer oil! Find out information on where your locality will be collecting cooking oil here. Virginia Beach residents can take advantage of expanded drop off sites during the week of November 28-December 2. For complete details, visit the Virginia Beach FOG program website.
- Store it. Oil can be kept for up to six months and reused for up to six hours of fry time. Strain the oil first, and then store in the freezer.
Download the turkey frying fact sheet to keep on hand!
Happy Thanksgiving from all of us at askHRgreen.org!