How many people dump fat down the drain after cooking?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We don’t eat meat so we don’t have this gross problem.

Interesting statement. I don’t care that you don’t eat meat, but you sound insufferable and holier than thou. Anything cooked in oil or butter will cause grease, even healthy oils. Are you also too good to cook with oil, too?

NP here. This reaction is funny to me.

I use oil to sauté food all the time, but never have to deal with draining grease in the sink as I use only the amount that I need. Honestly, what you describe sounds very very gross. This is not an aversion to oil/fat. I use butter in baking, I use oil to sauté garlic and onions and spices to flavor various dishes, I don’t deep fry anything though. The idea of having a pot full of grease from regular cooking sounds gag-worthy.

It’s really funny how offended you are that other people simply don’t have to deal with this. Cooking meat sounds very unpleasant.

NP - I had this same reaction. Deep frying at home is not something I have ever done! I’m otherwise not sure what would use so much excess oil. I sauté veggies in a tablespoon or so, but that gets consumed as part of the dish.

This comes up for me in several settings:

cooking bacon (once cooled we use paper towels to wipe up the grease and toss in trash)
making donuts or wings (each is a 1-2 times a year thing, and it is a pain but once the oil is cooled we put in a large tupperware and take to county recycling site)
making the occasional brisket or roast in the oven (we usually make it a day in advance, and refrigerate and then skim off the solidified fats and toss in trash)

Oh sure, I get that. But for a vegetarian who doesn’t make their own donuts or tempura - or otherwise uses and air fryer to make them - this issue doesn’t come up. I am glad I know though, I’m case I ever decide to cook bacon for guests.

[Anonymous]

Lol didn’t know my vegetarian comment would so offend. No we don’t deep fry at home - we use an air fryer.

[Anonymous]

Yes, because I rent (corporate, not individual landlord). I would not do this if I owned.

[Anonymous]

Omg never. If there was a lot it would go into a can. But usually it’s just a little and I clean it up with paper towels and toss it. Never put grease down a drain.

[Anonymous]

I've owned my home for 35 years and am in my late fifties. I didn't know about this. I've always drained my cooked ground beef through a colander in the sink with no issues. I don't have a garbage disposal & have never had plumbing issues. It will be tough to change my ways, but I'll try! I'll also share this info with my (grown) kids who have their own households.

[Anonymous]

I drain the fat into some container I take out of the recycling bin (used can? yogurt cup? Other?) and put it in the freezer. On garbage day, it goes into the garbage to get taken out and picked up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:We have a disposal but rarely use it or put anything in the drain. Terrible for the pipes

+1 Plumber once told me garbage disposals were good for two things: Making money for garbage disposal makers and making money for plumbers.

I’ve heard this too!

My neighbor had to spend several thousand dollars to get pipes cleared out from a major blockage. She said - I guess no more grease down our drain…

[Anonymous]

I use Pam and an air fryer!

[Anonymous]

Wow this conversation is making me want to get rid of my garbage disposal.

[Anonymous]

The only fat I have left over is when I make bacon and I pour it into a cup and then dispose when it’s hard. If I use a large amount of oil in a pan or something I sop up with paper towels. Usually though because we only have bacon once or twice a month and I don’t make red meat at all, we don’t have too much fat disposal. I use a spray for olive oil so mostly used up after I cook and I air fry veggies with a light oil spray.

[Anonymous]

Have a good story. When I bought my first house in alexandria, VA, I later learned that the sewer pipes from the house to the street were made of a type of 'paper' material, I think in the 60s.

Flushed toilet paper there and had a clog up the basement drain. Plumber put a camera in the sewer pipe area under the front lawn and showed me the pipe was not smooth (since it was 'paper' type material). So toilet paper was stuck. Another drain company came and blasted everything out carefully with water and a "oil ball" rolled out to the street sewer underground.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Have a good story. When I bought my first house in alexandria, VA, I later learned that the sewer pipes from the house to the street were made of a type of 'paper' material, I think in the 60s.

Flushed toilet paper there and had a clog up the basement drain. Plumber put a camera in the sewer pipe area under the front lawn and showed me the pipe was not smooth (since it was 'paper' type material). So toilet paper was stuck. Another drain company came and blasted everything out carefully with water and a "oil ball" rolled out to the street sewer underground.

This happened to our tenants in the house we rent out in Rockville. We had to replace the line from the house to the street. So much housing went up so quickly in the postwar period while iron and steel were still in short supply and very expensive. The stuff they used instead to make “pipes” was called Orangeburg.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangeburg_pipe

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Have a good story. When I bought my first house in alexandria, VA, I later learned that the sewer pipes from the house to the street were made of a type of 'paper' material, I think in the 60s.

Flushed toilet paper there and had a clog up the basement drain. Plumber put a camera in the sewer pipe area under the front lawn and showed me the pipe was not smooth (since it was 'paper' type material). So toilet paper was stuck. Another drain company came and blasted everything out carefully with water and a "oil ball" rolled out to the street sewer underground.

This happened to our tenants in the house we rent out in Rockville. We had to replace the line from the house to the street. So much housing went up so quickly in the postwar period while iron and steel were still in short supply and very expensive. The stuff they used instead to make “pipes” was called Orangeburg.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orangeburg_pipe

Yes! That was it, Orangeburg. I sold the house in Alexandria about 7 years ago because of it. It would cost 6-7K to get new pipe because they would have to tear up my driveway and sidewalk. Lot of other houses in the neighborhood were always digging up the front lawn with digging machines and putting in new pipes. I was not that lucky because of the location of my pipes. The oil ball was the size of a tennis ball.

[Anonymous]

I pour oil into an old jar with a lid and throw it away when it is full. Mainly because I have no wish to have my front yard demolished and my basement flooded.

[Anonymous]

I don't fry things at home, or cook with enough oil to require "dumping."

A small amount of oil just to lightly cover the pan isn't going to do anything - most of it gets absorbed by whatever is being sauteed. Maybe 2-3 single drops come off the pain when washing, but that's not going to cause a plumbing issue.

That said, it's insane to me that people don't know not to dump oil down the drain. Or don't use a drain catcher. It it doesn't fall through the drain catcher, it gets tossed in the trash. Garbage disposals aren't for huge clumps of random stuff.