Collecting Food Grease

I have always dumped it down the drain or garbage disposal followed by some hot water and have never had a problem - same with my mom.

I put mine in a coffee cup until it cools and then put it in a plastic bag and throw it away. I don't like the smell, so that is why I get rid of it as soon as it is cool.

I usually let the oil cool a bit in the pan, then soak it up with a couple of paper towels, and throw them into the trash.

It will indeed cause plumbing problems if poured down the drain. Ask any plumber. We collect our grease on the back of the stove, just like my mom and grandma did for years. During the Great Depression they recycled grease and were encouraged to take it into a recycler, just like you do with cans and plastics nowadays.

Our family however uses the grease for other projects instead of throwing it away. In the winter we will take our grease, melt it and pour it over a dish of bird seed. Once it hardens, pop it out, put the bird treat in a mesh bag and hang it outside for our feathered friends. They love it.

I also have uncovered a blog that tells you how to make your own soap from your kitchen grease. We are going to do this project this week so the soap will be aged enough to give out for presents at Christmas time. Here's a link to the blog I found it on. I love this lady's blog!!
http://littlehouseinthesuburbs.com/2008/10/if-youre-sayin...

P.

You may not have a problem today. You may not have a problem tomorrow, but you will eventually have a problem. We have a plumber friend and he said the 3 biggest calls he gets are from grease, potato peels, and rice (dried when it went down).

I pour it over a paper towel in a bowl and pitch it when solidified. Why risk it?

Do what you are doing only put it in the freezer so you don't have to smell it! Works great!

I line a bowl with aluminum foil, pour in the grease then toss the aluminum foil in the trash... couldn't be easier!

I dump it down the drain and pour some Dawn dish soap and run Hot water down after it. If it' alot of grease, then I put it in a milk jug or some other disposable container and throw it away immediatlly. But if it's just a little left from browning meat it goes down the drain. I let the hot water run for a couple of minutes. My mom did the same thing as yours and yes it's a stinky mess.

My mother has always put hers in a container as well and said the same thing about the drain which makes perfect sense to me so that is what I have always done with mine as well only I do not store it. I put it in a bowl and then once it has cooled off and isn't liquid anymore I throw it in the trash and take the trash out. That way you are not storing it. Now, my husband cooks all the time and he came into our marriage saying the same thing as I did BUT he said if you put it down the drain when it is still hot and run the water for a long time it should clear it out of the drains. That seems like a waste of water to me so we stick with throwing it away and keeping it away from our drain. good luck with your answer!

I pour mine into a bowl or cup lined with papertowel. When it is cooled off, I through it in the trash.
My mom also used to collect the grease in a jar until it was full.

My mom did the same thing. I don't have a large grease collection. I usually keep one of the cans or I dump it in a zip lock bag once it cools and pitch it in the trash. We have lived in homes with and without septic and I always do it.

Addition:
Okay, I didn't know anyone would think I meant to say to pour grease down the sink. I tried to be funny in this because I didn't want to lecture T. about doing something good for the community by NOT pouring grease down the sink. Sorry about this! Our taxes can go to so many other things. I guess I was laughing too hard while I wrote it, and was in a good mood remembering all the stuff my BIL said about how awful those pipes get! So the point is, don't put grease down the sink so as to help the entire community!

Original:
Your pipes will be ok because the hot water in your faucet will wash the liquid into the sewer pipes. Then the mess belongs to general public who owns the sewer pipes. The grease coagulates in these pipes and sticks to all the rest of the crappy in those pipes. On the bright side, your MIL is providing a bunch of guys with longterm employment. They have to muck out all the clogged pipes that fill up with water when it rains too hard. On the not so bright side, your taxes pay for that.

My BIL is a chief city engineer for a large city, and when he was talking about it one time, he said we ought to see pictures of it. Don't think my stomach could take it! LOL!

Dawn

Don't throw it down the drain. It's not good for your drains. We feed it to our dogs, but if you don't have dogs, I would put it out in your garbage or keep it in something that you can seal.

I realize this is late, but here's what I do: let the grease cool and coagulate in the pan. I know that sounds gross, but hear me out. I take the spatula and scape up the grease (which comes up rather easily), and on to a paper towel. In the trash it goes! No smelly jars, cans, etc. AND no drain damage...which, over time, will occur if you continue to pour it down the drain...even with hot water running.
Valid question/concern. Thanks for asking!
lb

When I buy canned goods, after using whatever was in the can I rinse the can and store them in our garage. When I get done cooking with grease I wait for it to cool, then pour it in one of the empty cans and throw it away.

We put ours down the drain, along with running water and dish soap, never had a problem!

I know you've already gotten a ton of answers - just wanted to share - we never pour grease down the drain. A couple of years ago we were having trouble with our kitchen sink getting clogged and never being able to unclog it. We had a plumber try to unclog it and he kept hitting something - we couldn't figure out what it was - so he had to camera it. What he found was a big pile of grease clogging and corroding the pipe in a section under our basement slab. Our house is 34 years old, we've lived there for 8, we are the second owners. Apparently the previous owners poured all their grease down the drain. For a mere $2500 the plumbers had to bust up our basement slab, remove and replace the clogged and corroded section of pipe and put our floor back together. That's all it took! LOL So it really will become a problem eventually. I hope that helps!

Put it in a container and freeze it. Throw it away in the trash. DO NOT put it down the drain. It is bad on the pipes, some worse than others. IF it doesn't clog your pipes, it goes into the city pipes and causes more trouble.

Don't listen to Dawn.....taxes should be spent on better things than unclogging city drains!!! Hello....potholes, parks, police protection....I could go on, but you get the picture.

Yes your mother is correct. You may not see anything right away but over time it will cause a build up and you'll end up having problems. I collect mine in a jar. It stinks but it's worth the money I'm saving.

If you have a septic tank- do NOT wash it down the drain! It will eventually cause big problems and you will have to get it fixed. I don't think there is a problem if you are on a sewer system- so that might have been the reason why your mom collected it and threw it out and his mom washed it down the sink. I have a septic so we use old cans or jars and throw it out. To keep it from smelling you can store the can/jar in the fridge until it's full- just don't pour hot grease into a cold jar or you will have a mess to clean up!
~C.

I put any kind of grease in a jar and throw it away, and I do the same with any used oil such as canola, olive, etc.... (for instance, with home-made french fries, after the oil is totally cooled, I put it in the jar and it's threw it away).
Have a nice day!

We bought a 35+ year old house and after having to replace the sewer pipes under the house, I'd say DO NOT pour the grease down the drain if you plan to live in the house for a while. It definitely collects in the pipes under the house until they are totally clogged. I can tell you I'd much rather go through the small trouble of collecting grease and throwing it in trash than replacing the pipes again.

i suspect the issue increases with a disposal, so many mechanisms that can get stuck. Just think about what happens when greased is left to sit out, harden and congeal. Not all grease acts that way, and perhaps it's possible to rinse it down the drain without causing problems, but why take the chance? I did have a drain in our basement back up, and the plumber who snaked it cautioned me from grease, coffee grounds and certain food peelings. There are just things that can get gummy, and once it goes down the drain you can verify that it's been properly washed away.

a plumber told me that grease does eventually clog up the drain.
I do drain the grease in the drain, however I put paper towels in the strainer to catch most of the grease then throw the paper towels away and use hot water to wash the little bit of grease down the drain. I also buy 85% lean burger so it doesn't have a lot of grease to drain. It would probably take several years to clog the drain with the small amount of grease we have going down the drain.

If you buy the greasy meats and have a lot of grease to drain then I would do what you are doing because the paper towels will not absorb that much grease.

We have a septic system and were told by the company that services it to avoid letting grease go down the drain. They told us that the layer of grease would interfere with the beneficial "scum" layer that is necessary for the tank. They also said that the grease would cause problems in our pipes, and that the most common cause of kitchen sink back ups was cooking grease going down the drain and solidifying in the pipes as it cooled. I always save all of my cooking grease. I was actually thinking about using it as a homeschooling project and teaching my kids how to make their own soap with it. Any fat will do for the base and leftover cooking fats and grease are good enough for that.