The Right Way to Dispose of Cooking Oil

Cooking with an abundance of oil is required to make some of the most delicious dishes. Unfortunately, when you’re done eating your freshly made french fries or fried dessert, you have to figure out what to do with the used cooking oil. If you’re thinking about pouring it down the drain, then you might as well set a few hundred dollars aside for a future drain cleaning.

Step 1: Chill Out Before you decide to dispose of your cooking oil, allow the pan and oil to cool off. Trying to pour out hot oil can be a painful experience if you’re not careful.

Step 2: The Perfect Fit You’re going to want to grab a container to store the oil in – preferably plastic. While you can use glass, plastic is less likely to break if you accidentally drop the container (what a mess that would be). If you don’t want to waste one of your good containers for storing oil, opt for emptied peanut butter jars.

Step 3: Strain for Reuse If you aren’t planning on reusing the oil, you can skip this step. However, if you want to get another use out of this batch of oil, place a strainer over your storage container. You don’t want to be using dirty oil the next time you want to fry something up!

Step 4: Store, Throw Away, or Donate Now that your oil is all packaged up, you can decide what you want to do with it. Place it in the back of your refrigerator to save it for another day, toss it into the garbage can (using an old peanut butter jar), or call your local donation service to properly dispose of it. The main point here is that you never want to pour this oil down the drain, as this can royally ruin your plumbing.

Once you’re done stuffing your face with fried goodness, take the time to properly dispose of your oil so you don’t damage your plumbing. If your plumbing has taken the brunt of abuse from pouring oil and other debris into it, contact Lancaster Plumbing, Heating, Cooling & Electrical. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, give us a call at (717) 207-8198.