Can’t talk about grease disposal without posting this.
My sister once asked if I could help with the kitchen sink in her house as it was blocked. I started taking waste pipes off and quickly realised there’s a bunch of sardines stuck in one pipe. Her 15 year old daughter had shoved fish down the waste pipe of the sink rather than putting them in the bin. I still can’t understand the logic in her head. Surely it’s more difficult to push fish through the small holes at the bottom of the sink than it is to take 2 steps towards the bin.
If you put them in the bin, you’re going to have to take the trash out or else it’s going to stink up the house in a matter of hours. Having been a teenager myself, I can confirm that I would have done just about anything to avoid the laborious task of taking out the trash.
You’re not wrong but I realised my niece doesn’t have that level of responsibility. If there’s a smelly bin she’ll just expect her mum to sort it out or disappear so she doesn’t have to deal with it.
Ok pro tip for getting rid of your grease that doesn’t assume you have infinite containers lying around or make you wait forever for it to solidify.
Put a sheet of aluminum foil down over your drain so it creates a cup. Then pour your grease in that cup. Then drop an ice cube in if you feel like it.
Then just lift the edges and twist the top of your foil and put it in the trash.
I can just see people trying this for the first time, knocking the foil out of alignment and pouring a whole pan of hot grease down the drain
or just put flour on it. Corn Flour works best
What does that do I haven’t heard this trick
Sounds like the start to a yummy gravy lol
I still feel a can is the easiest and least wasteful solution. You pour the grease in and put the can in the cupboard until next time. Unless you’re cooking bacon all the time, it takes a long time to fill up. You don’t need more than one or have to wait.
If I’m in between jars i put the tin foil in a bowl and do the same but after pouring put the bowl on the counter so family doesn’t accidentally toss a dish in there.
Aluminium foil needs a lot of energy to produce. I’d recommend an old newspaper or (non laminated) cardboard to soak it up. If you plan a barbecue anytime soon, you can use the greasy paper as a perfect firestarter. Otherwise just put it in the trash when cold.
…Why not just wipe the pan out with a paper towel and throw it in the trash? If you bunch up a few of them and move quickly, you can do this while the pan is still kinda warm, even.
This is what I do, not sure why it’s so hard to throw stuff in the trash lol
More oil
Versus?
If you use not that much oil, it’s easier to wipe it up with paper towel, but it’s starts wasting it when you’ve used more oil
You can actually pour it into a can or container, put a wick (or make one out of paper towel) and burn it like a candle. The aroma actually isn’t that strong since it’s mostly fat and it doesn’t sputter or anything. The solids sink to the bottom while solidifying.
havent cooked bacon in like 10 years. Forgot this was a problem.
I let it cool and then scrape it into our food waste bin. (I don’t know if grease composts but for us it’s moot; the city doesn’t compost food waste but instead makes it into pig feed or something.)
You’re making them into cannibals!!
I mean… aren’t they already? My understanding of pigs is that they literally eat just about anything.
Macon loves bacon!
I use a fuckload of soap and hope it keeps the grease from re-forming. Is that still bad?
Yeah, still not great. Even with a bunch of soap you’re still going to have some grease that doesn’t get emulsified with the soap and water.
The way soap works is by attaching molecules of oil to water, but it requires a lot of agitation/energy for a complete emulsion that won’t quickly break down to its constituent parts again.
If you’re in a situation where you have to pour grease down your pipe, continue your soap method, but let the hot water run for a min or two before, during, and after you pour the grease. The hotter the better.
Depends how much soap you use.
The soap doesn’t work by attaching oil to water, the soap attaches to the water and then the soap is carried away by the water. Oil doesn’t dissolve in water, but oil dissolves in soap and soap dissolves in water. So long as you use enough of an excess of soap and mix it together enough, you’ll be fine.
Definitely agree with rinsing the drain before, during, and after, though. Especially as most mammal oils become less viscous (slightly runny) at higher temperatures.
The soap doesn’t work by attaching oil to water, the soap attaches to the water and then the soap is carried away by the water. Oil doesn’t dissolve in water, but oil dissolves in soap and soap dissolves in water.
I’m sorry, but that is incorrect. Soap is created as a reaction between fat and an alkaline reagent, often sodium hydroxide. This chemical reaction creates bi-polar molecules, with one side remaining hydrophobic allowing it to bond to other fats, and one side that is hydrophilic and will bond to water.
Oil by itself does not dissolve in soap, it creates a partial emulsification. That partial emulsification will relatively quickly separate back to oil and soap given time, adding water and energy will create a complete emulsion which will hold the water oil and fat together for much longer.
Due to a project at my company, I unfortunately know entirely more about emulsification than I would like.
Thank you for the correction on my terminology. Oil doesn’t dissolve in soap and soap doesn’t dissolve in water, emulsions are not solutions.
However, I think the general point about oil attaching to the soap and the soap attaching to the water still stands. I would still say that “the soap attaches the oil to water” isn’t quite right. Per your statement, the soap attaches to both oil and water on opposite sides of the molecule, so the oil isn’t really attached to the water - at least not directly. That was the thing I was trying to articulate.
But you also remind me of something a chemistry professor once told me: it’s not the soap that cleans, it’s not the heat that cleans, it’s the physical scrubbing action that cleans. Soap and heat make it much easier, but if you add soap and hot water to a burnt dish and leave it to soak, everything will stay exactly where it is (separated) until you add physical energy to move things.
I would still say that “the soap attaches the oil to water” isn’t quite right. Per your statement, the soap attaches to both oil and water on opposite sides of the molecule, so the oil isn’t really attached to the water - at least not directly. That was the thing I was trying to articulate.
Yeah, it’s open to interpretation as we aren’t utilizing strict scientific terminology. The reason why i preface it that way is that technically emulsifiers are still oils/fats themselves, they’ve just undergone a chemical reaction that alters their polarity.
Also, when you are trying to create a proper emulsification the majority of the time you add you emulsifiers to the oils/fats first to create a partial emulsification, and then you add your water and energy to finish it off.
But I understand your reasoning, even the best emulsification is still technically an aided dispersion and will lose its homogenisation over time.
And glass is a liquid.
Not below its melting point.
No
Less likely to cause issues, but it might still leave residue on your pipes over time. That said, I also do that. Wipe up what I can with a paper towel, then dilute the rest with hot water and soap
Hell nah, jar. Next time you pan fry something, use the bacon grease to take it to a whole nother level.
It’s also tasty as an ingredient in pasta sauces, stews, and soups. I use a bit when I make gumbo.
Man… I tried using all bacon grease as my fat when I made the roux…. That was a tough gumbo to get through. But canola with a bit of bacon grease is right. If you can find it, 1-2-3 oil in place of the canola is the tits.
My brain interpreted that as 3-in-1 oil for a brief second, in which I thought you were really out here trying to murder some folks.
I pan fry stuff all the time, but usually use Canola oil. What am I gonna do to my arteries if I start using bacon grease instead?
If you have the bacon grease already it’s very nice. I use a small strainer and pour the grease into a little mason jar and then use the grease for all sorts of cooking. There’s no advantage to it, but it’s giving the grease a second use, which is useful.
Agreed. When I’m cooking with bacon I’ll save the grease and use it if that singular meal requires any additional pan frying, otherwise I toss it cause I don’t need to be ingesting all that grease on the regular
I use bacon grease and beef tallow for almost all of my frying. The only side effect I’ve had is that I no longer bleed when getting shot because my arteries have become bulletproof. It’s like a superpower.
Yeah, I think the greese has seen enough generations by now .
I agree, it should have ended after Ancient Greese.
The trick is to save many jars, so you can really go out in style.
I have an ex who was a self-described jar goblin and fancied herself a witch. Somehow, she couldn’t conjure up a fucking job the entire time we were together. I keep as few jars in my home as possible now, and I use the two little heart-handled spoons she left behind when she moved as solely to scoop wet cat food from the tin because fuck her.
…fancied herself a witch. Somehow, she couldn’t conjure up a fucking job
I’m sorry for your pain, but I laughed out loud at this. Guffawed, even.
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Putting grease down the drain can clog your pipes. Don’t do that. Use one of the many alternatives (see meme and comments).
Alternatives to block your pipes: paint, dry wall sealant, cum, cement.
So I put cum in jar?
No no, you cum in the sink
You guys don’t use socks? Or boxes.
What about coconuts?
Cum always goes into the box!!
I’d rather cum in the sink than sink in the cum
Yes, but not just your own pipes: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fatberg
As long as I rent, it goes down the drain.
You’re not just being inconsiderate to your landlord, though — ‘Monster’ fatberg found blocking east London sewer
Perhaps the endorphin hit from sticking it to your landlord makes it all worthwhile.
“Monster” fatberg found blocking east London sewer
I was wondering why I hadn’t seen your mom around lately
Which reminds me yours still owes me for the Uber.
Then you are a shitty tennant.
Not just tenant. That can affect everyone around you as well.
Correct. Grease down the drain is simply not based.
Everyone from neighbors to sewage workers to the environment will have to put up with it.
Even with our grievances against the ownership of some things, I think we should all be agreeing with “Don’t crap (or otherwise ruin) where you eat.” Or has the world really reached such a point of madness where that idea is contested too?
Oh, would I be creating an inconvenience for the guy who feels the need to run his leaf blower every week to push dust around? God forbid
Possibly him, possibly others you don’t know.
You’re taking this random anger out on a hired contractor? The hell?
Fuck landlords. Housing is a human right not an investment
So when are you going out and building houses for free for people to use?
If only we had some sort of overarching body that could collect taxes and spend that money on housing… maybe call it a government?!?
So vote for people who do that. Except you won’t find any, because it’s a fever dream. No government can afford just building houses for millions of people. Some have tried and ended up with consequences that they deal with till today
The Soviet Union literally did exactly that
No it didn’t and that’s not how it works. Also living in the Soviet Union fucking sucked and reading about it on the internet won’t give you the full picture.
Owner occupancy credit against property taxes to hold them at their current rates, or even drop them a bit. Next, we target an 85% owner-occupancy rate, increasing the property taxes every year that owner-occupancy rate is below 80%, and reducing them any time it is above 90%. We will end up with a massive increase in property tax rates, but those increased taxes will only be paid by investors.
On-site landlords, living in one unit of a duplex, triplex, or quadplex will be able to claim the credit. Off-site landlords, (or landlords living in a complex of 5 or more units) will not be able to claim the credit.
Investor-owners will be fighting tooth and nail to convert their tenants into buyers: they will be offering land contracts, private mortgages, converting apartments to condominiums, etc. They will be earning considerably greater profits selling than they would be able to renting, while charging less.
Lenders who elect to foreclose will be saddled with the property tax rate from the moment they file, so they will have one hell of a financial incentive to cooperate with the borrower.
An owner-occupancy tax credit will give renting the death it deserves.
This sounds extremely effective at shifting housing stock. My only question is what happens to people who can’t get mortgages yet? You can’t just give out a mortgage to anyone who asks. The banks did effectively that in the lead up to 2008 and we saw how that worked out (granted the specifics are far more muddy, but it is a period in recent history where many people qualified for mortgages they shouldn’t have qualified for, and a ton of people ended up foreclosing
What does that have to do with pouring grease down the drain? Whether you agree with landlords or not it’s objectively not the right thing to do and if anything will just be a pain in the ass for the next tenant
It’s Boomer mentality, plain and simple. “It won’t affect me, so Not My Problem™️”
People like this are why I am hesitant to rent. I don’t need the investment, but I’m good at owning and keeping up property, and I’ve thought about renting out my spare area at below cost just so someone can have a cheaper place to live, just while I pay it off. Like hey, I have a spare suite in my house, someone could live there since I don’t need the space. It’s not the Ritz, but a young couple trying to get started or a young family could use it while they save up for a down payment.
Then someone comes along and says “yeah I’m going to trash it because fuck landlords”. Like, ok, fuck me for trying to provide a cheaper alternative to the huge corporate housing. Guess I deserve it for … Reasons
I’m renting half someone’s basement right now in a situation like you’re describing. I’m very grateful to them for the opportunity and am not surreptitiously destroying their home. I’ve actually done several repairs for them since I started living here. I’ve known them for a long time though so they knew they could trust me.
That’s who I’d love to rent to. It’s now about profit for me, but more I have property and I can rent for under value. People are freaking assholes though.
This video haunts me, I saw it originally years ago, this guy breaking down over what renters did to his property: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxIgGkA5tXM
I think that’s the idea, yes. Fight shit with shit.
Ruin someone else’s house because you don’t like to be a tennant. I swear people on lemmy are fucked in the head.
Now I’m gonna start liking landlords, thank you.
Buddy we all want huge mansions. The reality of the world is, that housing is scarce. Renting from someone to specifically be a shitty tennant just makes you a miserable person to be around. It also gives them a good reason to kick your ass to the curb.
Buddy we all want huge mansions. The reality of the world is, that housing is scarce.
No I don’t and no it isn’t.
Not agreeing with being a shitty person but those two points are simply bullshit.
https://www.destatis.de/EN/Themes/Society-Environment/Housing/Tables/vacancy-rate.html
Scarce, my ass. Landlords and especially “investors” are manufacturing that scarcity squeeze more money out of us. I don’t want a “big mansion”, I just want my place to have more square meters than my fucking skin surface. But I don’t have that. I pay over 300 Euros for one room. Not a one room apartment, mind you. One. FUCKING. Room. And a fucking small one at that.
I’m not saying be a shitty tenant for being a shitty tenant’s sake. But also don’t put in any extra special effort to be a nice one. The better reason to store away fat is that you can reuse it. Plus, it also creates a general sewage problem, not just in your drain, which is bad for all of society in your municipality.
Pouring grease down the drain is being a shitty tennant to your landlord, plain and simple. Some people might not know, that’s fine. But if they learn about it and keep doing them, then they deserve eviction.
And so does the money.
This year, on some random holiday, I had to take 20ft of piping out of the walls and remove one solid block of hardened grease that had accumulated there, blocking the pipes, causing dirt water to flow back into the kitchen and into appliances. What a joy that was… the stench alone.
Don’t flush grease down the drain.
Boomers: “these cast iron sewer pipes will last forever!!”
If it’s their lifetime, it’s forever.
gotta grease the pipes so the water flows better!
In Japan there’s a powder you can buy at shops that solidifies any pools of grease you drop it into, so you can then scrape it into the garbage.
I was going to share a link but all I could find was Amazon product pages and greasy blogs funneling you towards Amazon product pages, but you can find it by searching “Japan grease powder”.greasy blogs
tbf you searched for something grease related so that’s exactly the kind of blog that should appear
I’m like 98% sure if I search for that I won’t like what I see.
Oh yeah I really believe you “Japan grease powder”
Sounds so much like “if you don’t believe me search Japan grease rule 34”
Unused kitty litter works great.
Used kitty litter probably also works. Hey, I don’t judge others’ fetishes.
Smdh if you dont add pan drippings to your beans.
After cooking the rice?
Frying some uncooked rice in oil gives it a nice flavor (you then cook the rice like you normally would, unless you want some flavorful uncooked crunchy rice) - it might be worth testing out this process using pan drippings
Nah, put the rice in the pot first then pour the drippings in and stir it all around with a fork.
Then add the water and cook as you normally would
