Ask Lemmy

I have a spot in my yard that I pour cooking oil.

Paper towel -> trash.

Also a reason why we don't deep fry something and only fry semi submerged

Down the drain, the tenant special.

Good for a cold winter chimney firing.

I don't cook with that much that there is relevant leftovers to begin with. I just wash my pan with soap and hot water.

paper, then boil

This depends on what kind of fat it is. Bacon fat I save, then clarify when there's enough, then use it for cooking.

A little bit of oil in the iron skillet? Pour kosher salt on it when it cools down enough, use the salt & oil to scrub it clean, wipe it out & rinse it (and dry of course).

Duck I render it first and save the fat, then finish cooking it.

I don't really deep fry so mostly what happens with other cooking oil is I eat it, in the food.

Are you renting or do you own?

filter through a paper towel and store in a jar for later use if it is a good quality fat like bacon or beef tallow

Vegetable oil gets stored in a different jar for disposal

Depends on what kind of leftover fat.

If frying something in measurable quantities of oil, the oil can be filtered to remove solids, then stored to re-use later.

If cooking something greasy like bacon or sausage, either I'll cook other things in the same pan after, or I'll pour it through a strainer, let it cool, and freeze it. Once I've saved a bunch, I clarify it.

Fat is flavor. In my house, it doesn't get thrown away. There are lots of ways to reuse it.

Sometimes I save it and put it in the fridge until the wet stuff separates from the fat. I then mix it with lye that I get from wood ash to make really shitty soap that's okish for doing dishes but not much else. You shouldn't put this in a washing machine because it will corrode the metal parts, you shouldn't wash yourself with it because its bad for your skin but I hope to get it to where I never have to buy dish soap again. Every single little consumer product that I can find a way to live without increases my chances of survival under this regime or at least extends things for as long as possible.

I pour it into an empty can and freeze it then eventually trash

Saw this thread from a mile away and ran to tell everyone I don't have that problem because I own an air fryer

Wipe with paper towel, toss in trash.

Last meal's leftovers is to season the next meal

I read this as "How do I deal with leftists regarding the leftover fat or oil in my pain?" I'm sorry.

Left... over?

If I'm deepfrying, I set it aside and reuse it.

If I cooked something like bacon that gave off fat, I save it and use it to cook other things later.

If I was sautéing something, I used the correct amount of oil and there's none left over.

If I was roasting something, I turn the pan drippings into a sauce.

I will say, if you're having this problem a lot cooking meat, you're probably not trimming the cuts properly before cooking. Trim those and throw the scraps in the freezer until the next time you make stock.

I let it cool off and then scrape it into the trash/compost. Sometimes I use a paper towel, sometimes I just scrape it.

You can compost it if you aren’t generating huge amounts. Mix it with something absorbent like sawdust or used coffee grounds and mix into a composter, and add extra “green material” like leaves or lawn clippings.

I pour it into a bowl. Once full ill freeze it then toss out on trash day

Reduce, reuse, recycle.

I try not to deep fry anything, my body doesn't need it, and the convection oven does a decent job. Shallow frying can also do a similar job most times at the cost of some extra time.

Decent quantity of bacon grease get collected for reuse. Small amounts just get paper toweled. If I did give in and deep fry something, that oil is being reused all week. Go big or go home.

When I'm done with it, I grab the smallest sealable container from the recycling, out the cooled fat in it, and it goes in the trash. It usually isn't more than a cup or 2.

Goes into the compost.

I also do paper towels for the bulk, though I try to do it while the pan is still a little warm, and may even heat the pan up a little if needed, so that if it's a fat that's solid at room temperature, I can treat it the same way as oil.

Dump it all into an old tin and toss it out once it cools off.

Our city's trash disposal also provides free plastic buckets for cooking oil. I try to use that as often as possible. I love it

If it cools into a solid fat then it goes in a bowl and put it outside for wildlife to enjoy some easy calories. A trail cam and some time has given me a good chunk of backyard nocturnal drama, like the falling out of two tomcats.

Liquid fat/oil is used to re-season pans or soaked up with a paper towel and dumped.

Into a teacup, into the fridge, then when full and solidified, peeled out and thrown into the trash.