How To Safely Deal With Your Leftover Cooking Oils & Grease
Posted on: 1 June 2020
If you run a small food business, there is a good chance that you use grease and oils for cooking food. The leftover grease and oils from your business should be properly disposed of and dealt with. Old grease and oils shouldn't be poured down your drain unless you want to deal with clogs and plumbing bills and putting it into the trash isn't the best choice either.
Reuse Your Cooking Oils
There are some situations in which you can reuse your cooking oils. If you have been cooking with oil, and you didn't heat the oil up past its smoke point, then you can reuse the oil.
To reuse the oil, you are going to want to take the oil while it is still semi-warm and strain the oil in order to remove any food particles. You can strain semi-warm oil through a coffee filter or a cheesecloth in order to remove the food particles.
Once the oil is filtered, put it inside of an airtight container. You are then going to want to store the oil in a cool place, such as your fridge or freezer until you need it again.
You can reuse that oil for frying, baking, or even sautéing. Keep in mind you should only reuse oil a couple of times. After that, the oil will turn rancid.
Recycle Your Cooking Oil
If you don't want to reuse your cooking oil, or you have already reused the cooking oil a few times and are ready to dispose of the oil and grease, make sure you dispose of the oil and grease in a safe manner.
Do not pour the grease down your sink drain; the grease will solidify and over time, clog up the pipes. Don't put the grease in the trash; it will not be properly handled that way.
Instead, take the oil and once again, strain out the food particles with cheesecloth or with a coffee filter. Then, put the oil in a sealable container and arrange for the oil to be recycled.
You can drop the oil off at a collection facility, or you can arrange to have the oil picked up by a grease recycling company. Either way, you can take care of the grease and ensure that it is recycled in a responsible manner.
If you run a commercial kitchen that generates a lot of greases, make sure you deal with it in a responsible manner. You can start by reusing the grease a couple of times, and then work with a professional grease recycling company and have them collect and recycle your grease in a responsible manner.
For more tips on what to do with grease and cooking oils, reach out to a local great collection service.
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