Waste cooking oil...

What do you do with your waste cooking oil? Its the worst thing to put down the drain as it will wreck havoc on your pipes and plug them up over time.

In some countries they sell a powder you can use to gell the oil up and then discard it in the garbage. Ive seen it on amazon, its rather expensive though!

I will reuse some oils, I strain the oil and store it in a jar in the freezer. I do this with oils from animal fats like bacon mostly. Reusing vegetable is possible but it can form nasty chemicals especially if you go over the smoke point so I dont use it again for that. I think I read somewhere that in Europe they have legal limitations on how much a restaurant can reuse veggie oils.

Ive toyed with making my own biodiesel from it... its not really that hard and theres plenty of vegetable oil being given away on Craigslist though its getting more scarce as biodiesel catches on. I have a diesel generator I am working on that should run on it.

I definitely dont throw away the vegetable oil.I found a pretty decent way to use all that locked up energy without wasting it. I cut up old cotten clothes and paper towels.. soak up the oils when I am done cooking and store them in a cookie tin. When I need to start the woodstove, charcoal grill or campfire take a piece out and instant firestarter.:)

No more waste oil issues...waste not want not.

Wow, what a wonderful idea! I've always poured mine in a mason jar and toss it in the garbage to go to the land fill. I've always felt guilty about doing that but didn't know what else I could do.

I have a big burn pile where I toss paper and cardboard and fallen limbs. It can be hard to get the thing started sometimes. I will remember your fire starter idea, for sure.

Here's another question. What do you do with your used aluminum? I used to bag mine up and give them to a poor person to take to the place that buys old metal. She moved away. Now I have all these cans saved up and nobody to give them to. I guess I could take them to the place myself but I don't need money enough to take the time.

I never thought to start a fire with it. . . I just eat it straight out of the pan.

cooking oil rarely is an issue at out house, but grease can be. I usually bake chicken, pork chops, and hamburgers on a broiler pan. We let the grease congeal and then we throw it in the garbage can.

I will have to try your fire starter idea as we have a burn barrel in the back yard where we burn tumbleweeds and other yard debris.

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Originally Posted by LizStreithorst

Wow, what a wonderful idea! I've always poured mine in a mason jar and toss it in the garbage to go to the land fill. I've always felt guilty about doing that but didn't know what else I could do.

I have a big burn pile where I toss paper and cardboard and fallen limbs. It can be hard to get the thing started sometimes. I will remember your fire starter idea, for sure.

Here's another question. What do you do with your used aluminum? I used to bag mine up and give them to a poor person to take to the place that buys old metal. She moved away. Now I have all these cans saved up and nobody to give them to. I guess I could take them to the place myself but I don't need money enough to take the time.

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Liz here in CT we have mixed stream recycling.. plastics, aluminum cans and foil, card board and papers all go in the same bin and are sorted at a recycling center..

For metals that arent recycled I just put an ad on craigslist for the scrappers..

""scrappers free metal curbside at my address. They come and get it and the ad comes down.

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Originally Posted by slicksta

I never thought to start a fire with it. . . I just eat it straight out of the pan.

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John It sounds like you would be an ideal dinner guest.. you eat everything including the fats and waste oil. :)

No recycling here in the sticks of MS. I hate it but nobody see the importance of it.

Al. . . it's only waste if you don't make use of it. ;-)
I do as much as I can to reuse, re_purpose and recycle.
But then I still drive a V8... So I'm a hypocrite too :-D

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Originally Posted by slicksta

Al. . . it's only waste if you don't make use of it. ;-)
I do as much as I can to reuse, re_purpose and recycle.
But then I still drive a V8... So I'm a hypocrite too :-D

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yep me too. Id be lost without my old yukon. 1999.. but hey its got 245,000 miles on it so its like I am recycling it everyday by keeping it out of the waste stream.:)

Almost all restaurants have a steel drum in the back where waste cooking oil is dumped. Companies pick it up and resell it for biodiesel. Today's price is ~$0.08/lb of oil.

Note that it's not a good idea to try to make your own biodiesel.

Willie

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Originally Posted by Willie

Almost all restaurants have a steel drum in the back where waste cooking oil is dumped. Companies pick it up and resell it for biodiesel. Today's price is ~$0.08/lb of oil.

Note that it's not a good idea to try to make your own biodiesel.

Willie

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Wille, The Diy crews have the science down pretty good.. People are making it small scale.. you do need to be careful as some of the chemicals arent skin and eye friendly. ( caustic), but if you like DIY projects, its intriguing and tempting...

https://makezine.com/projects/make-0...ard-biodiesel/

I love this stuff.:)

They even sell kits now... and the prices have gotten very reasonable.

ah well,. I have more than enough projects planned...still I think its cool.

al

Great idea on the Biodiesel Al.
Be extra carful with your DIY project and looking forward to see how you make out.

We really do not fry much big scale in our household but when we do we pour excess used cooking oil in a clear marked jug and drop it off to our nearest city transfer station free of charge. A contractor picks up the 45g bins...I guess to be recycled.

...Ralph

Definitely have to be careful of the lye, Al. But if the reaction doesn't go to completion, then biodiesel goes from a good fuel to a high polluting fuel.

Willie

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Originally Posted by Willie

Definitely have to be careful of the lye, Al. But if the reaction doesn't go to completion, then biodiesel goes from a good fuel to a high polluting fuel.

Willie

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That is very True Willie..very true.