Proper disposal of used cooking oil/fat/grease

[mike_r]

i've seen those coagulants of which you speak; they're hydrocolloids and can usually be found at a well-stocked asian market like mitsuwa.

[doc slaughter]

We live in a shore island community so were surrounded on all sides by eco-sensitive lands and very concerned about pollution of any kind going into the water but we do pour any old cooking oil/grease out in the back corner of the yard where we feed the wild animals. Food grade oils are used in all the hydraulic lines of any construction equip. used near the water so if there's a failure of the system these type oils don't pollute like motor oil's and regular hydraulic oil, so it's EPA ok. I also think that any equip. on the water on bridges and bardges, like cranes, all have vegatable oil in them.

[Mayhaw Man]

Over the course of my life, when I am in a quandry such as the one that you have posed, I simply ask myself, "What Would Willie Do?" and that has always served me pretty well.

Gary Allan handles problems the same way as I, apparently.

[bigbear]

Any truth to the rumor that biodiesel vehicles attract bears?

[tino27]

I did two deep-fried items for a party I had over the weekend. I know enough to let the oil cool down to room temperature. I also know that oil can be reused several times.

So my questions are:

1) What should I filter the oil through?

2) Should I store the oil in the refrigerator? Or is a cool basement okay as well?

3) Should I let my nose be my guide to determine when the oil can no longer be reused?

4) Once the oil needs to be disposed of ... what is the best way? Even though it's vegetable oil, everything I've found on the web indicates under no certain terms should I pour it down the drain.

Granted we are talking about about a gallon or so of oil.

Thanks!

[johnder]

To dispose of oil at home, pour a few inches of cat litter in the bottom of a plastic bag, dump oil on top, let set up, throw out.

[scubadoo97]

I have filtered through a paper coffee filter but found an item that worked even better. The paper coffee filter was too slow. I had this strainer like those non disposable coffee filters that was used to strain yogurt. More of a fine mesh. Works great. I store in a jar in the cabinet. My mom always had a jar in the fridge. I have heard that off smells from seafood can be dealt with by frying some potatoes prior to storing. The potatoes are suppose to absorb the odors. I did some squid last month and have fried other things in the same oil without any off flavors. Squid cooks so fast. Your nose will tell you if it's too smelly from previous foods or if it's rancid. You can't hide rancid

[tino27]

scubadoo97 -- How do you dispose of your oil when it is time?

[scubadoo97]

scubadoo97 -- How do you dispose of your oil when it is time?

←

Toss the whole jar out. Recycling would make better sense but it's not practical option.

[ElsieD]

I presently have a T-Fal deep fryer and so far have been using it only to deep fry potatoes (sweet and regular). If I were to start using it to fry say, chicken wings, can the oil then be re-used to deep fry something else? Or does deep frying chicken wings or, say, jalepeno poppers, mean that the oil must be discarded? I have never seen this adressed anywhere and would appreciate some input.

Thank you.

[prasantrin]

There are many, many references (some of those are for resusing motor oil, but the bulk are for cooking oil) that can be found regarding re-using cooking oil. Basically you should consider what you're frying, and what you want to reuse the oil for. If you're frying french fries, then using the same oil for chicken won't be a problem. But if you fry fish, you might not want to use the same oil for french fries, because your fries will then taste like fish. Just use your best judgment.

[takadi]

Fried mars bars just aren't the same without that hint of fish!

[Chris Amirault]

Independent of the off-flavor issue, several authors (including Russ Parsons in How to Read a French Fry) explain that including some old oil is crucial to a good fry.

[prasantrin]

Fried mars bars just aren't the same without that hint of fish!

←

I think you have to be from the UK to appreciate fried mars bars with a hint of fish.

[Dave the Cook]

Chicken wings in particular present a strange issue. When I've deep-fried them, I end up with more liquid in the fryer than when I started. I'm guessing that the added volume is a mixture of rendered fat and collagen. I've never reused that oil, on the assumption that if it's got gelatin in it, it's not going to behave like pure oil with just a few impurities.

[cricklewood]

In the restaurant we re-use the frying oil regularly, I don't see why you couldn't apply this to home use as well, the volume is smaller so I can imagine it accumulating gunk faster but then again, restaurant fryers can see so much action that oil needs to be changed regularly. When using vegetable oil I find that indeed new oil doesn't quite behave the same it takes a while before it gets the sweet spot and then moves from the sweet spot to just being dark and nasty. I have never tried to hold back some oil from the old batch, I assume if you avoid sediment this could do the trick. A trick is once the oil is cooled down, filter it to catch any spices, gunk , tempura/batter bits that have accumulated in the fryer. tha way you are not burning all this stuff up on the next run.

http://directionsinfood.blogspot.com/

[K8memphis]

I've read that frying a potato after frying something flavorfull like fish or chicken will remove the residual flavor. I've never tried it. I don't deep fry fish but there is the idea.

[pounce]

http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Storie..._every_day.html

Basically:

University researchers have found that a toxic compound known as HNE, which has been linked to heart disease and stroke, builds up steadily in intermittently heated oil for up to five hours at frying temperature.

[Raoul Duke]

I have two containers for oil storage. One is clean and used to accept the oil after use. Whe the oil is poured into the fryer the original container is then cleaned of the residue on the bottom and rotated for use next. What has worked extremely well for me is to fry a large piece of ginger, sliced in half lengthwise, after frying anything and before storage. I'm usually pretty pessimistic about such things, but geez, it seems to work. I think this tip appeared in Gourmet magazine last year.

[dougal]

Independent of the off-flavor issue, several authors (including Russ Parsons in How to Read a French Fry) explain that including some old oil is crucial to a good fry.

←

Any chance of an 'executive summary' as to why?

And whether "a good fry" means more than a tasty one?

http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Storie..._every_day.html

Basically:

University researchers have found that a toxic compound known as HNE, which has been linked to heart disease and stroke, builds up steadily in intermittently heated oil for up to five hours at frying temperature.

←

Interesting that that article is specifically referring to polyunsaturated oils.

Perhaps saturated fats might actually be wiser for deep frying?

And I can't make out what the significance of "five hours" might be in that report. Would that be the time for the HNE to reach a maximum? Or an important threshold concentration?

[sandra]

If you are frying shellfish, re-using the oil may not be a great idea if the french fries you put in next will be eaten by someone allergic to shellfish - I have seen a reaction happen -

[prasantrin]

http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Storie..._every_day.html

Basically:

University researchers have found that a toxic compound known as HNE, which has been linked to heart disease and stroke, builds up steadily in intermittently heated oil for up to five hours at frying temperature.

←

The study is for soybean oil in particular, and oil taken to 365F. There is no mention of other types of oil, except to extrapolate the results to include "oils that are highly unsaturated and contain linoleic acid" (but no further experiments have been done to include those other oils), nor does it mention results for frying at lower temperatures, such as 350F (which a lot of recipes call for).

[takadi]

http://www1.umn.edu/umnnews/Feature_Storie..._every_day.html

Basically:

University researchers have found that a toxic compound known as HNE, which has been linked to heart disease and stroke, builds up steadily in intermittently heated oil for up to five hours at frying temperature.

←

The study is for soybean oil in particular, and oil taken to 365F. There is no mention of other types of oil, except to extrapolate the results to include "oils that are highly unsaturated and contain linoleic acid" (but no further experiments have been done to include those other oils), nor does it mention results for frying at lower temperatures, such as 350F (which a lot of recipes call for).

←

Does that mean saturated fats like lard are more stable for higher frying temperatures?

[Chris Amirault]

Independent of the off-flavor issue, several authors (including Russ Parsons in How to Read a French Fry) explain that including some old oil is crucial to a good fry.

←

Any chance of an 'executive summary' as to why?

And whether "a good fry" means more than a tasty one?

←

It's about more than taste. From the book, p 13-4:

Have you ever noticed how something fried in absolutely fresh oil never completely browns? In fact, it may not cook through at all. ... [F]rying is essentially a drying process. When a piece of food is dropped into hot oil, the heat evaporates any moisture on the outside of the food. Since the food is surrounded by oil, the moisture forms a very thin barrier between the oil and what is being fried. Fresh oil can't penetrate that barrier.

Fortunately, some of the by-products of the breakdown of oil are chemical compounds called soaps. ... The chemical soaps created in the frying process ... penetrate the water barrier and bring the oil into direct contact with the food being cooked, allowing both browning and thorough cooking. For that reason, old-time cooks always saved a ladleful of oil oil to add to the fresh batch when they fried foods.

Later, Parsons suggests about 1 T old oil per cup of fresh oil. I just dump a glug of old oil into the fryer/dutch oven before adding the new stuff. It really works: the difference in crispness in particular is remarkable.

[tkassum]

Dear eGulleters,

Thanksgiving is now over, for which I give thanks. My thoughts can now turn from highly technical subjects (like “how do I make something dry and tasteless into something moist and flavorful using only an oven?”) to more practical matters - like deep-frying!

Deep frying is a mysterious black art for those of us who are unfamiliar with it. There is very little practical information on the internet about it. My Google searches returned plenty of information on deep-frying turkeys, but to my mind starting there is the equivalent of a reverse slam-dunk before you learn how to do a lay-up. My beloved Cook’s Illustrated mentions it fleetingly from time to time before returning to standard fare (“Nine Course Meal in 30 Minutes”, etc).

My first experiments in home deep frying actually did take place over this year’s Thanksgiving, a holiday which is otherwise linked in my memory with dessicated turkey and sad, broken sauces. My fiancee and I made homemade doughnuts and some potato skin crisps. Strangely, after I fried my potato skin crisps (which were very tasty), I sniffed the oil and it had an unmistakable fishy flavor. But there was no sniffable fishiness before I fried the potato skins.

Let’s discuss!

1) What’s the best oil for deep-frying, anyway? People say peanut oil – but where and how does one buy gallons of this stuff (especially in New York)?

2) And why does it sometimes turn fishy? What can one do to prevent this?

3) How many times do you reuse the oil before you pitch it?

4) How can you pitch it in a planet-friendly fashion?

5) What are your favorite things to deep-fry?

6) Any tips, tricks, etc to avoid blowing up the house and to encourage optimal fryage?

Thanks,

TK