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draining fried food - Page 2

post #31 of 54
2/9/10 at 10:29pm
Your idea in draining fried food is great. At home whenever I drained food stuff especially chicken, I use to drained it in a strainer. The plastic circle one. I put the food then and hang for a few minutes before frying. :)
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post #32 of 54
2/10/10 at 12:42am
Thread Starter 
I think that even with many layers, the food is sitting on something directly, which creates steam and makes it soggy. So while the rack is also cheaper and more ecological, the reason i thought of it is that it keeps the food crisper.
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post #33 of 54
2/10/10 at 12:49am
Thread Starter 
About the question of draining the excess fat into a container - I never have that much fat dripping off that it would drain out of the tray under the rack. But it raised the question of what do you do with your leftover frying fat. A restaurant would have a truck come to recover the fats and reuse them industrially, but what about at home? Nobody's going to come and pick up a jar of oil for the occasional times i may fry, maybe once a month.

On the principle that detergent emulsifies fats, I've mixed detergent in and added water, and then dumped them in the drain. I have no idea if this is ok or not for the drains in my hyouse (never had a problem) or for the drains in the world (ecologically). I imagine the amount of fats cumulatively washed off pots and pans and dishes in a city would be quite a lot, but being emulsified in detergent makes them able to be handled but i really don;t know.
As for lard, that's easy, let it harden and then put it in the garbage.

Anyway, do any of you know what is the consequence of mixing oil and detergent and dumping in the drain?
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post #34 of 54
2/10/10 at 12:52am
Here's where I'd like if Luc_H shed some light.
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post #35 of 54
2/10/10 at 3:21am
No. Do NOT mix the oil with detergent. If you have a garden, or a park nearby, use it for the birds. Mix it in a plain ol' tin/jar with some cooked barley/rice etc. Once you have a good tinful, sprinkle it out for the birds. But please, make sure the rice or whatever starch you use is cooked - or the birds will swell up and...uggh - it won't be pretty. But its a good method of recycling the oil, the birds benefit, and the environment thanks you.

As to pouring fat and suds down the drain - it clogs-coagulates- clams up the whole system. Whilst it is hot at first it looks like fine, it'll be ok. But then, it gets down into the sewer. Great big blobs of white fat that the rats just love. Give it to the birds iinstead. It is pretty much like cholesterol in arteries ('cept the rats can't get to it)
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post #36 of 54
2/10/10 at 4:07am
First off, having my own septic system rather than being on a sewer system, I don't want fats and oils down there at all---even if mixed with soap. The emulsified oil still has to go somewhere.

I use large recycled plastic jars as my waste-oil containers (letting the oil cool first, of course). Once full, the whole thing just goes in the trash.

or the birds will swell up and...uggh - it won't be pretty.

DC, I'd pay ten bucks to see that!

Seriously, this is one of the biggest modern myths to ever take off. Probably started by big-city sanitation people who didn't want to sweep up all that rice after a wedding.

Think it through. In the wild, birds devour dry grain. They're eating seed heads, and any domestic grain available. And if you buy commercial bird feed all it's made of is assorted raw seeds.

It would be contrasurvival for dry, raw seeds to have a negative effect on them.

It's just incredible to me the numbers of people who've bought into this idea.
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post #37 of 54
2/10/10 at 2:04pm
Thread Starter 
I don't have a garden and i would love to see how people take to pouring grease in the local park. But i don;t mean hard grease, like lard, which, as i said, i can just let cool and throw in the garbage. I mean oil, frying oil, that never gets hard even when cold. Is it bad to emulsify it and pour into a city drain?
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post #38 of 54
2/10/10 at 2:13pm
Another option - put it in a jar once cold, put the top on, into the rubbish bin. Easy solution.

KYH - the dry grain thing - I can see the sense in what you are saying. It's just what is hammered into us here. Can't say I'd like to throw cooked rice at a bride and groom on their special day....welllll - depends on if I like 'em or not :D

But, I am ashamed to say, I did have some tadpoles I gave dried breadcrumbs to. Oops - big time. They swelled up and burst. Could have and should have kicked myself :(
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post #39 of 54
2/10/10 at 2:48pm
It's just what is hammered into us here. Can't say I'd like to throw cooked rice at a bride and groom on their special day....

Don't know how it is down there, DC, but when this "don't throw rice" thing started in the States; must have been in the late '70s or early '80s, that was the rationale: that by eating the dry rice the birds would, as soon as they drank some water, swell up and explode. But the irony was that the experts were recommending that instead of rice you use---are you ready---bird seed.

Play that again?

One of the three rice bowls of the U.S. is the Grand Prairie, centered in Stuttgart, Arkansas. If those people are right, the Grand Prairie should be littered with parts and pieces of the millions of self-exploded birds who are drawn there for the free eats.
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post #40 of 54
2/10/10 at 3:19pm
Yeah, you get a mass of grease down the drain somewhere. Pour it into a container. Put the lid on. Throw in garbage.
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post #41 of 54
2/10/10 at 11:10pm
Thread Starter 
I know i CAN put oil in a jar and throw it out, but i have a shortage of jars, and those i have i use for jam. But i wanted to know what is the consequence of putting oil, not lard, with detergent, well-emulsified, into the drain. Would like some scientific knowledge here! Does it de-emulsify? I wouldn;t dump emulsified lard or chickenfat down the drain, they don;t leak through my garbage bags. Just plain oil.

Or, i could make soap... got a recipe?
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post #42 of 54
2/10/10 at 11:43pm
Chicken-fat soap, now that would be something I'd just have to try :). Just being silly.
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post #43 of 54
2/11/10 at 7:02am
There is a county sewage pump station in the corner of my front yard. A couple of summers ago, I was seeing the guys working on it several times a week which is unusual. Finally, I asked one of the guys if something was wrong (sure didn't want raw sewage backing up in my yard!) and he said they had been having issues with grease in the sewage system. It wasn't causing problems at the one here but was making the station about 3 miles away clog up and not run properly. Maybe it's just a coincidence that the tavern near us, between the substations had just re-opened for business after a fire and they sell a lot of fried foods. I don't know but I do know that they have a huge tank of what the guy explained was milk of magnesia and some type of acid running through the system now to try and keep it cleaned out. Based on that, I'd say it's not a good idea to ever pour it down a drain.
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post #44 of 54
2/11/10 at 7:08am
Thread Starter 
Yes, but you're talking about grease, not emulsified grease. I'd like some scientific explanation why this might work or not. If they dump straight grease down the drains, that may not be the same thing.
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post #45 of 54
2/11/10 at 7:33am
Oils and grease -- people! -- remember vinegar breaks up a lot of oils and grease from your cooking fats. If your pots still have grease after emptying it, and want to use that pot again, pour a little bit of vinegar (I use cheap apple cider vinegar, whichever store brand I can find by the gallon) with a little bit of dishwashing soap. It is easier to wash the pot then...even with washing in the dishwasher, pour a bit of vinegar in the dishwasher before you shut that door. It makes a lot of difference. Imagine if you can do this method with one pot and pans or a whole dishwasher load...how much more can it do you good if you mix more vinegar with a batch of oil and grease you are going to throw away...

Just a thought....:talk:
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post #46 of 54
2/11/10 at 7:35am
The guy did say they tried detergents...something like Dawn and it did not work to keep the system cleaned out, but not sure how it would have worked if it was mixed with the grease initially. I don't really know a lot about this, just what the country sewage worker told me.
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post #47 of 54
2/11/10 at 8:27am
I did mention that vinegar cuts through the grease??? Despite my long explanation, perhaps not....:blush:
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post #48 of 54
2/11/10 at 11:39am
Yes, I did see your post and if you read above, you will see that I was repeating what I was told by a country sewage worker in reply to a response from Siduri. Grease is an issue they face and in response to your opinions, I really believe if it was something as simple and inexpensive as flushing vinegar through the pipes, they would have gone that route instead of the one they chose.
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post #49 of 54
2/11/10 at 11:49am
sorry, I jumped too quick. Forgive me???:blush:

This thread is really very helpful...I have read through it and I had learned a lot. Thanks.

:bounce:
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post #50 of 54
2/11/10 at 12:04pm
Yes, you're forgiven! :)
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post #51 of 54
2/11/10 at 2:16pm
I buy my oil in bottles. After filling the deep fryer I add what ever is left to the bottle I use for general use and save the empty bottle for the used oil. I have a friend who burns waste oil in his shop so he picks it up whenever I have a couple bottles.
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post #52 of 54
2/11/10 at 2:22pm
Emulsified grease is bad because the emulsification breaks.

When your detergent and grease hit the sewer, they mix. The detergent thins out in suspension to the point it can't hold the grease in suspension any longer. The emulsification breaks.

Plus detergent itself is not particularly good in the waste stream.

Grease also takes a lot to break down in the digesters.
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post #53 of 54
2/12/10 at 1:04am
Thread Starter 
Thanks Phatch, however unwelcome your information is!

I'm surprised that a lot of people are talking about restaurants just dumping or burning their fat. Here there is a service you can call that collects fat from restaurants and sells it to industries that use it for soaps etc. I'm surprised that doesn't happen everywhere.

Again, i ask, any recipes for soap? potash and grease, right? and where do i get the potash? (not sure i'd like soap made from leftover fish frying oil though... maybe that's why commercial soaps are often so smelly with cheap perfume!). Oh, and your signature line - sorry, can't help it - the cake (of soap) is a lye?
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post #54 of 54
2/12/10 at 8:42am
Google it. Sodium hydroxide is preferred over potassium salts. I wouldn't want to use used oil for making soap, though.
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