Ask Lemmy

Are you renting or do you own?

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.

Wipe with paper towel, toss in trash.

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

Goes into the compost.

Depends how much is left. Alot then filter and jar. A little then paper towel and trash.

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.

Lick it off

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.

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

Other than pan frying something like chicken, I don't really have "leftover fat".

Bacon - ya pour that right into the bacon fat container that has its own strainer.

Most other recipes the fat is part of the dish. As someone else commented - fat is flavor. Say you brown chicken parts for something like Gumbo, the next thing in the pan will be vegetables that get glazed, and you're gonna need a fat for that which is already there in the pan.

I currently use (probably too many) paper towels to absorb the oil and then toss them into the trash can. I'm not happy with this solution, but I don't want to pour it down the drain.

I found this the other day https://fryaway.co/ but I haven't tried it yet. It's supposed to make the oil solid so you can more easily toss it.

I use an iron skillet for most things, it gets cleaned then takes up real estate on a stove burner until the next day.

Most of the time it’s just enough oil to sear things. Salmon. The white meat chicken with a bacon iron on top. Each needs some oil for Maillard rxn on the hot iron and non-stick, in addition to flavor and moistness.

It’s liquid at room temp. It’s minimal. When the pan is cool enough, a dollop of dawn, a light abrasive without a lot of pressure (it’s a tactile thing, cast iron people know) and the soap slurry goes right down the drain. I’ve owned for 25 yrs, no issues.

(Because someone is about to start text screaming: If it’s a new cure or a cure done in 1-2 layers or a weaker fat, any abrasive or cleaning will likely kill it. I use lard for my cures while lightly washing with hot soapy water in between. 5 layers/rounds of cure. Then oil it after each use for the first month post new cure. Then, it’s solid, just wash and dry, and you can use a light abrasive. We have a 12, a 10, three 8s, and three 5s in circulation.)

Now, if I make Pho, I’m not skimming the beef tallow/oil off into the sink. I wait for the broth to cool, crack the disc of solid lard off the top, and drop it in the trash.

Popcorn pan, sink. Salmon in the pan, sink. Dark meat chicken in the pan, cool and scrape those solids into the trash.

It’s about amount and what it does at room temp.

What I totally don't ever do under any circumstance at anytime for any reason even though it's super convenient and easy is pour it down the sink. Yes sir. That's not something I ever, ever do! Wouldn't it be crazy if I did? Omg. So crazy!

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 usually just pour it over the rice or macaroni or whatever, to consume whatever little is there, so as not to waste it, and for flavor.

I try to fry stuff in tallow as well, which is a lot nicer IMO.

Straight down the sink. It's a rental.

Stopped deep frying. Partly for health and partly out of laziness.

If I want to keep the fat, like from bacon, then I strain it through cheesecloth into a small jar and use it occasionally.

If I don't want it, then if it gets solid at room temp it gets to cool and be scraped into the bin. If it is a liquid at room temp it goes into a ziplock bag or something to keep it from leaking.

Other than saving it for use later when possible, we let it solidify and scrap it into the trash.