What to do with the Leftover Cooking Oil?

Hi, alaskanray....I too will reuse cooking oil as much as possible. After each use, I strain it and keep it in the 'fridge. Eventually it gets all used up. To 'freshen' used cooking oil, you can heat it on high and drop a sliced peeled potato into it and the potato seems to absorb any left-over odors and/or tastes. This can be done several times before reuse. I don't remember where I found this tip but it works.

Yours sounds a very good idea. It should be no more polluting, at least than burning paraffin, candle wax or anything else. As for re-using cooking oil (for cooking), you should be aware that heating oils does change their nature. Heating oil once in order to cook something is OK but allowing it to cool and using it again can introduce carcinogens into your food. The heating can change an oil's molecular structure and any excess oil should be thrown away or recycled safely. It is not really a good idea to reuse oil which has been used to cook something before. I use rather little oil and what is not eaten is easily washed down the sink (with some detergent) so I don't have a big problem with waste oil. Businesses which use a lot of oil (such as fish and chip shops and other restaurants) have to be more careful. There are now companies which will collect waste oil and reprocess it to power diesel engines. This is not usually economic for domestic users so your idea of using it to make fire lighters is a good one. I would advise using as little oil as possible in cooking. Many things can be cooked much more healthily and just as tastily with alternative cooking methods. The deep fat frier should certainly be sent to the nearest recycling center!

around here, on freecycle, there are people always looking for used oil, I think they make fuel with it, don't ask me how, these things are a mystery to me!

I see that I do not over heat my oil so that I can use every drop of it till it gets over. Overheating oil is bad and if that happens by accident I have no other alternative but to throw it in the compost pit.

In the Philippines there are buyers of used cooking oil, think it has industrial uses or turned to diesel or something but they buy it by the drum. Considering it is just home cooking amount, I would agree with the other posts that it could be reused provided not over and over since it could turn toxic, make sure you strain and filter it to get out the burned pieces of food and decant. Yeah it could be used for deep frying like potatoes but not oil where fish had been fried, We also use it to sautee garlic and onions to make Chinese style fried rice in a wok ( but not too much oil,salt and soy sauce, it's bad for the health).

I use my cooking oil twice and throw it afterwards. I have a separate oil for fish and meat also. It is not healthy to reuse oil for so many times.

if i had a lot,i'd probably just call the local biodiesel place. one of the ones around here even lets you drop it off.it's pure profit for them after they clean it up anyway.

I do not use much oil in my cooking at all. When I do though I put what is left mixed into our dogs dry food. The oil is very good for their skin and fur.

You should see if there is anyone or a company in your area that makes bio-diesel. They would take it off your hands for sure. They might even pick it up from you. That's a great way to recycle used cooking oil and at the same time, help cut our dependence on foreign oil.

Ya cooking oil should not be poured into drain as it populate and is wasted.Usually it can be used again to fry eggs or made to be used for deep frying other stuffs like potatoes fries and deep fried fries.Since it own private used it ok as it is hygiene used by same people for different dishes in the family.Mainly cooking oil is reused for cooking and non is throw away.

i dont use too much oil. i have a deep fat fryer and only change the oil every few months so i bottle up the old oil for throwing. i have 2 frying pans and use 1 just for fried eggs so i just keep the oil in the pan and top it up when needed, and use my other pan for everything else. if i have steak i put oil on the meat instead of in the pan so no waste.

I usually try to use exact oil when cooking so that there will be lesser oil left in the pan after frying. However, sometimes, there will still be an excess. I keep that and reuse it in food that won't easily be affected by the taste of the used oil.

Just like you we reuse it at least until it starts to turn black which then we usually throw it out.Speaking of oil when I was in high school I heard about these kids who were testing to see if cooking oil could work for cars.

Have you heard that leftover cooking oil can be used to make homemake soap? I think it is very a neat way to recycle used cooking oil. Try to do a search for "homemade soap used leftover cooking oil". There are people out there turning it into a small home business. As always, when dealing with chemicals, extra care must be taken and a good understanding of the process must be acquired before taking on such a DIY project.

If i think that i might be able to use it again i save it into an old oil bottle. if i don't think it will be any good to use again, I discard it into an old can and throw it away.

Great going. But be careful. I don't have too much of oil left over. I consume a lot of oil. One advise though, don't try to use old cooking oil again after a long period for cooking purposes and don't use the same cooking oil many times. It gets toxicated.