About a month ago I began the Atkins diet. (9 pounds down, 37 to go. Woohoo!) I love fried chicken (totally compatible with the diet, assuming no carb-laden breading), so a couple of weeks ago I bought a deep fat fryer. In my zeal for crispy chicken, I didn't consider how best to get the used oil into the recycling loop. I located a local biodiesel processor, but they're not interested in household quantities of used cooking oil. I contacted a local supermarket to see if they would allow it to be dumped in with their own used oil, but they won't accept it. I'm sure our county waste recovery station will accept it along with household waste and used motor oil, but I doubt that would result in recycling. I will call other supermarket chains, fast food joints, etc. Meanwhile, any suggestions?
yeah i got a suggestion, skip the deep fryer and use a pressure cooker instead! you can also strain it with coffee filters and keep re-using it too. thats what we do at home when we make french fries why do you doubt that your city collection agency won't recycle it?
Not the type of suggestion I was asking for. Doesn't fix the problem, only lessens it somewhat. The oil won't last forever. Besides, the fryer's instructions caution against frying chicken more than once in the same oil. Among other things, it causes the oil to foam and potentially overflow -- something I learned the hard way after frying three batches of chicken the first time out, even though the oil level was below the "maximum" mark etched into the inside of the fryer. Last night I filled it to only to the "minimum" mark and it did OK with two batches. I still have that oil in it and I'll probably push the envelope with a third one tonight, but that's probably as far as I'll go. Because I've been there enough to know their setup. They have a drum for used motor oil, in which I'm guessing they'll have me dump it. Doesn't seem to be the way to use it for biodiesel, though I guess that serves some recycling value. But the waste recovery station is not at the most convenient location. I have a half dozen restaurants and a supermarket within a short walk of my house. It would be nice if I could find one of them to take it. Meanwhile, I'm still looking for other ideas.
Hey, thanks. I didn't think about Craigslist until after Galaxee's post, and then didn't think about checking the Wanted section until this. There actually are several looking for used oil in my area. Most seem to be looking for drum-size quantities, but maybe I can find one nearby that will accept a drop-off of a gallon or so at a time.
we have a place at dump call "Hazo House" they take paint, oil, tranny fluid, etc... for free...check with your local dump, transfer station or what have you.
A biodiesel coop might take it too. They might even give you a container to take home to store it up. Then you could ring them when it's full and they could come pick it up. Or if they're close by I'm sure they gladly take small quantities since they don't have to exert themselves to get it. Whatever I'm sure there will be plenty of takers.
they have the collection bin for used motor oil and cooking oil, it still gets recycled. majority of used motor oil is run through a giant filter, and resold!!!! your opinions and predispositions are getting in the way i think maybe you need more research and see what happens after its placed in the barrel maybe you can pour it in a plastic container and write 'used cooking oil' on the plastic container and leave it out on the curb on garbage day the pressure cooker was a legitmate suggestion. why? because #1 it will taste a lot better (kfc uses them) #2 pressure cookers requires less cooking oil then deep fryers!!!! #3 cooks faster rumorville reports that in reality, kentucky fried chicken is actaully just flour, pepper, chicken,MSG, shortning/oil in a pressure cooker, and their '12 herbs and spices' is not a current recipe
what to do with household quanties of used cooking oil part ][ pressure cookers will have to be rated to actally fry chicken in, sigh pressure cookers only use 1/2 cup of oil compared to deep frying. new suggestions --------------- after filtering the oil and reusing it a couple times, give it to a dog. pour little bits on their dog food. they will love it. move away from chesterfield to get curbside pick up of used motor oil and used cooking oil (sarcastic) save up a gallon or so of it, find a place that told you 'were not intrested in household quantiies' and just show up with it save up a gallon or so of it, make sure to write on the container 'used cooking oil' go to restaurants late at night when no one is looking and put it near their used cooking oil bin, haha find a friend or relative that works at a restaurant and have him sneak it in. i think the reasons they told you were not interested in household quantities is because 1) they not interested in coming over to pick up a small quantity 2) likely that this is a 'service' and the restaurants actually pay for someone to come out and pick it up
i would be very careful with this diet i'm not gonna spout stuff i don't really know much about, but Atkins Facts - Atkins "Nightmare" Diet may be a good place to look. best is to really ask your physician or a dietitian
Thanks, I've done my homework. This too is not what I was asking for suggestions on. Rigormortis, bottom line, I'm not interested in a pressure cooker. I have the fryer now, I intend to use it, and I choose not to spend the money on another cooking appliance and try to find room to store it in my small kitchen. As for the oil, maybe you're correct about my predispositions. What I didn't state explicitly at the outset is that I prefer the oil to be recycled as a biofuel. It would seem to be considerably more efficient for it to go almost directly, with relatively little processing, into the tank of a vehicle capable of using it rather than being subjected to a presumably more extensive process (or even re-refining) used motor oil goes through. Call that a predisposition if you like, and I stand to be corrected.
yeah i think all the refining that pertains to used cooking oil is either is used as fuel or they make soap out of it. major cities collect cooking oil to get it out of the drains, sewers, and worse of all storm drains. they spend millions of dollars clearing out all the grease that goes down peoples dishwashers and don't need any more, by pouring it down the drain. thank you, heh cooking oil can pollute drinking water just as well as motor oil. if you do find someone in your area that will take it and use it as a fuel, it will be more valueable to them, or any of the cooking oil recyclers if you make sure to remove all the bits of food out of it first. you can do this with a strainer with a coffee filter or paper towel inside the strainer. warm/hot oil will filter faster then cold oil. maybe you can talk to your city/county goverment who signed the waste management contract about curbisde pick up of these materials. maybe when the contract goes for renewal, they will offer curbside pick up. that would motivate more people to dispose of hazards materials in a friendly way, instead of down the drain, like most residential cooking oil goes so many people were taking cooking oil from restaurants for free of charge to use as biodiesel, that the industry complained, and now its supposivlely illegal to haul away a restaurants cooking oil without a permit in calfornia!
