For many individuals, the vacations imply crunchy, golden, deep-fried-delicious meals. Hanukkah is the pageant of lights, however actual ones know its actually simply as a lot about celebrating the oil that stored the lamps lit. That’s why we make latkes and sufganiyot (jelly donuts) yearly.

However of us who have fun Christmas don’t miss out on the frying enjoyable—they deep fry all varieties of seafood for feasts of the seven fishes, and the vacation can even mainly function a global do-over for anybody who tousled frying their turkeys over Thanksgiving.

However after your meals is fried, you’re going to have one massive query: What do I do with all this scorching oil?

You possibly can all the time pressure and reuse fry oil till it spoils or takes on a scent or style from an ingredient (I’m you, fish). However even then, you’re ultimately going to be left with a hefty quantity in your pot or pan.

I hope I’m not the primary to inform you this, however you can not dump it down your sink. The oil can solidify and clog your pipes, or worse, get into the sewage system and contribute to the formation of a fatberg, an enormous fats deposit that mixes with “flushable” wipes (amongst different issues) and that usually must be damaged up manually by sanitation employees. Please don’t make them do that.

So! The choice for the longest time was to attend for the oil to chill, then very rigorously switch it to a plastic bag or different container, then discard it within the trash. However that may be messy. Enter considered one of my favourite new merchandise I’ve added to my pantry: an oil solidifier. They arrive in numerous packets and jars and resemble little bits of wax.

The chemical make-up may be very not often disclosed on the packaging, apart from saying it is unhazardous. The science behind the oil hardening compounds can differ: some work just like flour or cornstarch in absorbing the oil, and others are mainly excessive melting level oils that you simply dissolve into scorching oil, then let set (very like coconut oil).

Both means, to make use of these solidifiers, add a pair scoops to your oil as soon as it is totally able to be discarded, however whereas it is nonetheless scorching. Let it set for half-hour to an hour, and also you’ll be left with a puck you may merely throw away. This has actually saved me a ton of aggravation and clear up every time I fry.

One remaining observe: Cooking oil, solidified or not, is basically not tremendous compostable. Most sources say you may compost small quantities (lower than 1 cup), however in any other case you may simply discard within the trash.

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