Be careful where you pour that turkey grease!

[Miss Mary]

Funny local article, from a plumber or roto rooter's point of view......holiday dinner related, of course. It won't ruin your appetite, just be careful what you put into that garbage disposal or I should say watch what Aunt Sylvia puts in it! Just make sure she peels the carrots and potatoes in the garbage CAN! LOL

http://news.enquirer.com/apps/pbcs.dll/ ... /411250331

Mary

[Brent]

[Miss Mary]

It is a funny read! All I know is my husband had said since we married in 1986, "don't put food in the garbage disposal, scrape it into the garbage!". I thought he was just nuts, crazy! I thought - here's a garbage disposal and I'm putting food scraps in it, dang it. Things went well until my mom 'helped' out for a day after our first baby was born. She made us lunch, filled the dishwasher, etc. Jim came home from work and we were about to run the DW. Suddenly water shot out of the emergency release valve, all over the kitchen counters, floors, sink. What a mess - 4 days after having a baby too, yeah I was in good shape to clean up that mess. He helped thankfully. Finally when it was mopped up, I stuck my hand in the garbage disposal and it was chock full of carrot and potato peels! No wonder the DW couldn't drain.

Fast forward to 10 years or so ago. Our kitchen drain clogged up, on a holiday weekend of course - Memorial Day. We couldn't run the DW, didn't want to pay double time for a plumber. So we carried out (this part was a plus!) and washed dishes in the nearby laundry room sink - thank goodness I asked for one!

When roto rooter came, he snaked out the drain. Minimal cost - $65. I didn't think that was bad. As he was cleaning up I asked what I thought was a very silly question - my husband said you shouldn't put anything in a garbage disposal, you should scrape dishes into the can, but if a few scraps get thru the disposal, that's okay. Is this true? He sighed and said - your husband is right maam, we hate garbage disposals b/c people think they can put anything that goes in the can, in them! After getting over my shock that my husband was right AGAIN, dang, he said keep scraping food in the can, after each meal, flush very hot tap water for a few minutes to move any food pieces that went down. He said pasta and spaghetti are the worst - pipes are horrizontal before they get to the street drain, so pasta just sits there. In time your drain is restricted or reduced sometimes by 50%.

So now it all goes in the can! I've had this discussion with people, like my sister-in-law who puts pork chops bones in hers and runs it for 15 minutes or so. I just shake my head at her, especially when that can is sitting there, empty!

Mary

[coriolis]

It's true. Do not put any animal grease down the drain. When it cools off, it will re-solidfy and deposit on the inside of the pipes. No amount of hot water will be enough to remove it from the pipes. Rule of thumb: If it turns solid in the fridge, put it in the trash.

[breeze]

If you have a lot of grease, you can always save
your empty coffee cans, and, fill them with it. It
makes less of a mess in the trash, as well. We've
always done that!

[Skywatch_NC]

If you have a lot of grease, you can always save
your empty coffee cans, and, fill them with it. It
makes less of a mess in the trash, as well. We've
always done that!

That's what my Mom has always done, too.

[coriolis]

P.S. If you're on a septic system, be scrupulous about what you put down the drain. Grease, meat, and veggies take a long time to decompose in your septic tank and could clog your drainfield. Think of it this way - the stuff that's supposed to go into your septic tank is already processed - if you know what I mean.

[Miss Mary]

Annette - that's what I do also. When it's full, I pitch it. Years ago my mom used the bacon fat again. Now I couldn't even dream of doing that - that sounds so gross! We don't even eat bacon either....but that was a far different time period. She used to bake with Crisco (and yes I tried in vain to tan with it, back in the 70s, he he). I cook with Olive Oil and Pam (sometimes Olive Oil) and never Crisco! Funny how times change.

Good tip about the septic tanks Ed.

Mary

[breeze]

LOL, Miss Mary, I don't re-use ANY oils - once
it's cooked with, it's headed for the coffee can!
I do remember the days when my Mama and
Grandma re-used certain cooking grease - they
had a rule about depending on what you fried it
in, the first time! I never got that rule, LoL, I
always pitched mine!

[Miss Mary]

Me either! My first mother-in-law used bacon fat again, by adding it to her baked beans. Now I will grant her that they tasted great but once she told what the secret ingredient was, it sorta turned me off of them. But I had to smile and pile those beans on my plate! Yes, she fried chopped onions in hot bacon fat/grease, then added the beans and brown sugar. Pouring the whole thing in a casserole dish to bake in the oven.

I have no idea what my mom used grease for, maybe grilled sandwiches? Ewwww.....

Gee, the Food Network channel could do an entire segment on how we used to cook vs how we could today! I used to melt butter on the stove, or soften it on the counter top for an hour to make cookie dough. I used to thaw frozen meats the day before on the bottom shelf of the fridge. Now I do all of this in the microwave!

Mary

[MSRobi911]

I do occasionaly use bacon grease. After I cook bacon and it has cooled off I put it in a jar (cherry jar or some other small jar) and put it in the frig. I put a little in fresh peas or beans and I use it to oil the iron skillet for cornbread. Most of the time when on a diet (which seems like always) I use bacon bits to season with. They didn't have that back when my mom cooked for our family.

My mom would use crisco to make biscuits.....she took a hand full of crisco and put it in the "flour bowl" and added milk and mixed with her hand......never did figure out how she did that and never ended up with little "biscuit bits" in the flour bowl when she finished making biscuits. She still makes the lightest biscuits I have every had...bisquik and premade frozen ones don't hold a candle to hers.

Cooking "secrets" drive me crazy, like why my greens never tasted like hers, she finally asked me one day if I put a chicken bullion cube in them...I said no, why would I...that's the secret!

[Persepone]

Yeah--don't put it down the garbage disposal. Better yet, remove the garbage disposal entirely.

Put all those carrot and cucumber and potato peelings in a compost heap and you wil have a lot less to take to the dump, have high grade compost--and the state of MA will practically give you the composter (and I suspect other states will too). They are about 1/4 the cost of the same thing at Home Depot, etc. if you buy from the state. All vegetable and fruit debris, coffee grounds, egg shells, tea bags, fish trash, etc. goes in fine. But don't put any meat stuff in a compost heap. By the way, our composter went in the yard 6 years ago, we've never used chemicals or anything--but it just sits there and does its thing--and it never seems to get more than about 1/2 full. It seems to make compost very, very quickly. Also, provides all the worms for fishing you can possibly want....

For meat, the coffee can grease dump works fine. For bones, etc. you can toss those in garbage or even freeze and then toss on garbage morning if you have problems with animals in your garbage cans.

You'd be amazed at how little trash/garbage you really have if you use a composter and keep meat separate. It makes you aware of what people toss out. Our neighbors (same number of people in household) have 4 cans to our (scant) one can per week!

[Persepone]

I do occasionaly use bacon grease. After I cook bacon and it has cooled off I put it in a jar (cherry jar or some other small jar) and put it in the frig. I put a little in fresh peas or beans and I use it to oil the iron skillet for cornbread. Most of the time when on a diet (which seems like always) I use bacon bits to season with. They didn't have that back when my mom cooked for our family.

My mom would use crisco to make biscuits.....she took a hand full of crisco and put it in the "flour bowl" and added milk and mixed with her hand......never did figure out how she did that and never ended up with little "biscuit bits" in the flour bowl when she finished making biscuits. She still makes the lightest biscuits I have every had...bisquik and premade frozen ones don't hold a candle to hers.

Cooking "secrets" drive me crazy, like why my greens never tasted like hers, she finally asked me one day if I put a chicken bullion cube in them...I said no, why would I...that's the secret!

Yes, there are secrets that really make things taste better--and leftover bacon grease and rendered chicken fat are two types of "grease" that should probably be re-used, if properly handled, because they really do make things taste better than they might otherwise.

By the way, what is the difference between putting "fat back" in baked beans and using properly-handled bacon grease? I think the secret is "properly handled"--which means promptly poured off (through a metal tea strainer) and refrigerated in a closed container. There is no reason not to re-use bacon grease unless you are avoiding animal fats in your diet for some medical reason. (Of course, if you fry everything you eat, then perhaps oil may be better--but I think it is the frying that is the real issue.)

By the way, your mothers/grandmothers probably used "lard" rather than Crisco in those biscuits, pie crusts, etc. That is one of the secrets to the really light biscuits, etc.

How do you "cut in" the lard/Crisco, etc. and mix with your hands? I'd bet your mother probably used two knives or two forks to "cut in" the shortening first so that she got something that looked like little white peas and then she poured the milk into the biscuit dough, ran her hand through in a circular/spiral motion, and the heat of her hands was just enough to do the final mix before she turned out the contents of the bowl (ready to do when the dough sort of "follows" around the bowl) out on to a floured board and cut the biscuits.

Storm2K needs a good "cooking secrets" and "recipe" thread for tips and tricks like the bullion cube in the string beans! I like that one--did not know that particular secret.

There are a lot of differences between the way people cook today and the way mothers/grandmothers/great grandmothers cooked--and while many of the new ways save a lot of time, etc. they are very expensive, often do not save any time at all over the "old" way, and it's too bad that so many people don't know the "old" way.

I find the "old" ways especially helpful in emergency--extended power outages, etc. are a lot less of a problem if you don't need prepared stuff to cook with and if you know how to safely deal with stuff without electrical refrigeration, etc. You can keep butter for up to 2 weeks at room temperature if you put it in a cup upside down in a bowl of water--and change the water daily. You can vegetables, fruit, etc. in a straw basket in a stream, a spring house, well house, etc. (Of course you don't want polluted water for this--but I'm amazed at people who have "clean" water but don't think to use it when the power goes out. And lots of places have springs, etc. Note that it does not have to be "your" spring--you just have to know its location.) Your house has a root cellar? Clean it out and put it to use. You can keep stuff from freezing in the winter and keep stuff cool in the summer. Again, lots of old houses have these--but people just let them sit there and don't think to use them--even in emergency!

Interesting topic...

[Wnghs2007]

If you have a lot of grease, you can always save
your empty coffee cans, and, fill them with it. It
makes less of a mess in the trash, as well. We've
always done that!

Hey are we family? LOL....My parents do that all the time.

[Miss Mary]

We could start a Recipe Secrets topic over at the Community Forum! That might be a good idea.....I never heard about a bouillon cube in green beans either. FYI, since I have a teenage daughter who's a vegetarian now (and honestly we're all 75% there now), I buy Knorr's vegetable bouillon cubes. They have a ton of flavor in them and I use them in lots of dishes. When I make homemade chicken noodle soup, I start a small pan of vegetable soup with the veg bouillon cube for her, adding all vegetables for our soup. But I toss one in our chicken soup too sometimes, along with Knorr's chicken bouillon cubes too. Knorr even makes fish bouillon cubes! I rarely buy Lipton's bouillon cubes anymore.

Mary

[TexasStooge]

[CaptinCrunch]

Thank goodness I know how to unclog a main drain, I bust my wife at least once a week putting something down the drain that should not go, and my kids are the worst about trying to flush a half roll of toilet paper at a time every time they go potty.