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Never down the drain. We've had a few incidents in my neighborhood where the sewer pipes were clogged with fat, and a few people's basements flooded with sewage as a result. For fats that solidify, let them do so, then pitch them in your regular garbage. Chill it in the fridge if you need to get it to harden up. For ones that don't, I put them into a ...

I agree on the Goodwill thing, but it pains me to think of putting tape on a knife blade -- someone's going to have to clean it off, and that risks someone getting injured. Instead, find a piece of cardboard that's longer than the blade of the knife, and more than twice the depth of the blade with an inch (~3 cm) or more to spare. Fold the cardboard in ...

First of all, consider donating it to Goodwill or another charitable organization. Even if it is barely usable by your standards, it might help someone else out. Whether giving your knife away or throwing it out, I think it is sufficient to put some duct tape over the edge and then wrap it in a couple layers of bubble wrap.

The best way is to compost it. Since it is organic it makes great earthworm food. Otherwise, after allowing it to cool you should put it in a small sealed container and throw it out with the trash. You can save empty jars for this purpose. If you produce large amounts of oil you may need to take it directly to your landfill, or possibly ask a local ...

I've always put egg shells down the disposal. The "official" word from one manufacturer is: Most forms of food waste can be put through the food waste disposer — bones from fish and poultry, meat, large meat bones, fish scraps, vegetables, fruit, egg shells, and much more. Very stringy or fibrous foods such as celery should be avoided. ...

Check with your local recycling companies. We have a metal recycling facility that will accept kitchen items such as small appliances, utensils and dishes made of aluminum, tin, stainless steel, etc. It may be worthwhile to simply add the knife to their scrapheap where things will be melted down and recycled. Far better than disposal, in my opinion. (But ...

Circuitry can't just turn itself on; the machine is controlled by a switch. If the switch is not flipped on, the circuit is not complete and the machine will not run. Our switch is up on the wall, under a cabinet. There is no chance of something hitting that switch accidentally, so I just reach in when something falls down the drain. If I thought there ...

Unless you fry very often, you can store the twice/thrice/whatever used oil and use to saute or as an ingredient in cakes and breads that call for oil. You need to keep track a bit, since you don't want to put the oil used to fry shrimp into cookies, but it might work well to saute onions for shrimp tiki masala. Bacon grease can likewise be reused. Its my ...

We give our egg shells back to our chickens. They need the chalk for new eggs and they like it. But I think this isn't really an option for you, unless you sometimes feed the birds in the park or something. You can eat the egg shell yourself, it's quite healthy (if I can believe the internet). You can put them in the compost container, but I wouldn't put ...

I don't deep-fry so I never have multiple quarts of used oils. For a skillet full of used oil with too much crumb in it to reuse, I use a lot of Dawn and very hot water to fully emulsify the fat and then wash it down the drain with hottest water. I'm on a septic tank in the country for nearly 20 years with no problems. I save bacon fat that isn't ...

Whatever you decide to use, unplug the garbage disposal first if possible, or turn off the circuit breaker it is connected to. This makes absolutely sure it can't be accidentally turned on. It is the same principle taught in shop class before changing the blades on the table saw and is well worth the extra few seconds of effort.

Well, definitely don't turn it on while your hand is down there :) Seriously though, practically speaking, the disposal is physically incapable of turning itself on or causing you damage when it is off. It is turned on by a switch (like a light switch). What happens when you flick the switch is that a circuit is completed -- this is what turns it on. When ...

When I have some spare in a pan after a bit of a fry up or whatever I get the end pieces of bread from the current loaf and pour the fat all over them, then I let it soak in and then dry up for a bit and I put that out for the birds.. They love it - There's a wood pigeon here that loves bread with bacon fat!

Since you're throwing the knife out, take a hammer to the edge. You don't need to hit hard -- the edge is obviously pretty thin, so it won't take much to roll the edge. Just place the back edge of the blade against something hard and heavy -- anvil, concrete block, etc. -- and tap firmly all along the sharp edge until sufficiently dull.

I'd go for a more powerful one, in general, and I noticed that the higher powered disposals are sometimes quieter, which I really like. I really learned that paying the extra for good plumbing parts (faucet, disposal) through our plumber was worth it, since they can be fixed, unlike cheaper big box store stuff, and that there was a real difference in the ...

I had never had a problem with our disposal until today... the day my wife put eggshells in there. There could probably have been other contributing factors. I have read multiple debates and the controversy is enough to get me to discontinue the practice. Garbage, compost, chickens, or a giant laser, all seem like better options to me!

We live in a major metropolitan area, and I recently replaced our garbage disposer. While it was off I took a look at the pipes under the sink and they were just caked with black rotting gunk inside them. I replaced them with new ones, and since then our cockroach problem seems to have gone away completely. I believe all that rotting crud inside the pipes ...

I was always taught the egg shells were good for the pipes, but when our drain clogged, the trap was filled with coffee grounds and egg shells. Perhaps the egg shells would normally be fine, and they only got stuck because of the coffee grounds (which I know should not go down--our guests did not). Even still, after that experience, I now have a policy ...