How do you dispose of oil from tinned fish?

[adrianmolesmole]

My friend pours his straight in the bin (!?), but I've always poured mine in a bowl mixed with fairy liquid to break it up and then pour it down the sink. Is there a proper way?!

Dumb question I know, but it's a slow night..

The oil is probably more likely to soften the fatberg, being liquid at room temperature.

The oil from a can of tuna would make no impact whatsoever on the kind of fatbergs that are found in our drains.

@Onlymeandthedognow

My German Shepherd dog has either sardines, mackerel or tuna in sunflower or olive oil several times a week (good for skin and joints) I’m very squeamish about fish so I run the kitchen hot tap, undo the cans drain them down the plug hole and mix the fish with Ddogs biscuit mixer... eyes closed🤮 Put the kettle on... Then while she’s eating her food, the plug hole gets bleach and boiling water down it and the cans are tied up in a food bag (no smell) Hands washed, job done... just avoid the fishy dog-breath for a good while. Have fed all my GSDs tinned fish over the years, no drainage issues ever!

Again, oil should not be poured down the sink, regardless of what you put down the sink afterwards.

And you wouldn’t experience issues with your drain. You’re just sending the problem further down the line.

Brrrrrr fishy oil

Keep empty coffee jar under the sink and fill it with anything liquid/fatty. Put in bin when full.

I soak it up with kitchen roll and put in the bin.

I don't actually buy tuna in oil but if I did it wouldn't have occurred to me not to tip in in the sink.
I now know differently, so, thank you.

@FamilyOfAliens

Don’t pour it down the sink, with or without detergent. That’s how fatbergs are formed that mess up the drains in this country.

Pour the oil into a jar with a screw top lid and when it’s full, screw the lid on tight and throw the whole thing out with the general rubbish.

I think I'll do this. Wish I had a dog or a cat now!

Jack Monroe suggests saving the oil to use for cooking.

@airedailleurs

Jack Monroe suggests saving the oil to use for cooking.

You’d have to have dozens of different jars for each different oil though. I have oil from olives, from the fried egg pan, from the grill pan - all in the same jar.

I tend to pour it onto something that will soak it up, like a bread crust, and put it in the food bin.

I tend to buy tinned tuna in water, but all our waste kitchen oil goes into a bottle and when it's full it goes in the bin. As others have said, fat shouldn't go down the sink what ever kind of drains you have, but as we don't have mains sewerage we have more incentive than most to be careful. I don't want a fatberg in the septic tank! 🤮

I pour it into a small sandwich bag, fasten and put in bin.

We tend to buy tuna in spring water - the cat gets the water. Anything oily gets mopped up in kitchen roll and straight to the outside bin, likewise with those fat absorber pads for the grill pan.

Does runny oil cause fat burgs?

I try and buy fish in water. For sardines and whatnot the oil goes in the food waste container, which gets bagged and goes in the genral waste. We did compost but it attracted rats - probably because of the oils!

Sunflower oil doesn't solidify until it reaches -17c. It doesn't cause fatbergs.

Butter, animal fats, coconut oil etc are far more likely to.

Tuna in water, the dog gets the juice.
Sardines etc in tomato, not oil.

If we do have fish in oil the dog gets a bit but otherwise I'd pour it into some sort of container that needed to be binned rather than recycled and then make sure used kitchen roll or something else absorbent goes in on top to sop it up.

I mean, sure if you can dispose of it elsewhere great, but bagging it in single use plastic as I've seen advised on this thread is madness.

@JayAlfredPrufrock

Does runny oil cause fat burgs?

All oil causes fat bergs. It combines with other things people put down the sink or toilet that they shouldn’t.

This link has a very simple and easy to understand graphic that shows why you shouldn’t pour oil down the sink.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/av/uk-england-41246551

Sunflower oil doesn't solidify until it reaches -17c. It doesn't cause fatbergs.

Butter, animal fats, coconut oil etc are far more likely to.

Have a look at the link in my post. Don’t pour any oil down the sink.

@PickAChew

The oil is probably more likely to soften the fatberg, being liquid at room temperature.

I buy fish in water, anyhow, but generally wrap oil or fat in old packaging or pour it onto absorbent waste eg stale bread, in the bin.

Fatburgs are caused by the oil... oil hardens when it gets cold. The fat mountain isn’t in your room at room temperature but under the ground in the cold.

Use it in fish batter or add to water when boiling pasta for seafood pasta. Add to potatoes when making fish pie. I use some on pizza bases but it depends what else is going on the pizzas.

Only ever put it down the sink.

Once left it out and the cat had it. And she was then sick on the new carpet.

Oily stuff goes into a plastic bag with a bit of kitchen roll in it.
I always save a couple of cereal packet liners for just this reason for greasy stuff that might smell if I just bin it. I call them "gunk bags".