For collecting teabags in a ramekin?

[PerfectlyPosed]

My DP just doesn't get it! My theory is that if I put them in the food wastage or the bin whilst hot, they will attract maggots. It's a habit I have picked up from my mum and have always done it. It's not like they're just sat on the work surface and they go straight into the food wastage once they have cooled down. Am I mad??

They are fine to go straight in the bin. How about a teapot then the issue goes away :-)

I would just make sure that you keep the lid down on your food storage then no flies will be able to lay eggs.

I do this and my dh found it funny at first, but my mum did it and had some old tongs for getting maximum juice out of the tea bag.

Never heard the maggots thing before!

I have to open the lid to put the teabag in there in the first place (I know, I'm clutching at straws now)

Hot stuff in the food waste caddy makes condensation and the insude of the lid is all wet and drippy. I let tea bags cool down first too and don't put anything else hot in there.

Do you know how maggots get into food? A fly has to get to the food and lay eggs in it, then the eggs hatch into maggots. As long as a fly doesn't dart in to your food bin while you are depositing the tea bag then you should remain maggot free.

That's gross. Just chuck it in the bin.

I do it too, not for the maggots but because hot teabags make the food bin sweaty and because I drink tea so weak I use teabags twice.

mine stays in a pot by the kettle for the drippy reasons but I empty several times a day.

my dp thinks im mad as I make 2 cups of tea at a time, one large tall mug that stays hot for ages and a thin China cup I can drink almost straight away. I drink way too much tea

Surely an open ramekin is far more accessible to flies than a closed compost bin?

We collect ours in an old cereal bowl and they get put in the compost daily.
or when the pile topples sometimes more than once daily

I do this in order to avoid drips on the work surface and to avoid heating up rotten peelings etc in the food bin (more about smell than maggots).

The maggot thing is bizarre, but I have a ramekin to keep them in which is emptied into the compost caddy twice daily because I CBA to walk over to it each time I make tea - it must be all of eight steps away!

YANBU to do it, but the maggot reason makes no sense at all.

I do this to avoid drips across kitchen floor. I empty it at end of day and wash the ramekin. It drives my DH crazy though.

Actually, the ramekin thing makes it more likely that you'll get maggots, not less. Flies can't get at the warmth when they're in the bin, whereas if you leave them out you're kindly making it easy for them to lay their eggs before you carefully place the eggs in the bin where they can hatch in peace.

Ok I accept that the maggot reason is silly but I'm glad I'm not the only one that does it!

I see why you do it, but I think cold congealing teabags look bloody horrible on show, in a pot. Yuk.

Oh FFS, it's not a show home, you know. That's the least of my problems in our house

Generally on MN it turns out I have very low domestic standards but this one shocks me.

I don't use tea bags. Making tea in a cup with a bag is yuk but saving the used tea bags is vile.

The maggot thing makes no sense.

I leave them on a little tea-bag holder (similar to the one posted above), because hot, drippy tea bags dissolve the paper that lines the food waste bin! I do clear it wen they are cool and less-wet though.
I also like having them, as a cold tea bag is excellent for stoping bleeds! :)

I have a little teapot dish as above for mine - I'm another one who doesn't want to drip tea all over the kitchen, I empty it about every 3 tea bags into the recycling caddy. We don't compost them cos DH moans about the bag bits not rotting properly!

I squeeze my teabag against the side of the mug with a teaspoon so that it doesn't drip when it comes out.

I do this to avoid tea bag drippings but I use a pot so they are much more discreet - squished used teabags are rather revolting.

Someone told me that squeezing the bag makes the tea taste bitter.