cooking oil

Trying to do the 'proper' thing with regard to my (very) occasional need to dispose of the odd litre of used cooking oi, I came up with this suggestion made by Southend District Council ...



How to dispose of Cooking Oil

Cooking oil should not be poured down drains. Cooking oil, such as that used for frying can often be reused. Once the oil has cooled pour into a plastic bottle and dispose with normal domestic waste. Alternatively you could dispose the cooking oil by tipping it onto soil in your garden as it contains many minerals which are very good for the soil.

Anybody heard of or tried this before?

Is it okay? Does it owrk?

 

I haven`t tried that Daisees, and don`t think I would it doesn`t sound right somehow does it?

You can filter oil though,

http://www.gheffernanenterprises.com/cookingoilfilter.html


In my very young youth I worked at the local chinese chippy and they filtered theirs and just continuously re used it. The filters are degradable too.

Not sure about the cost-don`t use cooking oil in that amount I quirt that one cal stuff.

 

I have never heard about this but it would be an interesting experiment.

 

Shobna, Are you going to do it-or shall I?

 

From a very quick Googling, there seems to be an element of truth in this suggestion but I got the impression you need to process the oil in some way before you can use it as a soil conditioner. You also probably have to disperse it thinly over a wide area or it might do your worms a mischief, I'm guessing.

Like you say, Init Sister, it's worth an experiment but it would have to be on a spare patch of ground that might have to be left for a good long while if it didn't turn out well!

 

Now if you could collect surplus veg oil from your neighbours and friends and store it during the summer months you could fairly easily and cheaply convert it to bio-diesel and use it to run a small diesel heater in the greenhouse during winter and early spring.

 

I could have a go in a spare bit of land in my Mum's garden....only right now I don't have any used cooking oil to dispose and I don't want to pour my good olive oil on the soil.:D

 

Most council tips/ recycling centres have a drum for waste cooking oil, dont pour it on the soil surface or youll get rats.

 

I've only got a pint or so!

 

Id dig a hole and bury it then!

 

old victorian tip for planting roses was to bury some lard in the hole before putting in the plant. Worked for a 95 year old neighbour and no vermin.

 

Burying it is ok, putting it on the surface though and it will cogeal and cause problems

 

You can put it on the compost heap without any trouble provided it is spread thinly and doesn't sit there in a pool. You need to avoid airless conditions so don't put it on top of grass cuttings or similar very soft green stuff. It's better on shredded prunings, and I have used it sparingly on dry leaves. The easy way to spread it is to mix the oil with 3 or more times the volume of water and shake it up into a milky-looking emulsion. Then quickly pour it over the heap before it separates back in to oil and water. That way it easy to spread it thinly. It doesn't seem to attract vermin, but I have the impression it helps a lot in the composting of brown material. Adding the oil seems to get create a population explosion of woodlice, which is good for composting. My original thinking in doing this was that cooking oil is full of calories, as we all know, so there must be bugs that would use that energy and so help the composting process. Much of the composting material is hard for the bugs to break down. I think it does help, but it's hard to prove it, so I'd be interested to hear what happens if anyone else tries this.

I've not tried putting on the soil. I think it would break down if the air could get to it. Maybe it could be sprayed thinly over the surface. I would be careful about putting too much on to a heavy clay soil that tends to be a bit waterlogged and airless.

Cooking oil is very different from mineral oil (car oil and paraffin etc.) Don't try to compost mineral oil.