Using Household Grease as a Cooking Ingredient

Private households rarely have grease traps, but there are ways of keeping grease from clogging your lines and costing you money in repairs. The worst clogs are made of grease that has been melted and poured down the drain; it travels a ways before it cools and hardens, making it difficult or impossible to reach the clog without a plumber's sewer snake. The best way to avoid such problems is to teach everyone in the house how to dispose of grease. One way to dispose of grease is to recycle it in the kitchen: bacon grease in particular is often reused by cooks who add it to cornbread batter, fry fish in it, or use it to cook eggs or other meats in the pan. The fat is poured into a clean container and kept lidded until it's needed. Especially in the South, or in households where the cook is money-conscious, meat grease has long been considered an important part of home cooking.

Fats from chicken, geese and ducks make excellent additions to stocks, soups, and savory dishes. One traditional Jewish food is "schmaltz", or chicken fat, spread on fresh bread and eaten as a snack. The word "schmaltzy" comes from the Yiddish word for this fattening, satisfying butter replacement.

Especially if you're saving money, reusing fats from meats to cook other dishes is a long established way of recycling fats and saving money on shortening, butter or oils. Grease from cooked hams or turkeys add flavor and rich mouth feel to other foods. Bacon fat, with its overtones of smoke, sugar, and salt is especially delicious added to boiled greens or cooked pinto or navy beans. Meat fats can be used to sauté onions (delicious!), or to roast rice or other grains before adding liquids to cook them. A quick vegetable stir-fry is even better when cooked in grease from a recently roasted chicken. Another great way to turn meat grease into terrific food is to make gravy. Add white flour to grease and pan drippings, and stir until the flour has made a paste with the fats. Cook until the flour browns, adding flavor, then add stock, water, wine or milk. Stir constantly to prevent lumps from forming, and cook until the gravy thickens. Add salt and pepper to taste. A good gravy will leave you with a pan that's practically been licked clean by happy diners.

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Natural Drain Cleaner for Clogged Drains

The first thing you need to know before working on a clogged drain is that the drain cleaners you see advertised on TV or on the supermarket shelves are made of dangerous chemicals that will eat through rubber gloves, skin, certain kinds of pipe, wood and anything else they touch. If their fumes are inhaled, they can cause damage to the lungs, nose and mouth. If they are eaten, they will kill, even in small amounts. Even when they are used "properly", they can ruin septic systems, pollute groundwater, and destroy pipes.

For a more healthy and safe alternative, try a natural drain cleaner, such as Drainbo, that is made from natually occuring bacteria that will fix a clogged drain, but won't hurt your drain pipes or the environment.

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