Holiday Grease and Your Kitchen Drains: What I Do Instead

Why grease and drains don't mix

Grease goes down the sink warm and runny, so it seems harmless. But your pipes are cold. As soon as that grease cools, it hardens and sticks to the inside of the pipe. Every time it happens, the coating gets a little thicker, and food scraps get caught in it. Eventually the water has nowhere to go.

Running hot water and dish soap after it doesn't fix it. That just pushes the grease a little farther down the line before it cools and hardens there instead. The garbage disposal doesn't help either. It chops food into smaller pieces, but it can't do anything about grease.

Source: City of Corpus Christi Water

Source: City of Santa Barbara

What I do with grease instead

The fix is simple, and it works for a holiday feast or a regular Tuesday:

• Let the grease cool in the pan, then pour or scrape it into an old can, jar or other container with a lid, and toss it in the trash.
• Wipe greasy pots, pans and plates with a paper towel before they go in the sink or the dishwasher.
• Scrape plates into the trash, not down the drain.
• Put a strainer basket in the sink to catch the little bits while you rinse.
• If you fry a turkey, let the oil cool all the way first. A lot of areas have a drop-off spot for used cooking oil after the holidays, so check with your county.

Source: Miami-Dade Water and Sewer

When a slow drain needs more than a plunger

If the kitchen sink is draining slow, a plunger is a fine first try. Skip the chemical drain openers, though. They can be hard on pipes, and they're dangerous to splash around if somebody has to open the drain up later.

Pay attention to where the problem shows up. One slow sink is usually a local clog. If the kitchen sink backs up when the dishwasher drains, or several drains in the house are slow or gurgling at the same time, that can point to a bigger blockage farther down the line, and that's a job for a plumber.