Waste Cooking Oil Recycling Uses & Ideas

Pop into any American restaurant and you'll find at least two deep fried foods on every table. It doesn’t matter whether it is fish, chicken or fries. In the process of making the food, the kitchen generates used cooking oil.

If it is a big restaurant, the kitchen can generate hundreds of gallons of used oil in a few days.

With so many people eating out and others ordering home deliveries, it is a good time to have the debate about waste cooking oil recycling.

You can try out a few ideas, at least to make sure that this oil does not find its way to the landfills. One man’s trash is another person’s gold.

7 Top ideas for used cooking oil uses

The used cooking oil industry employs thousands of people. If you are in the food business where you generate a large amount of the same, arrange for recycling and other uses. That way, none is wasted. Here are some ideas that you might want to employ for your used cooking oil:

1. Reuse the cooking oil to cook or bake other foods

If your used cooking oil has not changed its color, you can use it to cook other foods. Most people use the used oil for baking. They say it enhances the flavor of their baked foods.

If this is something you would love to try, go for it! You can use a little amount of the used oil to cook a small amount of food, sort of to test the waters. If the food comes out great, you can go ahead and use the oil to cook more food.

Before you can reuse the cooking oil, first, you should remove any food particles that might be in the oil. You can do this by straining the oil using a coffee filter. This should remove even the smallest food particles and make the poil reusable.

Something to note: Not all cooking oils can be reused for cooking. Only those with high smoking point are reusable, such as avocado or canola oils.

2. Use the oil in animal feed

Pigs, dogs, horses and cats can eat food mixed in used cooking oil. However, to be on the safe side, start by mixing a small amount of oil in their food and see how they like it. If they take to it, you can mix all of their food in the oil the next time you feed them.

Used cooking oil has some health benefits on the animals. It makes their food tastier, so even the poor feeders will eat more. It also makes their coat and scalp smoother and healthier.

3. Coating gardening tools

When you are gardening in wet soil, the mud has a habit of sticking on the gardening tools. You can use the old cooking oil on the tools to make them anti-stick in nature.

When you use the tools in the garden, they will stay clean. Besides making the tools anti-stick, the oil also prevents corroding because the tools are exposed to water.

Coat your hoe, machetes, trowels and shears with cooking oil.

4. Use the old cooking oil to moisturize your hair

Unknown to many people, used cooking is very good for moisturizing hair. First, let the oil cool at room temperature and then filter out the food particles with a paper filter, such as the one you use to filter your coffee.

Apply the oil and massage it into your hair. Let it stay on your hair for some time, say about an hour or so and then shampoo it and rinse the oil out.

You will notice positive changes on your hair. If your hair feels too dry most of the time, applying used cooking oil a couple of times a week can help restore its moisture.

5. Use it to maintain rattan and wicker furniture

Rattan is a material while wicker is the method of weaving the rattan to make chic furniture. With time, the rattan material becomes too dry and it can start cracking.

To prevent this, take used cooking oil and filter the food materials out. When it is at room temperature, apply it scantily over the furniture.

You can use a small brush or a piece of cloth to apply this oil on the furniture.

6. Apply it on leather products

Leather has its own moisture content, but it can be depleted with time and from exposure to different elements.

You can apply used cooking oil scantily on the leather item and let it soak in for some time. Rub out any excess oil with a clean piece of cloth. You will see how supple your leather handbag, furniture or jacket will look.

7. Use the oil as a lubricant

While used cooking oil is not a good lubricant for your car, you can still use it to lubricate several things around the home. Use it on door hinges and locks. You can also use it to lubricate the moving parts of your kids’ toys.