How do YOU drain ground beef?

[SDFgirl]

Hello everyone. I'm usually on the community board but I had a cooking question.

This may sound like a strange question, but...

I've never found a satisfactory way to drain the fat from ground beef. You're not supposed to put it in the sink, right?

I don't re-use fat, so I don't want to keep it around for anything. What's the best method for draining off ground beef grease and disposing of it?

Any tried and true methods would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

[hemispheredancer]

I usually strain mine with a strainer and let it drip in a cereal bowl. Then when the grease cools down in the bowl I dump it in the garbage. If you dump it in the sink it could clog up your pipes.

 

[pumba]

when I put my burger in the fry pan to scramble it......I added water to it and it gets rid of the grease faster and then I put it down the pig..
Shhhhh don't tell hubby.......I haven't plugged it up yet so I run the cold water down the pig and turn it on and then after a few put the hot water in it...

 

[cobbler]

Whenever we get rid of a plastic bottle of sorts (juice, veggie oil, whatever) we put it up and drain all our grease into there. It sits next to the stove but hidden so not to gross anyone out.

 

[Connie of Trenton]

When I used to buy ground beef (now pretty much a ground chicken buyer) I would drain it on a paper towel.

 

[piratesmate]

I usually drain mine directly into a large mouth can - like peaches or even the Chunky soups. Then instead of recycling that can it just goes in with the regular trash.

 

[Twigs]

I use a baster to suck out the fat, then I put it into an empty jar I keep under the sink. When the jar gets full I throw it away.

 

[b&bdiscruisers]

Twigs, that's exactly what I do, baster, jar, under the sink, & when full out it goes!

 

[pattyT]

I am sooo naughty
I just run the water real hot in the sink and then drain it through a strainer -
I use 90% though so it isn't too bad....

 

[christinadei]

I am sooo naughty
I just run the water real hot in the sink and then drain it through a strainer -
I use 90% though so it isn't too bad....

Me too, I just run the hotwater for a few minutes after I drain it. That is WAY too much work for me? Get it all out with a baster? No way!

 

[malibuconlee]

I buy the really lean stuff. There's usually not much to drain, and if there is, I use my spoon to drag all the meat to one side, then tip the pan the other way and use paper towels to mop up what little grease there is.

 

[LoveWDW]

I spoon it out into a small plastic empty pill bottle or other small container that I saved, then I use paper towels to finish it off, and when the container is full, toss it out. My grandmother, in her young days, and her mother, saved the grease in a container and used it for making soap.

A problem with pouring grease down the drain, even when using hot water to flush it, is that the pipes don't stay hot for a very long distance away from the sink, so the grease can collect there or further along.

 

[ajksmom]

I mostly use 90 or 93% so there isn't much, but I tip the pan and use the "heel" end of the loaf of bread to soak it up with. Then I either put that out by the birdfeeders or pop it into the freezer to save for a later treat for the birds.
If I'm using hamburg that's fattier, I drain it through a strainer into an aluminum pie plate, add birdseed/ground nuts/pieces of fruit to it, freeze it and put it out as homemade suet.

 

[heathrow42]

..jar under the sink for us too, because that's what my mother always did! She would sometimes use metal coffee cans too. When it gets to full or too gross I just pitch the whole thing. If there is a lot to be drained I use colander and then pour it into the jar. If there is only a small amount, I use a flat strainer, that you hold against the side of the pan to keep the meat in... it's usually used to hold the pasta in when you are pouring off the water.

HTH
--heather

 

[Spinning]

What the heck is a blaster?
I drain it in a strainer over the sink and usually anymore rinse it with water...No clogs yet! LOL!

 

[Disneyaholic]

I've been told that you can run it down the garbage disposal as long as you run COLD water with it. The cold water congeals the fat, so the disposal can grind it up and flush it away. Haven't had a clog yet!

 

[piratesmate]

What the heck is a blaster?
I drain it in a strainer over the sink and usually anymore rinse it with water...No clogs yet! LOL!

I'm so sorry to laugh at this, but I thought I was the only one who read things wrong! It's baster not blaster silly.

I have a story for you gals that just do it in the sink. We live on a farm and don't have sewer. Our kitchen sink just drains out into the gutter. We rent, so there's not much I can do about the situation. I figured there was so little pipe between the sink & the gutter that it wouldn't clog - especially if I poured a little bit of Dawn (grease cutter) in the sink & ran hot water after it. I was also using the really, really lean meat as regular hamburger gives me major indigestion ever since I had kids.

Anyway, last winter we had trouble with the pipes freezing. So on those extremely cold nights we had to let the water trickle out as well as use a cube/space heater under the sink where the pipes come up. On the coldest night of the winter, the drain froze/clogged/whatever even though the water pipe didn't.

After messing with it for a couple hourse I finally got the landlord to come take care of it. (He was finally in from the fields by then.) Anyway, when he used the plunger on it, the drain pipe had evidently corroded (really old) and broke. You wouldn't have believed the fat that had collected in the pipe....of course it was all over my kitchen floor and the cabinet under the sink. What a mess!

So now, I drain the fat into a wide-mouthed can or jar.

 

[wdw_dine_junkie]

I drain the fat into a empty can and put it in the freezer to harden. I just keep using the same can until it's full, then when I put it in the garbage the morning it goes to the curb, it's solid for a while and doesn't have a chance to leak.

 

[Spinning]

OMG! It does say baster! HAHAHHAHHA Ithought it was some new fancy thing from pampered chef or something! GO figure!
piratesmate, That is a gross story!

 

[disneyjunkie]

I am sooo naughty
I just run the water real hot in the sink and then drain it through a strainer -
I use 90% though so it isn't too bad....

Add me to the naughty list.