No, you should not pour grease down the drain, even with hot water running. Grease cools and hardens inside the pipe, catches food scraps and soap, and slowly narrows the drain until water cannot get through. Dallas Water Utilities runs a campaign, Defend Your Drains, built around this message, and the holidays are when it matters most.
Short answer: let grease and cooking oil cool, pour it into a container with a lid, and throw it in the trash. Larger amounts, such as turkey fryer oil, can go to a Dallas used cooking oil drop-off location. Scrape plates and pans into the trash before you wash them.
Why grease clogs pipes
Grease, fats and oils are liquid when hot. Once they hit a cooler pipe, they turn solid and stick to the pipe wall. Each time you wash dishes, more grease and food particles stick to that layer. Dallas Water Utilities says these fats, oils and grease harden in home pipes and city sewer lines and can cause backups in homes and neighborhoods.
The blockage often is not in the sink at all. It can form further down the kitchen drain line, inside the wall or under the slab, or even in the main sewer line, which is why a plunger sometimes does nothing.
What counts as grease
It is not only bacon fat. All of these belong in the trash, not the drain:
- Meat fat and drippings, including from turkey and ham
- Cooking oil, shortening and frying oil
- Butter, margarine and lard
- Gravy, sauces and salad dressings
- Dairy-based foods such as sour cream and cream sauces
What to do with grease instead
- Let it cool. Never put hot oil in a plastic container or the trash.
- Pour it into a container with a lid. An old coffee can or a sturdy plastic jug with a screw-top lid works, as the City of Dallas suggests.
- Seal it and bag it. Put the closed container in a bag or a small box, then into your trash.
- Wipe pans before washing. A paper towel removes most of the grease left in a skillet or roasting pan.
- Scrape plates into the trash. Compost suitable food scraps where you can, but scrape sauces, grease and gravy into the trash, as Dallas Water Utilities recommends.
- Recycle large amounts. Turkey fryer oil and other big batches can go to a used cooking oil drop-off location. The city's Defend Your Drains site links to the current drop-off locator and says the recycled oil can be used to create electricity.
The Thanksgiving drain problem
Holiday cooking can send a lot of grease, starch and food waste into a kitchen drain in a single day. Roasting pans, fryer oil, potato peels and gravy all head for the sink, and the garbage disposal gets blamed when the real problem is grease that went down with them.
A few habits make the day easier on your plumbing:
- Keep a grease container on the counter while you cook.
- Do not put potato peels, pasta or rice down the disposal in large amounts. If the disposal jams, hums or leaks, see faucet, sink and garbage disposal repair in Dallas.
- Run full loads in the dishwasher instead of rinsing greasy dishes under hot water.
- If guests are staying over, space out showers and laundry so the drains are not overloaded at once.
Already clogged? What to do
If the kitchen sink is slow or water is coming up in the other side of a double sink:
- Stop running water and the dishwasher into it.
- Try a cup plunger with the other drain opening covered, as long as you have not added a chemical drain cleaner. Plunging after a chemical cleaner can splash it and cause burns.
- If you use a drain cleaner, follow its label exactly and never mix it with other cleaners. These products may not clear grease that has built up further down the line.
- If water comes up in a floor drain, tub or toilet, the clog may be in the main line. See sewer line repair in Dallas.
A plumber can clear grease buildup with a cable or water jetting. Our drain cleaning in Dallas page explains how that works. A backup on a holiday with a house full of people is a good reason to call an emergency plumber in Dallas.
A grease clog that sits for a while can also leave the kitchen smelling bad; if that sounds familiar, read why a house smells like sewer.
Need a plumber in Dallas?
If your kitchen drain is slow, gurgling or backing up, call now at (877) 340-0703 and talk to a local plumber. Calls are answered 24/7. See the Dallas zip codes we serve to check your area.
Sources
- Defend Your Drains (Dallas Water Utilities, City of Dallas)
- Residents asked to "cease the grease" during the holidays (Dec. 13, 2016) (City of Dallas, Dallas City News)
This guide is general information for Dallas homeowners, not a substitute for a plumber inspecting your home.