Protect Your Plumbing With A Handy Aluminum Foil Hack

We've all been there: you're cooking your favorite meal, only to find a layer of grease coating the bottom of your pan. You know it's a bad idea to pour it down your sink, so what do you do? You could let it sit in your pan until it congeals, then scrape it out later. But that's an extra step you no longer need to worry about. In fact, you can preserve your pipes and save yourself some time cleaning up with a handy hack that requires nothing more than a piece of aluminum foil and a bowl. That's right — you can easily dispose of cooking grease and protect your plumbing with a makeshift aluminum foil bowl. And when you're done? Throw it in the trash! It's that simple. 

Pouring grease down your drain can lead to clogged pipes. Every time you pour grease or oil down your drain, it accumulates, lining your piping. Even worse, as you wash other food particles down the drain, the debris sticks to your oil-coated pipes, leading to a clogged sink. This can result in extensive plumbing damage and an out-of-commission kitchen sink while you wait for someone to repair it. 

It's important to have your aluminum foil ready before you start to cook. It can take upwards of five hours for bacon grease to solidify in the refrigerator,  but you'll notice that it begins to congeal shortly after your finish cooking. Instead of scrapping globs of bacon grease from your pan into the garbage, have an aluminum foil-lined bowl ready to go. You just need it large enough to contain however much leftover cooking oil you're planning on disposing of. 

First, line the bowl with a piece of aluminum foil. Keep in mind that your aluminum foil needs to be free from tears and any overlapped pieces should be sealed closed. This ensures you trap all the grease inside and have minimal cleanup afterward. You can also opt to skip this step and place your aluminum foil directly over your sink drain. Lightly push your aluminum foil into your sink stopper until it forms the shape of a bowl. You can use a cup to push it into place if you don't have a sink stopper — just make sure you leave enough excess aluminum foil around the edges so your makeshift bowl doesn't go down the drain. Once your bowl or sink drain is lined with aluminum foil, you're ready to cook! Pour any excess cooking oil into your grease bowl and save your plumbing from potential clogs.