Cooking or frying foods leads to fats, oil, and grease (FOG) accumulation. If food preparers fail to properly dispose of any oils or fats used to cook food, it can lead to serious issues for your Maryland/DC area restaurant. The last thing back of house staff should be doing is pouring used FOGs down your drains where it hardens and causes severe blockages in your pipes. The consequences of improper cooking oil disposal include having sewage backing up into your kitchen drains or ending up polluting lakes, streams, and oceans.
B&P Environmental can help your Montgomery County area food establishment when disposing of cooking oil. Our team has tips for you to keep in mind when disposing of cooking oil.
Don’t Ever Pour Oils or Grease Down a Drain
Even small restaurants can go through a lot of oils and grease when they are busy. Just because an establishment is small doesn’t lessen the owner’s responsibility to ensure that employees perform cooking oil collection properly. Your employees may be tempted to get rid of excess grease and oil by pouring it down the drain.
Not only is it a bad idea because of the impact on your pipes, but because you could be inviting some severe damage to your bottom line. If local authorities trace FOG build-up in sewers to your restaurant, you could end up paying some heavy fines for cooking oil disposal violations. Make sure your employees understand the correct way to dispose of cooking oil. You may want to go so far as putting up “No Grease” signs around your sinks and dishwasher to drive the point home.
Install and Properly Maintain a Grease Trap
A grease trap for FOG collection is one of the most important investments you can make for your Maryland/DC restaurant. Make sure you research your options and buy one based on how much oil your restaurant goes through. You don’t want to buy one that’s too small. It should be large enough to handle the amount of oils and grease used by your food establishment. If you own a larger restaurant, you may want to invest in a food interceptor, which can hold a larger volume when disposing of cooking oil.
If you have a grease trap located underneath your sink, make sure it gets cleaned on an appropriate regular basis. You should also regularly check the volume of grease and keep a log. Your grease trap or interceptor should receive a thorough cleaning as needed, depending on the amount of oil it holds and how much FOG your restaurant produces.
Clean Oils Off Pots and Pans Before Putting Them in a Dishwasher
The drains in your sink aren’t the only way that grease can make its way into your pipes. You should make sure that you aren’t constantly putting pans containing a lot of FOG into your dishwater. It’s a good idea to remove excess oils from pots and pans beforehand by scraping excess food waste into the trash, and wiping up excess oils/grease before washing cookware and dishes. You should also make sure the water temperature isn’t too high. While hot water can temporarily dissolve FOG, the FOGs will congeal into a solid once the water cools and FOG gets into the sewers.
Let Our Team of Professionals Dispose of Your Cooking Oil
Sometimes the bustle of running a restaurant can cause essential tasks like disposing of cooking oil to slip down your list of priorities. Hiring a waste disposal company for that purpose can ensure you stay in compliance with local regulations and keep your drains flowing.
B&P Environmental handles FOG waste from restaurants and other food establishments in the Maryland/DC area. Our services include cooking oil collection, grease trap cleaning, maintaining grease traps, and clearing out clogged drains. B&P will deliver a clean and secure container for waste oil disposal and guarantees timely pickup to avoid the container being full and leaving the location with nowhere to store or dispose the oils/greases.
Hire B&P Environmental when disposing of cooking oil in your Montgomery County food establishment by calling (443) 292-9259.
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