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Thursday, July 10, 2014

Pinterest Fail

I've done several posts about things I've discovered on Pinterest. Today I'm sharing one that seemed like a good idea, but was a fail!
When you brown hamburger, there is always grease to take care of.  I usually buy ground beef in quantity and brown it all at the same time.  I then freeze it, in one pound packages.  It makes it so easy to throw something together.  However, there is usually a good amount of grease to take care of.
The idea on Pinterest was to line a bowl with foil, drain the grease into it and put it in the refrigerator until it was hard and you could easily dispose of it.  Sounds good, right?

Here's my bowl, lined with foil and filled with grease.  Time to put it in the refrigerator.


Once it was hardened, I took it out to throw it away.  However, there was a problem.  When I pulled back the foil, I found that the grease had leaked all around the edges.  It was hard to get the foil out, and I had a messy bowl to take care of.
I haven't tried it again, but if I did I would be even more careful when putting the foil in the bowl, so there were no small holes.  Maybe it would work then.

24 comments:

Karen said...

It does seem like a good idea. It's good to know what your experience was, something to watch out for.

Anonymous said...

It does seem like a good idea. Maybe you (we) could use old plastic butter dishes etc. to put the grease into.

Deb J. in Utah said...

Good to know. Thanks for sharing. I use soda bottles (2 liters) with the top half cut off to disposed of grease.

White Lace and Promises said...

ughhhh. Isn't that awful. I never know what to do with the grease. Never thought to consult pinterest. Guess it wouldn't have been a good thing this time, huh? Hey, when are we going to Italy?

Sally said...

I've been putting the grease into a heavy, small bowl; put in the refrigerator until it hardens. May not be the best way, but it works for me at least. :)

Amy at love made my home said...

The theory is great even if it didn't quite work out! xx

Becky said...

For years I've used old vegetable cans to hold the hot grease. Then when it's hardened, I throw the whole thing away. That's worked just fine. Too bad the foil lined bowl idea didn't work out!

Terri D said...

My mom used to have an old coffee can on the stove to pour used grease in. When it got full, it went out in the trash. I don't usually have that much grease. I let it set, then wipe it out with a paper towel and throw that away. The idea from Pinterest sounds good in theory, I guess.

Unknown said...

Love the suggestions from Pinterest, but this one was a failure for sure. We use anything we can find that is to be thrown away...cans, plastic, etc. Happy Friday!

Brooke said...

THANKS for sharing your fail!
i save spaghetti jars and then use them for things of this nature. let them cool, put the lid on and toss!

Pat said...

Why did it leak is my question. I've noticed when I use tin foil to hold a liquid it always leaks. Does it have pinpoint holes in it or am I just sloppy and pour over the edge??
These are important questions that inquiring minds want to know, LOL!

Connie said...

I put my grease in a old butter dish or other plastic container, store in the freezer until it is full and then with the cover on I throw it in the garbage. Works for me.

Unknown said...

Maybe try a large baggie after it's cooled? I use the heavy duty freezer type for packing salads, etc for picnics. Could work...

Patsy said...

Thanks I want try that!

Sola Scriptura said...

This idea worked for me, but I use a lot of foil to line the bowl.

Mary said...

That's what I find so frustrating at times, when little tips that would make a difference aren't shared when it comes to ideas like the one found on pinterest. Months back I tried a strawberry pie recipe I'd found on pinterest, and it flopped, when it didn't have to... because the person wasn't specific about a part of the recipe that was time sensitive.

Cherdecor said...

I have a "grease" jar with lid that I keep in the garage. When it is full, I toss it.

Hootin Anni said...

I guess the heat of the hot hamburger grease weakened the foil? You got me wondering why it didn't work 'cause it makes sense. Hmmmm.

I think I would just cool the frying pan in the 'fridge and scoop off the excess fat and then freeze in 1# bags while the browned meat is still cold.

Just Mom said...

Oh, that's too bad.

Blech!

Jennifer Hays said...

I'm surprised that happened. Did the foil tear on the sides? It doesn't seem like it should leak through. I keep an empty tin can (from whatever I've used: tomatoes, vegetables, soup, etc.) in the fridge and pour oil and grease into it. Then when it's full I throw the whole can away. My mother always used coffee cans and I wish I could still get metal ones because they held so much grease!

Ceil said...

Hi Mari! Ugh. Sounds like such a mess. I liked reading about everyone's grease solutions. We do what Jennifer suggested. Save tin cans from soup, tomato sauce etc. Pour grease in those, and refrigerate. Once full, toss!
Blessings,
Ceil

Jean said...

I always grab a container out of the recycling bin - ketchup bottle, salad dressing bottle, soda bottle, etc., then pour the grease into it with a funnel, and put the entire thing in the trash. Cheryl's idea sounds good, except I don't have a garage, hahahaha!

Betsy Brock said...

hmm...I usually brown all my beef at the same time, too. But I buy 90% lean and then pour all the meat/drippings from the skillet into a big colander sitting in the sink and rinse it under the tap with hot water. The grease, which isn't that much,runs down the garbage disposal and the meat is grease free.

Jenny said...

Well I only buy 93/7 ground beef now so there's no grease left over to speak of. BUT when I did use hamburger with a higher fat content, this was my method: Get out your colander. Fetch several (at least four in case there's a hole somewhere) plastic grocery bags like you bring home from Walmart. Nest the bags one inside the other and open the mouth of the bags wide. Set the colander into the bags, pour the browned meat into said colander, and let the grease drain right into the bags. With several bags, the hot grease will not melt through. Then just bundle those bags up and put them in the garbage. It works really well. xoxo