This Simple Trick for Getting Rid of Hot Grease Will Make You Say “Why Didn’t I Think of That?”

updated May 4, 2020
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Credit: Joe Lingeman

If you’re a clean-as-you-go type of person, or have a small kitchen, then you know the struggle that is dealing with and disposing of hot grease. After cooking something like, say, ground beef, where are you supposed to let the resulting grease cool without it being in the way? How long are you really supposed to wait before throwing it out? TikTok user Val DeFoe (icevee) has the solution for you, and it’s mind-bogglingly simple. 

TikTok is full of random helpful cooking tips, and this is one of them: “Life hack: if you don’t want to wait for your grease to cool,” the caption on the clip opens, to the sound of ground beef sizzling in the pan. Then it shows the user, from first-person view, opening a cabinet and pulling down the aluminum foil. They spread the foil out, lining the bottom of the sink, and then put a colander in the sink. The important part here is to make sure it goes down a bit in the center, where the drain is, so all the fat will go straight to the bottom.

Then they take the pan full of hot beef from the stove, simply strain it directly into the colander, letting the fat drip down into the foil lining the sink. The beef is all drained and ready to use, the fat is happily contained in the foil, which can then just be crinkled up and thrown away, hot fat and all. 

Aside from having to wash the colander and making sure you have a little tin foil on hand, this is a super-easy trick that anyone can do at home. It’s one of those “duh” moments that makes you wonder how you didn’t think of it before!

Have you ever tried this? Or do you have another method for dealing with hot cooking grease? Let us know in the comments below.