Tips on Running Veggie Oil

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DRURY, Mo. – If the idea of free fuel appeals to you and you wish to explore the idea further, here are a few tips on how to do it from www.greasel.com:

Hunting and gathering

Greasel owner Charles Anderson suggests taking a look at the oil before asking if you can have it.

This allows you to ensure it’s of adequate quality before wasting the restaurant staff’s time.

Here’s what to look for: Consistency, colour and clarity.

Consistency: Give the side of the tank a kick to ensure waves form in the oil.

If it doesn’t move at all, it’s not worth using.

Colour: Milky-coloured oil should not be used as it will eat up too many filters and take too much time to prepare.

The oil should have a nice, dark sheen to it and look like maple syrup.

Clarity: The further you can see into the bin, the better.

You can also take a small cup and scoop out some oil and then pour it slowly back into the bin. Ideally, you will be able to see through the oil.

The oil should be free of particles and debris.

Preparation

Allowing the oil to settle will cause any particles and debris to sink to the bottom of the tank.

This process can be sped up by applying some heat or even allowing it to settle in a black barrel in the hot sun.

Allowing the oil to settle for weeks or even months is ideal, but not always practical.

After it’s had a chance to settle, you must pre-filter the oil through either homemade filters made of bed sheets or actual veggie oil filters such as those available from Greasel.

Once this is done, you should store the filtered oil in a bin and always draw from the top when pumping out the fuel for use.

The bottom four inches will still collect debris as the oil settles so this portion should not be used.

It can, however, be returned to the next batch and re-filtered.

For a more detailed explanation of how to filter the oil before use, visit www.greasel.com.

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