Food Particles Out

Leave the cooking oil to cool before straining. Lay a piece of cheesecloth over a bowl and pour the cooled oil over the top. The cheesecloth catches the solid remains floating around within the oil, while allowing the clean product to seep into the bowl below. If you do not have a piece of cheesecloth, an unused coffee filter also does the trick. Pour the clean cooking oil into a dark-colored, airtight container after straining.

Safe Storage

Pop the cooking oil in the refrigerator immediately after straining. Inside a light-proof, airtight container such as earthenware, the strained cooking oil remains safe to reuse for up to three months in refrigeration. Refrigeration does not kill bacteria, but it does slow its growth. Any bacteria remaining in the strained cooking oil may begin to grow to unsafe levels once the three-month refrigeration period passes. If your used, refrigerated cooking oil is older than three months, throw it away.

Usable No More

Check cooking oil for freshness before reusing. If the cooking oil foams during frying or gives off a foul odor, do not use it. If none of these identifiers of rancidity are present, yet the cooking oil just doesn’t taste right, throw it away. Dispose of cooking oil in a sealed metal or plastic container and toss it in the trash. Some recycling centers accept cooking oil for soap-making and biodiesel fuel.

The Strained Remains

Wrap the strained food particles in the cheesecloth or coffee filter and throw them away in the trash can. Cooking oil and any leftover, strained remains should never go down the drain. The cooled oil and food particles congeal when they come in contact with water, sometimes clogging pipes, septic systems and sewer systems. Likewise, tossing cooking oil and its strained remnants into the local water system, negatively impacts the ecosystem.