During the holiday of Thanksgiving, you will be spending a lot of time cooking in the kitchen. You will be making all sorts of dishes, and it can be hard not to dispose of food waste into the drain without giving it a second thought. However, you need to know which things should never go down your drain and cause any blockages or damage to your plumbing.
This blog is designed to give you tips on how not to clog your sink this year during Thanksgiving.
Keep Grease and Cooking Fat Out of the Drain
Turkey fat, bacon fat, butter, cooking oil, and gravy should never be dumped into your kitchen drain because they will solidify and collect on the pipe walls as the temperature drops after entering the drains.
Grease creates blockages as it accumulates food particles and prevents water flow. Neither pouring hot water nor dish soap into the drain will help you get rid of grease. Instead, they will push the grease deeper into the plumbing system where it will cool and solidify.
Using a garbage disposal won’t help you avoid these problems either. This device grinds food waste but cannot deal with fats, oils, and grease.
Let the cooking grease cool and store it in a disposable container, for example, a used can or bottle. When the grease becomes solid, throw it away. You can also use paper towels to remove grease from roasting dishes and pots before cleaning them.
Hot water and dish soap can push grease deeper into the plumbing system but won’t prevent it from cooling and getting stuck to the pipes, which is one reason pouring cooking grease down the sink can lead to Thanksgiving plumbing problems.
Keep Potato Peels and These Food Scraps Out of Your Disposal
The skin of potatoes is a common problem with garbage disposals at Thanksgiving. If you are peeling potatoes for your Thanksgiving dinner, potato skins will be generated which may accumulate and mix with the starch to form a paste that could clog your plumbing system.
You should peel the potatoes in a paper bag or right in the garbage instead of washing the potato skins down the sink.
There are other foods that you should avoid putting down the drain at Thanksgiving:
- Stringy and fibrous vegetables: Celery, onion skins, corn husks, and asparagus fibers can wrap around disposal components or collect in the pipes.
- Rice, pasta, and stuffing: These starchy foods absorb water and swell, making them more likely to collect and restrict drainage.
- Bread and flour: These can combine with water to form a thick, sticky mixture that contributes to buildup.
- Coffee grounds: They can clump together and collect with other debris inside the drain.
- Turkey bones and fruit pits: Hard items can damage or jam disposal components instead of grinding properly.
- Eggshells and shells: These don’t sharpen disposal blades, as some homeowners believe. Their fragments can collect with other waste and contribute to clogs.
Feed your disposal only small amounts of appropriate food waste at a time. Do not use your disposal as an alternative to the trash bin by dumping plates, roasting pans, and serving trays into it.
Some other issues arise when foods and household items can damage garbage disposals or contribute to clogs.
Watch for Signs of a Developing Kitchen Drain Clog
A kitchen drain clog tends to be something that occurs slowly. There are a number of things that can happen before your kitchen drain is fully clogged.
In the days before Thanksgiving, look for the following symptoms:
- Slow drainage: Water takes longer than usual to drain from the sink.
- Gurgling sounds: Bubbling or unusual noises from the drain can indicate trapped air caused by a developing blockage.
- Persistent odors: A sour or unpleasant smell may come from food particles and grease collecting inside the drain.
- Water backing up: Water may rise in one side of a double-basin sink when you use the other side or run the disposal.
- Recurring clogs: If your sink keeps draining slowly after you’ve addressed a blockage, there may be a deeper problem in the drain line.
- Disposal problems: If the disposal hums without grinding or struggles to process food, turn it off rather than continuing to run it.
You should avoid using chemical drain openers to correct any of the issues above. They will fail to remove deeper blockages and cause other plumbing issues.
When to Call a Plumber Before Thanksgiving Guests Arrive
If you already have a slow draining kitchen sink, are hearing odd noises coming from it, or seeing back-ups in your kitchen sink prior to Thanksgiving Day, it’s important that you contact a plumber before then.
We suggest scheduling a plumber as soon as you detect drainage issues on a consistent basis. Your plumber can conduct a drain inspection, find the cause of the clog, and figure out what needs to be done to get the right drainage.
If it’s the same kitchen sink that continues clogging up, a sewer camera inspection may come in handy for identifying any issues that exist further along the pipe, and not just treating the symptoms.
This way, you’ll have more time to work around it and avoid a plumbing issue while you are preparing a feast for your guests. Addressing slow drains and other plumbing concerns before the holiday can also help prevent common Thanksgiving Day plumbing emergencies.
Keep Your Kitchen Plumbing Ready for Thanksgiving
We’ve been family-run in Frederick County since 1988, and we’d much rather help you address a drain problem before the holiday than have it interrupt your Thanksgiving dinner.
If your kitchen drain is already showing signs of trouble, Putman Plumbing can help. Contact us to schedule service before Thanksgiving.