Turkey Dos & Don'ts From Thames Water

It's that wonderful (or wonderfully stressful) time of year - the cooking Christmas dinner time of year. For those of you who are brave enough to prepare it yourself (or who aren't lucky enough to have it prepared by mums or grans), Thames Water has a Christmas request. Please don't pour turkey fat down the kitchen drain.

Apparently, our sewers will see an estimated five hundred tons of turkey fat sent into sewer systems that were not designed for fat of any kind. Five hundred tons. That's a LOT.

Here's the tip that our mum taught us when it comes to turkey fat - pour it into a tin and put it in the fridge until it cools and hardens. Then just chuck it in the bin. It stays solid and won't make a mess.

If you're still not convinced, maybe this will help:

This Christmas Think of Sewermen
(sung to the tune of God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen)

This Christmas think of sewermen
Who tremble in dismay
When grease from goose and fatted fowl
Is idly poured away
It clogs the drains of London
And it must be scraped away.

Oh, that's right. Thames Water wrote a song to inspire you. Here's the full version. Sadly, no audio. Maybe that'll be our Christmas wish for next year.

Delicious turkey photo courtesy of forbescreative's Flickr photostream.