# Rancid Vegetable oil Use



## dksac2 (Nov 27, 2008)

If your vegetable oil goes rancid from age, it can be used in your oil lamps as fuel. Might smell a little, but if your short on lamp oil, it will keep you out of the dark.

JK


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## TechAdmin (Oct 1, 2008)

Good question. It seems like vegetable oil would not be that flammable?


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## desert_tom (Dec 2, 2008)

back in '99 with the "Y2K" scare going around, i had a friend who showed me how to make a lamp with vegetable oil. one cup half filled with said oil with a rolled up paper towel or strip of cloth. this will burn for a very long time, and all it did for us was to waste a bunch of oil! but it is possible to use vegetable oil as a fuel, albeit not a very good one.

-Thomas


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## MotherEarth (Dec 25, 2008)

I wonder if anyone who makes soap might know if rancid veggie oil would work for that purpose.


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## Magus (Dec 1, 2008)

Turn it into bio diesel if you have a lot of it,dose your slop barell in your methane kit if you don't. 
To the best of my experience,soap requires animal fat using the lye method.


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## Homer_Simpson (Oct 19, 2008)

MotherEarth said:


> I wonder if anyone who makes soap might know if rancid veggie oil would work for that purpose.


except then you would smell like a rancid french fry


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## Canadian (Dec 14, 2008)

Sure it'll burn.


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## endurance (Nov 26, 2008)

directions here

Of course, if you must buy something, look at Lehmans


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## codger (Dec 30, 2008)

You can do the same thing with wax, if you hold a lighter up to the wax it probably won't catch on fire but if you toss in a wick and light that, it is able to light similarly to what someone described above with the oil and wick.


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## HotelCalifornia (Oct 28, 2008)

Does vegetable oil go bad, eating wise?


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## Canadian (Dec 14, 2008)

Yes. You shouldn't eat anything that's gone rancid including vegetable oil. 

The bottle or tub should have an expiry date. Oil in an opaque (non see through) container will last longer. Don't store oil exposed to heat, light, or temperature changes.


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## endurance (Nov 26, 2008)

As Canadian says, opaque bottles and storing in cool, dark conditions will get you the greatest shelf life, sometimes exceeding the expiration date, but no oil is going to stay good for more than a handful of years. Oil is one item that really needs to be rotated frequently, but it's also relatively inexpensive. Coming up with creative ways to dispose of it is a good idea.

Oils are fats, and fats are a unstable form of energy storage for living animals. It's begging to oxidize. Even in its purest forms with no biological contamination fats begin to break down into unstable forms fairly quickly. Hydrogenated oils are the most stable, but they also are the least useful to the body with many health and nutrition experts pointing toward them as a possible cause of type II diabetes, obesity and coronary artery disease. They're not found in nature; they're created by humans, and as such, even most bacteria won't try to utilize them as food.


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## Ridgerunner (Oct 27, 2008)

I just burn the bad stuff in my truck


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## 2bgrand (Jan 9, 2009)

*Hmmm...*

Well this is my first reply on this forum, but have been doing a lot of research lately on biodiesel, how to make it, use it, etc. The simplest way that has been described to get the impurities out is the old "Dr. Pepper bottle" method.

Oil and water don't mix, but impurities in the veg oil will come out when "rinsed" with water. Fill your plastic bottle with your veg oil over half way. Slowly add water after that. Gently move the bottle around until the water is no longer clear, move it too quick and you'll be waiting a while for the bubbles to settle. Oil floats on water so to drain the oil tip the bottle upside down, get the hazy water out and put fresh water in. Repeat as needed.

I have not discovered yet if veg oil burns better than biodiesel, but have found multiple ways to burn it. Ranging from the old oil lamps to oil lamps made from burnt out light bulbs and a cotton shoe lace.

That interesting website is Instructables - Make, How To, and DIY

Hope this helps with out me sounding like a newbie.


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## BradfordW. (Jan 15, 2009)

Then why do alot of vegetables come in clear containers? They should just go ahead and start packaging them into opaque bottles.


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## endurance (Nov 26, 2008)

BradfordW. said:


> Then why do alot of vegetables come in clear containers? They should just go ahead and start packaging them into opaque bottles.


Marketing. People want to see what's inside and food in jars looks more home-canned than food in cans.

Also, tomatoes are very acidic and will cause cans to rust or corrode if stored long enough. Manufacturers also rely on the fact that most foods are off the shelves in 1-3 months and they're consumed in 2-6 weeks after that. Preppers push the limits of manufacturers intentions for product storage, thus we have to be aware of what maximizes the shelf lives of foods.


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## Canadian (Dec 14, 2008)

Yeah, people want to see what it looks like before they buy. I used to work at a camping store and the backpack area was always funny. People would always open the backpack and look inside. It was always empty. The might look inside 30 packs before they buy one. They're all empty inside. That never stopped anyone from looking.


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## Rooster (Feb 4, 2009)

To the question on the bad vegie oil. I make my own biodiesel and use the glycerin waste to make bar soap. If you heat the oil to a boil you can kill the bacteria, that is what we have to do so the bacteria is not in our fuel. Bacteria and fuel injector systems do not make a good combo.Also when I was a kid we had a glass cutting kit that we made un candles from the old 7 up bottles(The un cola)took a piece of cardboard and wrapped it with a piece of aluminum foil put a wick in the center put about half of the bottle with water and the other with vegie oil and made a candle that burns clean once you start it.Good Luck Phil


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## Rooster (Feb 4, 2009)

Magus said:


> Turn it into bio diesel if you have a lot of it,dose your slop barell in your methane kit if you don't.
> To the best of my experience,soap requires animal fat using the lye method.


Magus I use the glycerin from the bio fuel I make for bar soap Made 1600 gallons of fuel for the farm last year. I use the lye and methonal method. Phil


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## JW Parker (Oct 18, 2008)

You can also use veg. oil to oil garden tools. It won't hurt your soil in those amounts.


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## Kiwi Will (Dec 25, 2008)

*Hmm you smell nice tonight dear. What soap are you using?*

Yep, I'd turn it into soap. If you haven't done it before, tis the time for learnin, Oh yess, tis end of winter up in the Northern parts ay. Best let it go off more 'cause I find that soap is best made in warmer months.


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## Canadian (Dec 14, 2008)

The first soap ever was made from the ashes of human sacrifices. Like the first monkeys shot into space. Without pain. Without sacrifice. We would have nothing.


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## The_Blob (Dec 24, 2008)

Canadian said:


> The first soap ever was made from the ashes of human sacrifices. Like the first monkeys shot into space. Without pain. Without sacrifice. We would have nothing.


I thought the first documented soaps were made from cassia oil?  

most ancient hunting societies with access to wood for cooking, that I have read about, seem to have developed the 'glorious accident' of soap in one way or another...


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