I don’t always get excited about cleaning products, but after eight nights of frying latkes, schnitzel (my annual treat as opposed to oven fried), and French fries, I was very ready to try anything that would make my nightly cleanup easier.

I had been seeing ads for FryAway all over the place. It’s a plant-based powder (with an OU) that you sprinkle into used, warm frying oil to solidify it for mess-free disposal. I’d seen it online and finally decided to try it out this Chanukah. I am very pleasantly surprised to say that it actually works.

I tested it after a few rounds of frying, so the oil was definitely not clean. There were brown bits, leftover starch, and a greasy sheen coating the whole pot. I was skeptical. The first time I used it, I added it when the oil had already cooled too much, and it didn’t fully set. Another time, I didn’t use enough of the product, and the results were just a mush. The third time, I was careful to follow the directions on the bag: sprinkle the right amount of FryAway into the hot oil (that’s key), stir, and wait. As it cooled, the oil gradually turned into a solid mass and even the bits at the bottom became part of the mixture. It slid right out of the pot in one clean chunk. No pouring into containers, no messy garbage bags, no clogged drains, and no sudden urge to fry something else just because you have the hot oil sitting there. 

One bag of FryAway will last you a long time, and it definitely makes cleanup easier (and somehow less smelly!). After a Chanukah full of oil, it’s something I'm grateful for!