What should not go down the kitchen sink at Thanksgiving?

Thanksgiving is a holiday of family, food, and the chance of a plumbing problem. Many people wash the leftovers down the drain when they should not, and the result is a jammed disposal or a clogged kitchen line. The day after Thanksgiving is the busiest day of the year for plumbers for exactly that reason. This guide, first published in 2021 and expanded since, covers what stays out of the sink, how to run the disposal through a full house, and how to tell a slow sink from a blocked main line.

The five foods that clog a kitchen drain

Grease and fatty foods, such as turkey skin. Grease is liquid at the stove and solid by the time it reaches the drain under the slab. It builds up on the pipe wall and clogs it. Turkey skin and pan drippings go in the trash. Wipe the roasting pan with a paper towel before it goes in the sink.

Pasta and casseroles. Pasta swells in water and packs the trap under the sink. A casserole that is about to be thrown away is a blockage in the making. Scrape it into the trash.

Bones. Turkey bones and chicken wings dull or break the disposal’s impellers. They can jam the plate hard enough to burn out the motor.

Stringy, fibrous vegetables. Asparagus, artichokes, celery, carrot peels, potato skins and corn husks wrap around the disposal’s plate so it cannot turn. A little is harmless. A holiday’s worth causes trouble.

Egg shells. People say shells sharpen the blades. They do not. Ground shells collect in the trap and the line and help other debris clog it.

Where the grease actually goes

In a Southwest Florida home the kitchen line runs under the concrete slab to the main line, and there is no basement cleanout to open when it packs up. In a home built before 1975 the kitchen drain is often the original cast iron, already rough inside, and grease grips it faster than it does new PVC. Pour cooled grease into a can or the empty cranberry tin, let it set, and put it in the trash. Those two habits, the can and the paper towel, do more for a kitchen drain than anything sold in a bottle.

Getting the disposal through the weekend

The disposal is not a second trash can. It handles the small soft scraps that get past the plate while you rinse, and it does that well when cold water is running before, during and after. Cold water keeps any fat solid so the disposal can chop it and the water can carry it, instead of coating the chamber and the pipe.

• Scrape plates into the trash first. The disposal is for what is left.
• Turn the cold water on before the switch, and leave it on for a few seconds after.
• Feed it a handful at a time, not the whole colander.
• Keep the disposal running while food goes in. Do not wait until it is full to switch it on.
• Keep extra trash bags on hand. More food in the trash means more bags.

If the disposal hums and does not turn, it is jammed. Switch it off, use the hex key in the socket under the unit to free the plate, remove what was caught with tongs, and press the red reset button on the bottom. Never put a hand in the chamber, even with the switch off. If it trips again, or the drain is backing up into the sink, stop there.

A house full of guests

The drains are not the only thing under load. A house that normally has two people in it may have ten for four days, and the guest bathroom that is used twice a month becomes the busiest room in the house. Before the first car arrives, flush every toilet and run every faucet and shower for a minute, so a slow drain or a running toilet shows up while there is still time to deal with it. Put a lidded trash can in each bathroom so wipes and cotton pads do not go down the toilet.

Spread out the water use where you can. Run the dishwasher after the last guest is in bed, not while three people are showering. If the house is on a septic system, as many homes in Lehigh Acres, Alva and Buckingham are, that spacing matters even more. A septic tank needs time between loads, and a long holiday weekend is one of the surest ways to push one past its limit.

When the sink backs up anyway

A kitchen sink that fills and drains slowly can wait until the guests leave, as long as you stop feeding it. Skip the chemical drain cleaner. It does not clear grease, and it makes the pipe unsafe for whoever opens it next. If the sink and the dishwasher are backing up together, or water is coming up in a shower or tub when the kitchen drains, the blockage is past the kitchen and in the main line, and the whole house is about to be involved. That is the point to call. A plumber answers 24/7, including the Friday after Thanksgiving.