This is going to sound fake to those who don't have mothers like this, and an eyeroller to those that do.

I've worked in food service for some time now. Food handlers gets reviewed and renewed frequently, which I know really doesn't mean that much aside from the fact that safe temps/safe food handling is practically engrained into me. However, I've never had to work a deep fryer before — I don't even use the one at home, so keep that in mind moving forward.

My mom...has a habit. The "keep food until the very last second" sort of habit. This includes fry oil. Used fry oil, mind you. She keeps it there in the fryer. Lid on, so not just exposed to the elements or anything. But it's used. I can open the lid and see that the drop basket isn't even cleaned (she doesn't clean that until the moment she needs it.)

....Yeah.

So, I don't know how long this oils been sitting there like that. So I dumped it (responsibly, of course. Not just down the drain). As I finished dripping out the last drop, I remembered doing something similar a couple years ago when she had first gotten the thing. She had gotten hella upset that I had dumped the oil (at that time 2 weeks old.) She said it was "good to use again." That it "can cook out any impurities just by raising the temp."

...Look, like I said, I'm no expert in fry technology. But knowing everything else about food that I know, I feel like she isn't/wasn't right. But, still, here I am. Sat with a gallon jug full of Who Knows How Old fryer oil, wondering if I should just dump it back in.

My main concern is that she uses this fryer to feed other people. If it was just her, then, whatever. I mean still bad, but she can choose to poison her own body on her own time, who am I to say.

Anyway TL;DR — AITAH for dumping used fryer oil of indiscernable age?