leaving oil on a frying pan for use later

Question

I live alone, so I cook for myself. And often times I cook steaks/burgers on a pan, and later in the same day would return to use the same pan/oil without washing/using new oil.

Is this safe, or should one wash and use a new pan before cooking every steak/burger patties? I've actually done this for more than a day once (cooked burgers in the morning, steaks later that afternoon, and then burgers for the next morning).

Answer 1

If you preheat the pan then you should be perfectly safe as the high heat should kill anything 'dangerous' before you add your meat for the second meal.

That said, I would point out that those oils left out are likely to begin to degrade immediately, causing your steak to take on some potentially undesirable FLAVORS.