Garbage Disposal Question

[kadesma]

Crwesk, I put almost everything down my garbage disposal..The only time I had a problem was when hubby put cooked artichoke leaves in there...Mine takes even soft chicken bones and rib bones..Guess I'm lucky...so far with this one no problems...Good luck, I'm sure you wil do just fine with yours

kadesma...Oh yes it will eat crayons and spit out play dough

 

[kadesma]

Thank you all so much!! I have no clue what horsepwer this one is yet & won't know until closer to the end of the month. Since everything is pretty much finalized, I'll go ahead & tell everyone. The reason I'm asking is because we are moving & the house has a garbage disposal. I've never had one, only had friends growing up with them. I'll be printing this out to hang in the kitchen to refer to after we get moved in.

Just read further and saw this post..How wonderful for you..I'll bet you are so excited about moving..I hope it is just what you want and that you all will be happy and content..
kadesma

 

[middie]

always and check to make sure there's no silverware down there... let me tell you it's REALLY loud !!!

 

[crewsk]

always and check to make sure there's no silverware down there... let me tell you it's REALLY loud !!!

Middie, I'm getting one of those rubber drain covers that has flow holes in it to cover the opening of the disposal when it's not in use just for that reason. My kids & hubby have a habit of just tossing stuff in the sink without looking to see what's in there first. So I thought this would be a good idea.


Thanks kadesma! I'm finally starting to get excited about moving. We're going back to the town we lived in before we moved here. Thankfuly, we're only moving about 5 miles from where we are now so I'm not having to do a lot of packing. At the rate things are going right now, looks like we may be able to close next week instead of at the end of the month. Keep your fingers crossed!! I want this over with ASAP!!

 

[RPCookin]

always and check to make sure there's no silverware down there... let me tell you it's REALLY loud !!!

When he was in college, my brother worked in the food service cafeteria on campus. He had a mobile in his apartment made from silverware that had “accidentally” been damaged in the commercial size disposal there. It made for some very interesting pieces.

 

[pepperhead212]

I have a Kitchen Aid, from '83, but, like most, they've been bought out, so I wouldn't know what to recommend. But I can tell you, cheaper ones will break sooner. And I paid around $150 for mine, back then! And I remember when I was looking at them there were some for $79 and $99, and they weighed about half as much!

I would look and see what models are available where you might be getting one, then at customer recommendations on Amazon, or something like that, and check to see if any of those have a lot of good recommendations. Or if you get, or know someone who gets Consumer Reports, see if they've done a test in recent years. That was another thing that made my mind up back then - the CR ratings.

BTW, I never put any bones (or other things like that) in my GD, and compost a lot of things, but I still wouldn't be without that thing!

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

What You CAN and CANNOT Put Down the Garbage Disposal

That said, I disagree with some of it. I put egg shells in min constantly. I also put vegetable peels such as potato, carrot, and zucchini, but I only cook for myself so they are in small amounts and I hand feed them a little bit at a time. I have also put banana peels in there, but again, only one banana at a time and I feed the peels into the disposal in increments. I always put citrus fruit peels, or whole fruit, down the garbage disposal. It makes the kitchen stink pretty, but it doesn't last long.

I do, however strongly agree with the no hands or fingers policy.

 

[taxlady]

Did they used to make garbarators better? We had one when I was a kid. We didn't put bones in it, but most of the other restrictions were never mentioned back in the 1960s. I remember someone accidentally dropping a spoon in while it was running. It made quite a racket so someone turned it off immediately. It didn't seem to suffer any damage. I can't say that about the spoon.

 

[dragnlaw]

The only disposal I had any knowledge of had a turn thingy in the actual drain and a safety switch under the sink.
Of course, I can see a fork, etc that was already in there getting chewed, but one couldn't fall in once it was running.
You were also supposed to run water at the same time.
Are the still the same?

 

[Andy M.]

I've bought three disposals in 24 years. The first two were relatively cheap ¾HP models from Home Depot. The motor failed on the first one and the interior rusted out on the second.

In 2008 I bought an Insinkerator ¾HP and it's excellent. Also, the interior is stainless steel so no rusting out. It cost a lot more than $150. I think it was the right choice for me.

No corn husks, onionskins, bones, corn cobs. Need had any issue with eggshells or shrimp shells.

 

[taxlady]

Didn't they used to say to put egg shells in them to help scrape the food off the sides?

 

[Jusa]

I personally put as little down the disposer as possible. The last one we had in our old kitchen got pipes clogged more than once (it was old when I moved in with hubby) and that was a disaster as it drained into the downstairs bar area and was a stinker of mess each time it clogged. New kitchen (addition) I've been kind to it for 25 years and it's been great. My advice is if you can compost it or trash it, do that and minimize use of the disposer. We are on sewer btw.

 

[Sir_Loin_of_Beef]

I remember reading once that putting chicken bones into the disposal kept the blades sharp, but I don't remember where I read it. Now days who gets chicken pieces with bones in them?

 

[Jusa]

I remember reading once that putting chicken bones into the disposal kept the blades sharp, but I don't remember where I read it. Now days who gets chicken pieces with bones in them?

I do! But I've never put bones In the disposer.

 

[dragnlaw]

Well, I don't understand, if you can't put all those things in it - what's the purpose?

Aside from bones of course,
and who in their right mind would put the husks of 6 or 12 ears of corn? Would it be easier to put in a bag than to stand there and try to stuff them down a drain hole? It would only be able to grind up two, maybe three, at a time. Stuff, grind. Stuff, grind. repeat...

I think I read somewhere that eggshells were good. Helped with the smell? But if I did read it that would have been probably a good 40/50 years ago.

I don't even know anyone who has one anymore. Many city's disapprove. If you have trouble with pipes/drains leading to city pipes - you get the bill.
Am surprised to hear so many of you have them!

 

[Jusa]

Well, I don't understand, if you can't put all those things in it - what's the purpose?

Aside from bones of course,
and who in their right mind would put the husks of 6 or 12 ears of corn? Would it be easier to put in a bag than to stand there and try to stuff them down a drain hole? It would only be able to grind up two, maybe three, at a time. Stuff, grind. Stuff, grind. repeat...

I think I read somewhere that eggshells were good. Helped with the smell? But if I did read it that would have been probably a good 40/50 years ago.

I don't even know anyone who has one anymore. Many city's disapprove. If you have trouble with pipes/drains leading to city pipes - you get the bill.
Am surprised to hear so many of you have them!

My cousin doesn't have one and she's got a septic tank. When I visit her I have to carefully scape every little particle of food off the dishes before rinsing. She has a mesh strainer trap in the sink as well, so if anything is missed it's caught there, but then after loading the dishwasher I have to touch that nasty mesh trap and empty it into the trash. At home I scrape into the trash but if a little food gets missed no big deal, just run water and flip the switch. That was especially helpful when the 4 kids were still living at home.

 

[dragnlaw]

I've been on several septic tanks with multiple kids and grandkids often there. Especially the one at the cottage which constantly has multiple visitors and no dishwasher (other than the human type)
In the Province of Quebec septic tanks must be emptied every 2 years, it is the law. The exception is secondary residences (cottages) which can be done every 4 years.
Never had a problem. i used to cheat on the farm as it was just me and I would try to postpone the job by stretching it from early early Spring of one year to the late fall of the 2nd year. Couldn't do it too late in the fall for fear of freezing. If it didn't have enough liquid to generate the heat needed to keep it from freezing you had a BIG problem

 

[Jusa]

It simplifies my life. I could live without one but have no reason to do so.

 

[Andy M.]

Sometimes a piece of gristle or other tough items just won't break up and go away. I have found a double handful of ice cubes tossed into the disposal and processed is the best way to clean it out.

 

[thymeless]

In my opinion a disposal is only for what comes out of the dishwasher into the disposal.

Food scraps should be composted.

Putting them down the disposal and into the sewer only costs you extra money. You're adding more time and processing to the sewage slowing down the operation and clogging it up. Sewage processing is for stuff that's, well, already been digested. Adding undigested biomass just causes problems and wastes your tax/utility money.

If you don't compost personally or your city doesn't offer a composting service then I guess it's better for the garbage.

Get fine mesh screens to put in your drains. Empty them regularly (compost). You'll have far fewer drain problems and you'll save money.