Garbage Disposal

[Cheryl J]

I'm pretty sure mine is a 1/4 horse - maybe a half. Anyhow, it's 20 years old. As Craig mentioned, I'll put used lemon and limes in there now and then to freshen it up, but other than that I'm pretty careful with what I stuff down there these days.

Lately, I've been having to get out the allen wrench thingie a little more often and re-twist the motor...I think I'm due for a new one very soon.

 

[Dawgluver]

I'll never forget when my now ex-SIL was up to her elbows cooking T-day dinner, and put potato skins down the GD. Clogged it all up, and try finding a plumber on turkey day. I compost too.

 

[roadfix]

I had no idea about potato skins. I've never had problem with dumping them in the GD.

 

[dragnlaw]

Although there are exceptions to every rule,

I don't think it is what you dump in as to how much you dump in at one time.

 

[Addie]

Great input, everyone. Thanks.

Well, I've decided to push the envelope with what I put down the disposal. I'll be careful with potato peels, for sure.

For you composters out there, I have another critter that makes me wary of that. Bears. We had one on our back deck, right behind the sliding glass doors a couple of months ago. He decided our hummingbird feeders were of no interest and moved on, but, talking to my neighbors, bears are pretty common around here. So no composting and no outside BBQ for me (bears love BBQ's).

Yeah, bears are as common in NH as folks are. In fact, I think you have more bears than people.

 

[roadfix]

Although there are exceptions to every rule,

I don't think it is what you dump in as to how much you dump in at one time.

True, but I'm talking about 6-10 large potato skins worth on average every time I skin potatoes. And I'll shove them in there all at once. I guess I've been lucky so far...(knock on wood)
But I also at the same time always run water through while the GD is running..... but I guess that's standard practice.

 

[Addie]

For me it's not the disposal, it will eat anything

It's my pipes. They are old and stuff like rice and fibrous crap stuff it up.

And yes,sadly, I have firsthand experience with this $$$$

Jenny, my BIL was working with the DPW replacing some of the pipes underground. One day he came home with a large piece of hollowed out log that had been serving the city ever since they got running water in Boston. Since then I have known a couple of folks who have kept the ones that were dug up leading to their property. My sister had her husband cut hers in half and used the two halves for planters.

Too bad they can't use a Roto Rooter on our street pipes. They are still coming across those hollowed out logs today.

 

[di reston]

We have a septic tank exclusively for human waste. No paper. Just waste. It works like a dream.

As we live in fairly remote countryside, there is a very long discharge system so it all comes out completely clear at the other end. Then we have another disposal system to get rid of sink water, dishwasher and washing machine water. We have a compost bin for organic solids like vegetable wastable and etc. Our glass refuse is separated from all the other stuff we have to take it to a bottle bank. Then there is the paper wastage, the plastic stuff (also disposed of at local points of refuse collection, and then other organic material (bones, other yuk stuff etc) that gets bagged and removed by the local Municipal refuse collection system. It all ands up, at the end of the day, with very little refuse being taken away by the local municipal authority wagons. It seems a lot, but you get used to it, and you get used to the maintenance required to keep the septic tank and the grey water tank in full working condition.

di reston


Enough is never as good as a feast Oscar Wilde

 

[Addie]

True, but I'm talking about 6-10 large potato skins worth on average every time I skin potatoes. And I'll shove them in there all at once. I guess I've been lucky so far...(knock on wood)
But I also at the same time always run water through while the GD is running..... but I guess that's standard practice.

I never just stuff peelings or anything else into mine. I don't know why, but it bothers me to see garbage sitting in the sink. A few peelings from one potato, down it goes with the water running along with the GD.

 

[Andy M.]

True, but I'm talking about 6-10 large potato skins worth on average every time I skin potatoes. And I'll shove them in there all at once. I guess I've been lucky so far...(knock on wood)
But I also at the same time always run water through while the GD is running..... but I guess that's standard practice.

I never just stuff peelings or anything else into mine. I don't know why, but it bothers me to see garbage sitting in the sink. A few peelings from one potato, down it goes with the water running along with the GD.

Differing results may be the because we all have different brands and/or models of GD. I don't have a problem when I fill the hopper with scraps and running the GD. ALWAYS run the cold water full blast while the disposal is running and leave the water running for a bit after the GD is empty so there's plenty of water to flush the ground scraps through the pipe.

 

[roadfix]

I don't know why, but it bothers me to see garbage sitting in the sink.

Yeah, but it's only for a couple of minutes or so.
I also use one of those over-the-sink cutting boards with a cutout in the middle for trimmings to fall through...

 

[Cooking Goddess]

That's one way to hide the scraps until you dispose of them, roadfix. I have an Oneida cutting board that stretches across one sink bowl. I have the front edge right up to the lip of the counter, then either flip the cuttings into the sink off the back edge, or I put a bowl into the sink to catch the good stuff if I'm using a garbage bowl off to the side. Depends on what I'm prepping.


As far as disposal horror stories? Well, when my dear FIL was widowed, he ended up marrying a real shrew of a woman. A lonely heart will make you do strange things. Anyway, in spite of my warnings and exclamations, SHE decided to shove all the peels from a pound of carrots into the disposal at once. Personally, I think it was her evil way of making sure I refused all help from her the rest of their visit, just so she could sit and relax. And drink. And smoke. At least she went outside to to that...and ended up letting our indoor-only cat out. The cat came back! She never did.

I haven't used the disposal much this year, mostly because of the serious water shortage we've been experiencing. I intended to start a compost pile, but I haven't. At least my road to hell is well-paved...

 

[sparrowgrass]

My garbage disposals lay eggs. Nothing seems to clog them up.

 

[CakePoet]

Dont have one, they are started to be fitted in some newer built houses in some areas. I have to sort my garbage out, compost need to be put in a brown bag so it becomes biogas, then everything else is sorted according to chart and burnables heats our homes. Very little ends up on landfills here.

 

[medtran49]

One Thanksgiving I had been prepping the veges so had carrot peelings, green bean snipped ends, and potato peels going down all at once. Suffice it to say, Craig was VERY unhappy with me since he got to do the honors of unclogging. At least it was PVC pipes that had fittings that could be unscrewed but it still made a mess even with a bucket underneath, especially since the stuff had to be dug out as it impacted itself.

 

[Addie]

One Thanksgiving I had been prepping the veges so had carrot peelings, green bean snipped ends, and potato peels going down all at once. Suffice it to say, Craig was VERY unhappy with me since he got to do the honors of unclogging. At least it was PVC pipes that had fittings that could be unscrewed but it still made a mess even with a bucket underneath, especially since the stuff had to be dug out as it impacted itself.

And you two are still together and married! Now that is love.

 

[Dawgluver]

My garbage disposals lay eggs. Nothing seems to clog them up.

I would love some of those garbage disposals, sparrowgrass. Sadly, they wouldn't last long around here due to both wild and domesticated critters (Including Beagle). "My" raccoons have been noted to unscrew hummingbird feeders, unlock garden gates, pop the lid off the bird feed bin and bird feeders. I really would not like to see what they would do to chickens.

I think where my ex-SIL went wrong was stuffing too many potato peels in the GD at one time.

 

[dragnlaw]

I really would not like to see what they would do to chickens.

I think where my ex-SIL went wrong was stuffing too many potato peels in the GD at one time.

I have seen what racoons do to chickens.... MY chickens and it is not pretty. That being said... do have a funny story to relate about that but later.

As to GD's - I don't know what the percentage is but aside from an accidental metal object or big bone going down - I would hazard the guess to be somewhere in the 90% area for too much at one time creating the clog.

 

[CharlieD]

A lot of new constructions do not allowed GD installed. You can add one later, but builder cannot do it for you. They finally figure out it is not good for sewage drain system.


As far as anecdotes, (I recently arrived to America from Soviet Union, where there were no GD) though it didn't sound as much of anekdot when I plugged the system by putting potato pills into GD and ran it. It crushed the pills but plugged the drain. Good thing we were living only on the second floor.

 

[Dawgluver]

I have seen what racoons do to chickens.... MY chickens and it is not pretty. That being said... do have a funny story to relate about that but later.



As to GD's - I don't know what the percentage is but aside from an accidental metal object or big bone going down - I would hazard the guess to be somewhere in the 90% area for too much at one time creating the clog.

:shudder:

I do think Beagle would like to cuddle up with a chicken. She would also like her own cat.

I've never put a spoon down the GD, though I have to carefully watch DH. The kitchen is MY habitat. He can watch his sports wherever.