Insinkerator?

[AGreatUsername]

We are having our kitchen done, and insinkerator was high on my wish list. There’s 6 of us, including 4 fussy kids so the leftover scraps are high. I hate the food bin. Kids miss and food goes everywhere, and scraping dried baked beans or Weetabix out of my cupboard is not my favourite way to spend an evening. I’d still put things like the odd chicken carcass and larger fruit and veg in the main weekly food caddy, but leftovers and peelings etc would mean I wouldn’t need a caddy in the kitchen any more.

I was looking at an Evo 150/250 as there’s an offer on them from a supplier but a plumber has just said don’t ever get on, they need rodding constantly as they get clogged etc. They work by grinding food to watery mush so I don’t know how that would happen? I’m not sure if they’re rubbish now or if it was just his personal preference.

Any real life experiences with them? Thanks

Yep, first thing I had put in. I'm afraid I don't know which one, but knowing DH it would have been the cheapest. It jammed a few times at first - it doesn't like eating very fibrous things. It's been absolutely brilliant for the last 2+ years as, once again, DH had bodged the initial job and then sorted it out. Story of my entire house 🤷🏻‍♀️

Sorry I can be any proper help! But it's brilliant and it works fine.

Had one for years, never had any trouble, wouldn't be without one.

It's important to read the descriptions of the different models to make sure you pick one that can cope with whatever you throw at it.

This is so useful to know! Thank you for the comments. It’s honestly the thing I’m most excited about so I’d be gutted if they were rubbish.

Weve recently moved, had one in our old kitchen and dh has just put one in our new house. We haven't done the kitchen yet but its the one thing I struggled with out. The only thing I would say is they don't like banana peel so avoid that. I've had no other problems.

There was one in the house when we moved in three years ago and it has never been used. Am I missing a trick?

I have one, put in with new kitchen in 2019 and never had a problem, I went for the most powerful one but everything goes down it, I tend to be a bit precious about leaving the water running for a bit and tend to lob any citrus fruit that is on the turn down it to keep it fresh.

Mine is 24 years old and still going strong. It's only ever been clogged once.

I've had one for 15 years and love it!

I suspect the real issue with your plumber is that he doesn't know how to plumb it in 😉

Wouldn't be without one. Best bit of kit in the kitchen. Converted my sister too.

Got the cheapest one with an air switch as I didn't see the point in buying a more expensive model.

I've had four over a period of 37 years in three different properties. Always been fine with them.

Currently we live in a flat where I consider it an essential. They are, however, not very eco friendly.

Don't love ours and barely use it. There's a long list of things you're not supposed to put down it, so I cba most of the time.

@AfternoonToffee I moved into a house with one in November. It made me think of Nightmare on Elm Street so it went in the skip

Have had one since 1992 and wouldn't be without one. The only problem I've had is teaspoons. I don't check for them so have a few interesting looking teaspoons.

We’ve had one for many years - over 30. It’s been fine, but we rarely use it any more - they are not at all eco friendly. I have a feeling that they’ve been banned in Germany for that reason.

We have (I think) an Evo 200. We've had it for around 6 years, and had the same unit transferred to a new sink when we changed our kitchen. I absolutely love it. I really hate food waste bins (so messy and smelly) so it is a godsend. Almost everything goes down it. The only things that don't are raw fish skins and big bones (as in, a lamb leg bone from a roast - though technically ours will and has dealt with them, they take ages and are so loud I don't think it's worth it). I wouldn't be without one.

We’ve had a 100 model fitted in our new kitchen ( there are only 3 of us and not much waste!)
It’s not as good as I hoped. Husband went through a phase of shoving vey thing down it, one night he did chicken bones and rice. Next morning the washer flooded the kitchen. Both waste pipes join up and the stodgy rice had blocked it so the pipes couldn’t cope and the washing water back filled into the kitchen sink!
We now use it sparingly.

Quite simply it's the best appliance I've got in my house - by miles! I love it and wouldn't be without one!!

@Brendabigbaps 's experience is exactly why the thing to do is to get the absolute strongest one you can. We like lamb chops, the model we have has no problem crunching bones, ice, anything.

We do have an iron rule that, when it is running, nothing is poked below the level of the sink. Anything that comes in contact with the blades wWill not survive the encounter. And always run water full blast while the motor is running

Trouble free since 1979.

I had one, a long time ago, it was very noisy and eventually packed up (maybe the noise was cry for help) and I didn't replace it.
Doesn't it encourage rats in the sewers?

My mind is made up, Evo 250 ordered. I can’t wait, I must be old. Please please tell me though that you all just scrape it in using cutlery? (Not putting the cutlery below the hole obvs). All the YouTube videos show the woman shoving waste down the hole with her BARE HANDS, while smiling

These things are nowhere near as dangerous as people might think. There are no blades thrashing about to chop your fingers off.

We just drop the food in the hole and if it needs a push we find that the strong tap above gives it all the help it needs.

I had the same excitement levels you did when I got mine. Say Bye Bye to a stinky food caddy.

I’m finding it a bit depressing that they are still in use. The fact we still create so much food waste and the waste we do have won’t be used as compost is depressing. Not to mention the extra water and power required. I’ve never had one at home (did when I worked in a kitchen as a youngster) and have never felt the need for one. I find compost caddies great and our compost gets taken weekly. Sorry to be a party pooper though.

Just found this info:

And putting food down the drains, via macerators or waste disposal units, along with fat, oil and grease (FOG), contributes to 200,000 sewer blockages and floods across the UK each year. Other disadvantages are rodent infestations, odours and environmental pollution. Macerators are expensive to repair, and use more electricity and water than recycling. Putting food into drains also means an increased organic load at the sewage treatment plant shifting the responsibility for food waste management from the waste industry to the water industry. Modern wastewater plants are effective at processing organic solids into fertiliser products (biosolids), with advanced facilities also capturing methane for energy production, but not all buildings have a modern, upgraded water treatment plant at the end of the sewer pipe. Kitchen waste disposal units increase the load of organic carbon that reaches the water treatment plant, which in turn increases the consumption of oxygen.