Garbage Disposal Buying Guide

How to Clean a Garbage Disposal

For light cleaning, grind a few ice cubes and lemon through the disposer to deodorize any bad smells. For heavy-duty cleaning jobs, turn off the disposer and clean with a stiff brush and a solution of soap and hot water. As with any equipment, though, your owner's manual is the definitive source on how to care for and maintain your disposer, and you should defer to those recommendations.

Garbage Disposal Maintenance

Below are some maintenance tips to follow to ensure your garbage disposal is properly cared for.

• Run the disposer before loading. Start the disposer before feeding waste into it, and load the waste in at a steady pace. Overloading it with lots of food at once or pre-loading the grind chamber with food can cause clogs or jams.
• Allow the disposer to run a few minutes after disposing of all food waste to completely flush out the interior.
• Never reach in the disposer with your hands. If you need to get an object out of the grind chamber, make sure the disposer is off and use tongs, pliers, a screwdriver, or other tools to grab it.
• Do not put grease or oil in the disposer, as this can clog the drain.

How Will a Garbage Disposal Affect My Utility Bills?

Due to the increase in water and electricity used to run a garbage disposal, your utility bill will inevitably go up. Read on to learn how much garbage disposals will affect your utility bills.

Water: In general, you can expect smaller units (2 hp and less) to utilize around 5 GPM (gallons per minute) and larger units (3 hp and over) to utilize around 8 GPM. Exact usage figures will vary, so check the literature for your specific model number.

Electricity: High-wattage units will cost more to operate than low-wattage units, and running the disposal more frequently will also increase operating costs.

The equation below can be used to get a more accurate figure for potential run costs in your establishment, based on the national average electricity rate of $0.166 per kilowatt-hour. We have also provided a breakdown of estimated daily run costs for the different disposal horsepower ratings.

["Average Kilowatts / Hour" Figures] X [Your Electric Rates (in Kilowatt-Hours)] X [Hours Per Day]

Garbage Disposal Alternatives

If your area has restrictions on using disposals, other options offer many of the same benefits. Always check your area’s regulations to see what is permitted.

Pulper/Waste Reduction System

A good option for high-volume applications, a pulper/waste reduction system uses a disposal to grind up waste, but rather than sending everything down the drain, the processed waste goes to a de-watering tank. Water is separated from the waste and sent down the drain, while the remaining solid waste is ejected into a trash can with its mass and size greatly reduced.

Scrapper/Waste Collector System

Allow your staff to scrap and rinse dishes in one step with a food scrapper/waste collector. This system replaces a traditional pre-rinse setup by recirculating water over a scrapping basin. Water-soluble items are ultimately sent down the drain, and the remaining waste is caught in a collection basket that can be easily removed, emptied, and replaced.

Compost Bins

Creating a compost program in your restaurant is a sustainable way to dispose of food waste. Kitchen compost bins can fit seamlessly into existing kitchen workflows and are used to dispose of food scraps from prep work, overly ripe fruits, coffee grounds, and coffee filters.