Most manufactures of these products show how easy it is to take the dry material from their unit and apply it to potted plants, but I would not do that.Ī study done by Vitamix had this to say, “ W e recommend delaying planting following application of the dehydrated fo od waste byproduct to soils to allow sufficient time for decomposition to take place, in order to ensure that germination is not inhibited by the decomposition.” Until this material starts to decompose, most of the nutrients are not available for plants. Industrial electronic composter from OklinĮlectronic composters produce dry food scraps. Don’t believe some of the picture shown by the manufacturers. The material is not finely ground and contains a lot of larger pieces. This also becomes evident when you look at the results. They rotate once per minute and at best this can be called agitation or mixing. The blades in the unit are not sharp nor is the space between the blades and the fixed bar, small enough to grind food. Many of the products claim to “grind” the food as it’s heated.
#Wirecutter vitamix plus
The steam plus high temperature will sterilize the food scraps.Īnother reason why there is no composting! Do Electronic Composters, Grind? A hot compost pile is limited to 66 C (150 F) so that the microbes are not killed off. When I open it during a process, it is not that hot, but it does have to be over 100 C to drive off the moisture. The Nagual runs at 120 C ( 248 F) or is it 126 C – both values are given. These numbers confirm that composting has not yet started. During composting, organic forms of nitrogen are converted to inorganic forms of nitrogen, mainly nitrate. Vitamix FoodCycler dehydrated food waste byproductįoodCycler also provided me with some analytical data for their end product that showed a total nitrogen level of 2.9% and a nitrate level of 0.005%. They reduce the volume of food waste and hope that their product diverts it from landfill. The exception to the rule is the Vitamix FoodCycler who are more ethical. To be honest they didn’t really understand what composting is. I contacted several manufacturers and asked them for proof that they compost. I found this comment, “The machine runs for 5-6 hours – yes, it’s a while, but you’re speeding up science, so let’s have some patience! ” The only science it is speeding up is the drying of food. Any company making this claim is using false advertising to sell their product. Do Electronic Composters, Compost?Īlmost all the manufacturers of these units claim they make compost because that is a popular, eco-friendly way to handle food scraps. We produce very little kitchen waste, mostly orange rinds, banana peels, apple cores, some potato peelings and a couple of egg shells and we can fill it in 2-3 days. The one I tried, had a 2 liter capacity (0.5 gal), but that’s a bit of an exaggeration since you can’t fill it to the top and most of the space is air. Some units have charcoal filters that reduce the odor while it is exhausting the water vapor. There is a bit of odor, but it is not unpleasant. Some items turn into brown powder while others stay quite chunky and fibrous. At the end of the process you have something that is dry but still kind of resembles the food you put in.
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