Having never been through garbage disposal 101 I was surprised to see that there is a right and wrong.

I used to just dump any thing and every thing in there and grind away.

Come to find out gargabe disposals have an arch nemisis.

Onions.

For reasons unknown to me onions totally jack up the system.

They dont grind and then every thing backs up and then the big mess.

Is there any thing else I need to know about garbage disposals?

before it is too late?

It depends on on what kind of disposal you have. Is it a 1 stage, 2 stage or 3 stage? The more stages of grinding you have, the stuff you can feed it. But if it has problems with onions then its probably has a single stage grind. You'll want to take it easy on high fibrous vegetables (ie celery, onions, etc). Also bones are a big no-no unless you have one of the top-of-the-line 3 stage models.

...All disposers are not the same...Badger 1/2 h.p. is probably the best for the money and standard use...3/4 is better and can jumps in price by $100..

Is there any thing else I need to know about garbage disposals?

before it is too late?

Don't stick in body parts:D


Hmmm...actually...you could hurculine a part of your body, stick it in and see if it breaks the disposal, or you. That would be a real test for how good the stuff is!

Don't ever put glass down there, like my GF did. Almost killed it.

My parents have always had issues with potato skins backing up the drain... If they get fed in slowly it works but add just a bit too much and it plugs instantly.

Other than that, nothing has really been a problem.

I hope you are wearing your safety glasses!

Artichokes do not work well. We have a cheap of the cheapest models one.

Well, I suppose I could be helpful here, too:D

Some things to avoid-
Corn husks--they do not get along well with the garbage disposal
Neither do scraps of meat.

Also, when we run ours, we always have the faucet spraying in it. Faucet on before spraying, when garbage disposal is turned off then, after chopping up your scraps, leave faucet on until it stops spinning. I'm not sure if this actually helps maintain them, but I've been told it does.

What do you guys use to keep them clean and fresh smelling?

Ice and comet cleaner, it sharpens the blades too I guess. something I learned long ago when I had a disposal.

I use ice cubes and Key Limes in mine.

Orange rinds.

Any kind of citrus fruit will work well to keep it clean and fresh... we usually use leftover lemons from the homemade lemonade the week before. Ice works well too if necessary, although it doesn't change the smell, just grinds it to a mash and forces out all the smelly gunk that grows stuff.

My dad installed the biggest disposal he could find... My mom puts EVERYthing down there... I swear, she would grind up brush and tree branches if she could!!

I think the issue with onions is that they DO grind up so fast, then the pulp plugs up the drain orfices... Dropping them in there in smaller portions is the key.

We had a commercial one at the pizzeria where I worked in high school... Ran off a 220 circuit and had its own water supply (3/4" copper pipe feeding it). It would grind up marbles, glasses, silverware (if it came back out) was completely unrecognizable... Broke a dish or glass? No fishing it out... just turn it on!! That thing was a MONSTER!! I once saw it launch a glass marble back out the opening, across the kitchen and into someone's pasta 15 ft. away!! ( We re-made that one)

-Joe