Vitamix FC-50 - Convenient Home Food Processor and Recycler - Kitchen Countertop Compost Bin Alternative - Electric Waste Disposer - Odorless Garbage Disposal - 2.5L Capacity

I'm not adverse to having a garbage disposal and after we just did a remodel on a 17-year-old home that we have owned I found in the garbage disposal wastewater line 30% blockage minimum from the garbage disposal and we use a very high-end disposal and always have. We've also treated our pipes with toxifying chemicals to keep the pipes clear. When we remodeled the kitchen I did not want to have another garbage disposal because when I rerouted the piping I noticed that heavy blockage in my pipes and was perturbed at minimum. I don't like all those chemicals going into your water supply and I don't care what a water company does you can't get it out. We were more than content in our new sink with its little basket to just dump that in the recycling or compost pile. And here we go with the food cycler from Vitamix. I think Vitamix is definitely leading the way here. We basically take all of our cooking goods and instead of throwing it in the trash or in the garbage disposal we just have the unit sitting next to the preparation area and it has a charcoal filter lid that rests simply on the top. We are a family of three currently and that amount of food prep is what gets cycled every night. If we have a heavy prep day we may do two cycles. I really appreciate this product because the volume that would go down my sink or in the trash can is cut by 100% in the sink and 96% minimum in trash because it dehydrates it grinds it and leaves it like a loose sediment. It even does small bones but they are still in their form so we just run those into the trash. If we run a batch of non-animal related products we can take the remnant at a 10 to 1 ratio with soil and amend our soil and use it to consume in our bodies but if we use eggshells or cheese or something like that then we do not consume that in our bodies and at the same ratio use that for our flower planting. It is so nice to know that my pipes are clean and our waste is minimalized. I'm not being a snotty person or anything like that it's just that having a farm/rancher mentality you tend to take care of everything that is before you and you waste not if you want not. Farmers and ranchers are good stewards of the Earth and that is a bit of a bias and an approach. And to have a product like this is awesome. The underlying question is would I buy another one and I would definitely buy another one and I hope that some of the pricing will get a little less than a quality food grinder under the sink. I guess a question would be do we miss having a garbage disposal and the answer is resoundingly no. We have already adapted not even in a month of use and people are amazed that it's 4-Hour cycle. Let's say we have some friends over for breakfast and we have a heavy processing day. Once the food is fully been prepped and the plates have been cleaned after the food has been eaten into this device we may run it right then because about 4 hours from now it'll be ready and it could be a little more than that depending on volume. What do we do if we have another meal in between we then simply leave one plate with that preparation remnant and after dumping the original run will add the next remnant and then into dinner and of course start the cycle of nightly running. This product is well made, extremely simple to operate and a blessing for us. I think another nice thing is not hearing a garbage disposal run or that putrid smell that emanates and that you have to constantly clean. That is a small benefit that I was not expecting. Lastly, we are very mindful of our sink/drain management and what goes down that pipe. It has to end up somewhere. If I put something that is not necessarily great because of a habit or what I've been trained to do and it affects your water supply then I have not been a good neighbor to you and I have caused you an extra layer of toxicity that your body does not need. So there you go, I hope you enjoy the purchase and maybe you have to wait for it to go on sale like we did and I am asking Vitamix to get a little bit lower price on that thing. But I would definitely save a little money and buy it. We try to pay for things in advance and wait until we have the money to pay for it as to not create a vicious cycle of credit and more so indebtedness. Thank you Vitamix for a well thought out product and you got full thumbs up from us. Blessings to you all.

I was saving eggshells & grinding them down (in my coffee grinder) to add to my garden's soil. I was also saving used coffee grounds, 'drying' them in the oven, to add to my garden, too. Both jobs were messy and time consuming. I've also saved veggie scraps to make vegetable broth - also time consuming and the scraps hog a lot of space in our freezer. I wanted an outdoor composter to put in the yard, but my husband was concerned about rats and so he vetoed that idea. So when I recently read about this countertop composter in Kiplinger magazine, I was sold. The Unit There were a LOT of stickers to remove from the unit. I had a hard time especially with the stickers that were on top of the tube things at the back of the machine. Since I could not figure out how to remove the tubes (in order to fully remove the stickers) there are still some pieces of sticker at the back of each tube but they don't cover the 'hole' so I think it's fine. When putting together the unit, I didn't understand how the caps were supposed to set on the tubes. Then I realized that the tubes emit steam, so it only made sense that the 'open' end of the caps face me / face the back panel since the back panel has vents once you pop it back on. When the machine was running, you could feel 'some' heat coming out of the back but I don't think it was enough to peel wallpaper. So this would probably be safe to place relatively close to a wall. The power cord is THREE pronged. We have a two-pronged outlet where I was planning on plugging this composter in, so I had to use an adapter, and it was a tight fit. What I Put Inside Two bell pepper caps & bottoms, about a half of a white onion, about two cups of ground-up eggshells, some celery stalks & leaves, and about two cups of used coffee grounds. I did fill the bucket just a bit more than I should have, but not by much. How It Worked After turning it on, the machine ran for a total of seven hours from start to finish without me having to do anything. The first cycle ('drying') took an hour and a half. Then it automatically switched to the next cycle ('grinding' mode) which lasted the longest amount of time - about four and a half hours. Then the machine put itself in the final mode ('cooling') which I'm guessing was around an hour (I had noted the start time of the cycle but then I got busy, and an hour later when I checked it, it had turned into to 'standby' mode which meant that the process was complete). So it might have only had to cool for a half hour, or for forty-five minutes, I'm not sure. Performance The machine was whisper-quiet. I had it running in the kitchen, and from the next room over I could barely hear it. It doesn't get overly hot / put out a lot of steam from the vents in the back. The surface of the machine does not get hot. The Results I am amazed! The slightly-overfull bucket full of moist veggies, soggy coffee grounds and some eggshells magically turned into garden-ready compost! It was fluffy and bone dry. I transferred the compost to a gallon-size freezer bag, and it filled the bag only about 1/4 of the way. Thoughts We get snowy winters where we live, but I can still use this year-round. I have a 5-gallon bucket with a lid and I think I'll 'stockpile' the compost in there until Spring each year. I can't believe how easy this machine is to use, and what wonderful results it produces.

I started composting my kitchen scraps earlier this year, using a food dehydrator that I already have along with my food processor to grind down dried scraps and it has worked fine except it's a 20 hr + process. This appliance performs all the tasks and does it easily and quietly without adding too much heat to my living space. Don't use animal bones or parts, DO use all vegetable matter and egg shells. DO cut down large pieces like corn cobs or avocado skins into small pieces. Basically the smaller the better. For me, the smaller unit was a better fit than the larger unit and the included collection bucket stores up to 1 week of scraps from regular daily cooking of vegetables and fruits. Comes with a filtered lid to keep down any odors. Dry cycle then mulch then cool down and complete takes just under 8 hrs. When complete, a dried mulch is produced which is excellent for adding to my composting bin outside. Little worry of attracting rodents or animals. Size fits on a countertop on my wet bar in basement so I can transfer the collection bucket from my kitchen to the device easily and engage. Unit came with an enclosed card encouraging joining the Vitamix "Rewards" program but when I went to the named web site address, it said the program was discontinued. Not a good look Vitamix! But I still like the unit. Recommended.

The FoodCycler has removed virtually all food waste from our trash, significantly reducing both the volume and odour in our trash bin. Our garden is looking healthier and even our lawn is looking better in the areas I sprinkled the compost on, I left some without to actually determine what type of difference the compost was making. The FoodCycler can compost egg shells, fish and chicken bones but not the larger pork and beef bones. Coarse material such as flower stems, banana peels and melon rinds should be cut into about 1 inch chunks for best results and adding used coffee grounds to a "tough" load works great. The machine works best if there is a variety of "stuff" in it rather than all one thing. On the rare occasion food sticks to the container and is hard to remove, letting is soak for about 15 minutes full of water and a drop of dish soap has worked every time. Running a load with citrus peels in it will also clean it out. I use the FoodCycler daily and have even done 2 or 3 loads in one day when "harvesting" my garden and have lots of peelings. I love my FoodCycler!!

I have been eyeing a different brand for awhile now. Feeling guilty about all the food waste I throw away. Living in the city I can’t compost. I was on the fence regarding, ordering. After research I found the Vita mix food recycler!!! No waiting months and I have complete confidence in vita mix brand owning a vita mix machine for over 21 years & never had a problem. With also the confidence I have in Amazon I jumped in. Order with next day delivery. I couldn’t wait to use this machine. That night my bucket was full and off I went to push that button. Like a kid in a candy store. I was so excited to open the lid after the cycle finished. This machine IS AMAZING. I am telling everyone about it in Canada and the USA. Where has she been all my life! I want to point out, this thing is so quite I had to keep going to the machine to make sure it was working. I am not sure why peeps would say it’s noisy lol. But it’s NOT! It does a great job and now I can blend the fertilizer into my gardens. Almost everything but bones, nuts and pits will go into it. I would not hesitate in buying this, Go for it! You will never feel guilty again for throwing away your veggie scraps. Either for yourself or a gift you need this in your life. So stoked I jumped in to buy this vitamix food recycler I named her “Cler” and she is a member of our family now. Thank you so much for developing this machine. Thank you to Amazon fir your continued excellent service!!

This process takes longer than I had hoped, but is far quicker than composting. I had recently moved and a garden is in my plans. Everytime I was tossing food that could be compost I was feeling guilty. Yet living in a new neighboruhood and uncertain of the vermin I wasn't sure I wanted to start a composter with winter at our back door. So I bought this to make the most of my food scraps and also to eliminate the food odors from my garbage can. I really wish the government offered some incentive to run the machine as I'm still nervous what this might do to my hydro bill. I have run four cycles at this point and they take roughly a little over 5 hours per cycle. That's with me varying what I placed into the cycles. Btw, I strongly suggest you follow their advice and don't process too many sweet foods such as banana peels. Banana peels in particular didn't break down as far as some other foods. The stickiness and the moistness affect the speed of the processing ( according to their guide ) and the cleanup. Sticky sweet foods cake on and make clean up more difficult. My first cycle had nothing sweet in in and the contents just dumped out and a wipe with a damp cloth was all it needed to clean. Banana peels on the other hand make you have to soak the bucket. I love the concept of being able to just add this into my garden, although many of the benefits of compost are cooked out. It still can be safely added to my garden though. Of course some foods are not recommended if using in your garden. Things such as chicken bones if processed will not benefit the garden. I've been keeping all the processed food items in a container with a tight fighting lid. There is very little odor to it when I open the lid, yes I took a deep whiff to check. Overall I'm happy with the concept of the product. A part of me wishes the bucket would hold a bit more as I'm a bit of a foodie and make lots of food waste. I'm also a lite anxious to see what my hydro bill will be. But hey I'll run it during cheap hours and be super happy to keep stuff out of the landfill. Also since using my foodcycler I haven't had the same issues with the local rodents trying to get into my garbage can.

We've had this nice little appliance for 6 weeks and can now, confidently, say that it's well worth it. I got it on sale for $299 which made it much more attractive than the more expensive "other brand". I also prefer the cubic shape because it slides into spaces nicely. The inner bucket is 2L. I worried that it would be too small but I think that I like that because I really wouldn't want moist, organic waste sitting around very long. That said, there are days when I do have to run it twice. Outside of those days, every other day is the norm. Extra bucket, would be nice but not for $100. I just use a bowl until I can get the bucket back. Suitable foods - we put veg and fruit scraps, rice, breads, egg shells. The odd bit of cheese ends up in there too. I will rough chop banana peels and avocado seeds. Fibrous things tend to get stuck between the paddles and inner bucket wall. Onion peels do not seem to break down so I will use scissors to cut them up going forward. It is a fairly long cycle, so we try to keep to off peak hours or weekends. With regards to smell, there can be a bit of an earthy/funky smell but it's not smelly like bad food. If the weather is not bad, I will put it out in the gazebo. On bad weather days, I put it on top of the stove with the rangehood fan on. It is easy to use - fill the bucket, line up the arrow on the bucket with the arrow on the unit, tuck the handle down, put the lid on, lock it and press the button. Output - after 6 weeks, we have about 3L of output and our green bin is about 1/3 full by garbage day which comes around every week. It's mostly cat litter and meat bones.

The wife loves this unit . Bought it to replace the Original version . Everything except onion skins and corn husks .