UCA Community Tip of the Week: Garbage Disposal Care

Garbage Disposal Care

1. Insert garbage loosely. If you pack in too much at once, you can jam the disposal.

2. Use a strong flow of cold water & keep the garbage disposer running at least 30 seconds after noise of grinding has stopped to flush all food particles through the drain line.

3. Always use cold water when operating the disposer to solidify fatty & greasy waste so they will be chopped up & flushed down the drain.

4. It's safe to run hot water from the sink through the garbage disposer. However, use cold water when you are operating the disposer.

5. If you wash dishes in a sink w/ a disposer, make sure all small objects are removed from the sudsy water before you drain the sink.

6. If you have a continuous-feed disposer, move silverware & other small items away from the edge of the sink counter to avoid accidentally knocking them in while the garbage disposer is running.

7. Do put small bones through; they help to scour the sides of the grinding chamber.

8. Follow directions in the garbage disposer manual as to what should not be put through the disposer. Do not grind large bones or fibrous materials as corn husks unless the manual says it's ok. Only put a small amount of fibrous foods (celery, chard, asparagus ends, etc.) at a time through the garbage disposer w/ full water flow. If the drain line is long & quite horizontal, fibrous foods or too much garbage at one time can clog the line.

9. Do not put uncooked fat off meat into the garbage disposer as it may clog. Don't pour liquid fats down line; solidify in empty tin can in refrigerator & dispose in the trash instead.

10. Run the disposer each time you put food waste in it. This is particularly advisable in the less expensive models which are more subject to corrosion from the acids formed by food waste left for a long time.

11. W/ a continuous-feed model, use the cover as directed to protect yourself when grinding bones or fruit pits--small particles could possible be ejected by the force of the disposer action. Avoid leaning over the disposer if you are feeding waste into it while it is running.