Garbage disposals sound like they should be able to handle anything you throw in them- surely the roar they let out when you flip the switch to start them running is an indicator of how powerful they are, right? Actually, no. The roar is just the sound of the impellers trying to grind up whatever is in their way, and sometimes they don’t succeed. In fact, sometimes the most harmless-seeming of foods can mess up the impellers and your drain. Here are eight foods that you should never try to put in a garbage disposal.
Table of Contents
1- Medium to Large Chunks of Bone (and Sometimes Any Bones)
Newer garbage disposals should — technically — be able to handle small bits of fish and chicken bones. Anything larger than that, including medium-sized chunks, may be too much for the impellers. You could end up with jammed and possibly damaged impellers instead, which would require calling a plumbing service for repairs. Older disposals may no longer be strong enough to handle even small amounts of bone, so it’s better to avoid putting bones down the disposal to begin with.
2- Coffee Grounds
Coffee grounds seem like they should be the easiest thing to grind up in a disposal because they’re already ground up. They look like they should just wash away and not affect the disposal at all. However, coffee grounds are sticky and oily. They can leave residue on the impellers and dry up, creating a jam that stops the disposal from working. They can also stick to the sides of the drain pipe and contribute to clogs.
3- Rice and Pasta
Starchy foods like rice and pasta seem soft and easily destroyed, but starchy residue left on the impellers can, again, dry up and freeze the impellers. Yes, you can get the impellers moving again, but the point is that you don’t want them freezing in the first place.
4- Carrot Peels, Celery, and Other Stringy Scraps
Carrot peels, celery and anything else that’s stringy are not good for disposals. Remember that disposals don’t use blades. There aren’t sharp knives below that can cut through vegetable peels and other scraps. Instead, the disposal has those impellers, which grind up food scraps. Stringy, fibrous foods don’t always respond well to that and can become tangled up in the impellers and create a jam.
5- Eggshells
Eggshell pieces aren’t as fragile as they seem when they hit the garbage disposal. They can stick to any gunky buildup on the sides of the disposal and pipes and clog up the works. If the pieces still have that membrane on one side, that can make it harder for the impellers to grind up the shells.
6- Peanuts or Tree Nuts
Garbage disposal impellers could technically grind up nuts, but remember what happens to nuts when you grind them up. You get pasty nut butter. That can stick to everything in the disposal, dry up, and freeze the impellers.
7- Oatmeal
Soft, tender oatmeal is another starchy food. Guess what can happen when you try to put some into the disposal? You guessed correctly; it can dry up and freeze the impellers. It can also turn pasty when ground up, increasing the chances of a clog.
8- Onion Membranes
Onions have a sticky membrane between layers that can become tangled up in the impellers. While each membrane doesn’t seem that fibrous when you look at it, it acts like celery strings. Avoid putting onions into the disposal to avoid problems with the membrane layers.