As we reach the big time for the end-of-the-year holiday celebrations, you are probably going to use your kitchen much more than usual (with the exception of perhaps Thanksgiving). Entertaining guests and family members means a lot more cooking and kitchen activity, and this will also mean immense stress placed on the garbage disposal. You don’t want to have an abrupt breakdown of your disposal and need to scramble to find repairs during the height of the holidays. To help prevent that from occurring, we’ve put together a list of food items that should not go down the disposal.
- Onion skins and fibrous fruits and vegetables: Onion skins will easily stick to the side of the hopper chamber of a disposal and become tangled in the mechanical parts. Asparagus, corn husks, celery, and other fruits and vegetables with long fibers in them can also tangle up parts of the disposal.
- Meat bones and fruit pits: Basically, any food left over that human teeth cannot chew is something that a disposal cannot grind down. Throw these items into the trash.
- Rice and pasta: Both these items seem innocent enough. But they pose a specific threat not only to the disposal but also drains in general: they absorb water and swell. This can easily harm the disposal and lead to clogging in the drains.
- Fats, oils, and grease: Collectively referred to as F.O.G., these liquids from cooking will not stay in liquid form for long. Once they cool down, they turn in solids. This is bad for the disposal, and it’s bad for drain pipes as well. The best way to dispose of F.O.G. is to pour it into an old jar, let it cool down in the refrigerator, and then throw it in the trash.
- Any excessive amount of food: This is the fastest way to break a disposal: overburden it with too much food at one time. Make sure you pace the disposal so it keeps working through the holidays!
Red Rock Mechanical LLC offers superb plumbing service in Plattsburgh, NY and throughout Northwest Vermont.
