You consume food every day, meaning there will be a lot of compost material that you should put to good use. However, the challenge is that a compost pile takes a long time to fully compost into a usable form. When this happens, we throw away food scraps because we no longer have space for the extra food waste.
An electric composter reduces the compost time significantly while yielding similar or better results than traditional composting methods. We are talking about a jump from a few weeks or a month of composting process to just a few hours. From our experience with most kitchen composters, we have compiled the best electric kitchen composter to put your organic waste to good use.
What is composting?
Composting is turning organic waste into an organic fertilizer used in a kitchen garden space. This process normally takes place in traditional compost piles. However, with the challenges of urban living spaces, it might be hard for every household to find space out in the yard to compost their waste. For this reason, the kitchen composter was developed to do the composting process right in your kitchen.
The kitchen composter makes the process significantly faster than the traditional composting bins or pit. This puts to use your kitchen waste faster, giving you more results and putting your waste to good use.
What about the electric composter?
What is an electric kitchen composter?
Instead of going the natural way, how electric composters work is by chopping up the food scraps into small bit and heating them for a few hours to produce a dry, ready-to-use organic material.
The traditional compost bin relies on microbes to break down the organic matter into compost. This process happens naturally and takes a long time. The process might take weeks, even under controlled environments with the kitchen composter. Since you produce waste daily, owning an electric composter makes more sense.
Best Electric Kitchen Composter
There is so much we like about working with these electric composters, and we are sure you will like them too. There is no doubt that these are the best electric kitchen composters on the market today.
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1) Vitamix Food Cycler
- Fertilizer from Food Scraps in mere hours
- 2L Capacity for most table and refrigerator scraps including...
- Cuts down volume of food waste by up to 90%
- Flexible Home Placement & stores anywhere with power
- Easy to Operate with 4-8 hour processing time
Electric food composters are the best way to go about your food waste, and Vitamix food cycler is at the top of this chain. We were never disappointed, and the many good reviews on this product do not lie. Vitamix does not only produce the best electric composters. They give you a solution and a way of life.
image source: vitamix.com
Here are some things we loved about the composter. You are looking at only 4-8 hours of processing time and not 24 hours like other composters would. Not even the three weeks that a normal compost bin would take. The composter was able to keep up with our daily food-waste output.
While we had our food waste taken care of, we were further impressed by how much food waste the composter could turn into fertilizer. The food recycler reduces food waste by up to 90%, providing sufficient room for other food waste.
Guess what else blew our minds, apart from the 2-liter capacity we liked. Chicken bones can go in there too.
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2) beyondGreen Pet and Organic Waste Composter
- SUSTAINABLY DESIGNED: With all aspects of the world in mind,...
- INCLUDES: Sawdust Pellets, Baking Soda, 45 beyondGREEN Natural...
- QUICK: Can Break Down Pet & Organic Food Waste Into Compost in as...
- OUTPUT: Can Process and Create Compost of Pet & Organic Waste in...
- TRUST: beyondGREEN is a Leader in Outdoor Home Pet & Organic...
We tried this composter because of the pet waste feature they offer, which no other electric composter thought about. This was very convenient because all the waste was cared for in better ways than you will see here.
image source: byndgrn.com
The composter came with features we loved, which is why we kept it. We got sawdust pellets, baking soda, and biodegradable bags all included in the package, which was thoughtful to us and the environment.
The best thing about this composter is that we could use it indoors and outdoors. In addition, the composter had two compartments we could choose from, which were great options that complemented each other.
Of all the food recyclers we used, this had the most convenience.
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3) Lomi Kitchen Composter
- Quick Clean-Up: Just scrape your plates directly into Lomi.
- Compact & Efficient Design: Turn food waste into dirt in as...
- Odor Neutralized: Garbage cans are full of old food decomposing...
- Reduce your Carbon Footprint: Reduce your weekly garbage by up to...
- Create a Waste-Free Future: Lomi produces nutrient-rich dirt...
Lomi kitchen composter was a good look on us. We loved how it blended in with our kitchen design because we are big on kitchen interior design and beautiful indoor spaces. In addition, Lomi impressed us with a working time of only four hours that it took to turn our food waste into dust.
image source: pela.earth
We made the Lomi electric composter work for a long to see if there would be any stench, which is out biggest fear with compost bins, and there was none at all. This was one of the things we loved most about Lomi.
In terms of space, the composter was the size of our bread maker and could easily fit on our kitchen countertop. And the best reason to get this composter is the zero noise it produces when processing food scrap.
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Other Composters We Found Useful
These composters might not be electric, but we thought they deserved mention because they were efficient when curing compost.
4) Exaco Aerobin
- Aerobin Insulated Composter: double-wall filled with polystyrene...
- Includes patented "lung" system to increase air flow, 2 gallon...
- No turning requiring - drop in at the top - later remove through...
- 55 gallon capacity. Measures 20 L x 20 W x 46 H inches, Weighs 30...
- Two side doors to remove compost. Makes compost twice as fast as...
This compost bin requires no turning, which is one function most people would rather not when working with bins. All we needed to do was place the scraps from the top and pick them up at the bottom of the bin, which was less messy.
image source: exaco.com
A patented lung system in the bin increases airflow, making it the best non-electric option for our kitchen waste.
This bin came close to our electric kitchen composters because of the heat it gave our kitchen scraps.
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5) FCMP Dual Chamber Tumbling Composter
- Tumbling composter – avoid digging and mixing your compost pile...
- Easy to use – fantastic for beginners! The large openings and...
- Two composter chambers are better than one – two separate sides...
- Durable construction – BPA free, UV inhibited, 100%...
Going the natural way can never go wrong. When comparing the electric kitchen composters and the common ones used, we picked the FCMP, which never disappointed. While the electric kitchen composter has a clear upper hand, this composter would be great for you if you are into outdoor composting.
image source: fcmponline.com
Here, we never had to worry about how much space the compost bin would take on our kitchen counter space or floor because we positioned it outdoors.
This can be a great option to get you going alongside your electric kitchen composter.
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How an Electric Composter Works
It is better to understand how an electric composter works to appreciate its genius but also know what to expect when you get produce compost that looks like nothing you are used to.
The electric composter uses three steps to develop the final product you can use on your plants. The three processes last less than 24 hours, and you can be sure you will not be disadvantaged when you have new produce to work with. Here are the processes that electric composters use to compost food waste.
a) Heating
The heating process by electric composters has importance to it. One way of killing pathogens is through heating, and electric composters use that technique to kill pathogens and weed seeds that might be problematic in the future.
image source: pela.earth
To get nutrient-rich compost, you need the natural decomposing process. The heating process in the electric kitchen composters gives some microbes a head-start in the natural process, making the fertilizer more potent when put in use.
The heating process further dries up the contents of the electric kitchen composter. When you dry up organic matter, there are some advantages that you will enjoy. First, the mass of the food waste will significantly reduce due to the reduction of moisture content within the food waste. When the moisture content reduces, there is a low chance that the food waste will give off a bad odor.
When there is little to no odor, methane is not produced. This is one major advantage of using the electric composter over the traditional composting bins.
b) Grinding
When you break down a compound, the reaction rate will increase because there is more surface area to work around. This is what the grinding process in the electric composter does. As a result, when the food waste is broken down, the volume of the organic content is further reduced, adding to your convenience when working with the food waste.
image source: pela.earth
With more surface area to work with, there is better airflow in between the particles, promoting better composting. When air can flow easily within the electric composter, the food waste will interact with oxygen better, a vital ingredient in the composting process. The traditional compost pile has no air space hence the methane production from all the composting happening in the bin.
Smaller particles removed from the electric composter will be easier to distribute to plants and less messy to work with when tending your plants. In addition, since the fertilizer has been broken down into smaller pieces, it will work better by encouraging plant growth faster.
c) Cooling
One of the important reasons why electric composters have to cool down the contents is for safety. The composter ensures you do not get burnt when you handle food scraps straight from the bin.
image source: pela.earth
The cooling process further encourages the aeration process within the electric compost bins. Finally, with humidity regulated and the fertilizer matured more, the compost is ready to be administered to the garden at this stage.
Advantages that Electric Composters Offer
Everything has its downsides and advantages. You decide by weighing out the pros and cons to see whether you are making a purchase or not. Here are some upsides to owning an electric composter.
i) Increased Composting Rate
We consume food daily, producing more food waste than any other household waste. In addition, the electric composter takes only 24 hours to complete a whole composting cycle compared to the traditional composting bin, which can take at least three weeks to complete one whole cycle. This is quite a long process considering keeping organic waste for just a week will lead to unpleasant odors filling the house.
Electric composting is ideal if you do not have all the time on your hands and want some processes to be automated. You can save a lot of time, and your agricultural process is accelerated when you use an electric composter.
ii) No Odor
I'm not too fond of the smell of decomposing organic materials. And you know what else you will deal with when leaving your food waste around? Fruit flies. Most electric composters work hours, and the food waste will not have enough time to fill your house with pungent smells.
Traditional compost pile and bins tend to leak because of the heat that builds within and the loosening matter that oozes fluids you do not want to touch.
iii) Proof
Unlike the compost piles, the electric composter can work all year long regardless of the temperature or the amount of rain outside. The electric composter cycle stays untampered unless you stop the electric composter bin. Otherwise, you are assured of consistent functioning across the year's seasons.
Think of the heat that came with the summer of 2022. Any compost pile outside will be releasing methane at unprecedented levels. When it rains, the compost outside gets drenched with water and may not be as potent as intended.
iv) Sizes
You can find electric composters of large and small sizes, almost the size of a toaster. This makes the machine versatile and easy to store when not in use. The traditional composter will require a whole compartment under the sink for the compost bin to fit. You will have to find space for the trash bin too.
The compact sizes make it possible to move around with the composters without taking up so much space.
Some Downsides of Electric Composters
Electric composters are a great investment. However, you are getting value for your money, and you have a quick solution to the constant supply of organic waste. However, everything has its advantages and disadvantages.
Here are some issues we have experienced with the electric composters.
a) Cost
Using electric composters can be a bit more costly than other composting forms. Apart from the additional electricity cost, you will be paying, the electric composters are costly to buy relative to other options. In addition, you have to run the composter for the whole period you are using it, which might be up to 24 hours.
b) Environmentally Unfriendly
Anything that uses electricity impacts the environment to a degree. The parts used by the electric kitchen composter are made of metal and plastic, which are pollutants when you trace them back and forward.
Electric composters redeem themselves because they produce less methane which is more harmful to the environment than CO2.
Final Take
Electric kitchen composters put the best use to our kitchen scraps. Food scraps are no longer waste according to us because there is so much more we can get out of them. Our new kitchen garden ideas are thriving thanks to compost machines, and we never look back. We can grow groceries faster, and they are healthier since we started using the kitchen countertop composters.
image source: pela.earth
