FoodCycler - The next “must have“?

[Anna N]

My son is part of a pilot project for this gadget which is being trialled in a number of towns in Canada. 
 

Pilot project

 

is anyone familiar with it?

 

There is a similar appliance called Tero. Here.

Edited November 19, 2021 by Anna N
To add additional information and link (log)

[blue_dolphin]

I remember a tiny bit of discussion a while back in this thread.  The link in the first post didn't work for me but there's another one in a post from @chromedomethat goes to a FoodCycler, suggesting that it was the item under discussion. 

[Anna N]

8 minutes ago, blue_dolphin said:

I remember a tiny bit of discussion a while back in this thread.  The link in the first post didn't work for me but there's another one in a post from @chromedomethat goes to a FoodCycler, suggesting that it was the item under discussion. 

Thank you. Not sure why that first link is not working for you. This product, the FoodCycler, is made by Vitamix and seems quite recently brought to market. I read one comment that called it the “Insta pot of composters” which I found quite amusing. 

[blue_dolphin]

6 minutes ago, Anna N said:

Thank you. Not sure why that first link is not working for you. This product, the FoodCycler, is made by Vitamix and seems quite recently brought to market. I read one comment that called it the “Insta pot of composters” which I found quite amusing. 

 

Sorry, if I wasn't clear.  Your link worked fine for me.  The link in this first post in the thread I shared doesn't work for me:

On 6/23/2018 at 6:51 PM, JAZ said:

I've always thought about composting, but have never found an option that wasn't either a lot of trouble, or really gross, or both. But I recently saw this new product which seems like it might be a good answer. We don't have space for it now, but we're planning (after a kitchen renovation) to have a whole counter to dedicate to appliances, so we could probably fit one in. Has anyone used this? Or is there anything similar out there (that is, small, easy to use, and not stinky)?

 

But this one did indeed take me to the FoodCycler site:

On 6/24/2018 at 8:46 AM, chromedome said:

I looked up their main site.

 

Click through from "The Science Behind the Magic" (a phrase that made me think of Young Frankenstein).

 

But it sounds like the FoodCycler you're speaking of is something newer.

 

 

 

 

[DesertTinker]

It appears to be a newer version of this FoodCycler, video from before they affiliated with VitaMix. 

[gfweb]

Prowling around their website...looks like it chops and dehydrates/cooks food scraps. Not exactly decomposed compost but ready for the garden i guess. Photos look more like mulch than compost

[DesertTinker]

5 minutes ago, gfweb said:

Prowling around their website...looks like it chops and dehydrates/cooks food scraps. Not exactly decomposed compost but ready for the garden i guess. Photos look more like mulch than compost

They refer to it as a “soil amendment”. 

Edited November 19, 2021 by DesertTinker
Missing punctuation (log)

[Anna N]

My son has the FC 50 and it cost him (as part of a pilot project) $170. Looking at the costs in the retail market, they are pricey. 

[Nyleve Baar]

I just saw one of these at a thrift store for $5! Had no idea what it was and didn't buy it. Might still not buy it but it's interesting to know what it is.

 

[chromedome]

12 hours ago, DesertTinker said:

They refer to it as a “soil amendment”. 

 

A description that studiously generic was probably used as "pedantry prevention."

[gfweb]

24 minutes ago, chromedome said:

 

A description that studiously generic was probably used as "pedantry prevention."

didn't work

[AlaMoi]

if you prep from fresh, put all your scraps in a bowl - at the end of the day take a pix.

for a week.

then compare the pix to the size of the composting 'bowl'

"oh, that'll never work...."

 

no one has brought up the energy required . . .

 

a compost heap / half buried barrel . . . lots of room, no energy required....

 

[Anna N]

I am neither for nor against this appliance. I am definitely curious. Given that my backyard is probably only twice the size of the compost enclosure recommended by @AlaMoi, there is a need to look for something else. 
We have green bins In our municipality. Besides being a  calling-card for raccoons, maggots and other wildlife, they are disgusting to deal with. If there is a better way…

[AlaMoi]

that's a homemade bin - 4' x 4' - also used for garden waste.

 

search "composting barrels" on Amazon - big little horizontal vertical, and a few others....

one is just a std galvanized metal trash can with holes - very small footprint.

[jedovaty]

Not everyone has the space for that.

I tried to do my own composting for about 2 years, purchased a small-medium sized tumbling composter (only thing I had space for).  It barely works because it's just too small to get to the right temps, and to actually make it work takes a lot of effort: waste needs to be finely chopped or better yet, blended.  This is all super noisy, messy, takes several minutes, and then requires cleanup.  Then I have to haul it downstairs to the garden.  And on top of that, keeping it filled with proper ratio of browns to greens to prevent bad smells, I just don't have the leaves (sure, I can walk/drive/cycle around the block and rake up fallen leaves from the city... riiiiight..).  Paper bags from grocery store work, or cardboard boxes, but.. again, now you need to shred those to be effective, and the amount you need is pretty high (or you can buy wood dust pellets for smoking.. but.. you are buying stuff again, plus carbon footprint now).  After all that work, I ended up with a five gallon bucket of compost.  This was not even close to enough for my small garden.

 

The gadgets like the vitamix foodcycler are fun and interesting.  I think some versions try to fix the smell issue by cooking the stuff.  It's not really going to work in the long run.  They are very noisy, will need maintenance, and when they break, rather than fix them people will toss them and there you go, more e-waste, plastics, etc. 

 

In the urban life, research energy really needs to go elsewhere, not at the individual level like this.

 

On the other hand: it's good people are thinking and working to come up with solutions

[Margaret Pilgrim]

6 hours ago, Anna N said:

I am neither for nor against this appliance. I am definitely curious. Given that my backyard is probably only twice the size of the compost enclosure recommended by @AlaMoi, there is a need to look for something else. 
We have green bins In our municipality. Besides being a  calling-card for raccoons, maggots and other wildlife, they are disgusting to deal with. If there is a better way…

Confounding.    We have green bin collection that is clean and efficient.   All kitchen food scraps go into compostable bags, usually one a week.  .    Yard trimming usually fill up the bin.    Our bins are heavy duty, and though we share our yard with a hoard of raccoons, they have never upended ours.   The bins are not at all disgusting in either appearance or scent.   

 

In the country, we do compost outdoors, and/but wildlife tends to glean during the night so that in the morning there usually nothing left to compost, although there are a very few items they eschew.    .   

[Margaret Pilgrim]

20 hours ago, Anna N said:

My son has the FC 50 and it cost him (as part of a pilot project) $170. Looking at the costs in the retail market, they are pricey. 

Are there any stats on operating costs?

[andrewk512]

Too expensive for what essentially can be done via natural processes at home. I have a bedroom sized backyard but do have a small space where I compost my garden plants and trimmings. I do not do any indoor food scrap composting for the reasons @Anna N mentions - bad experiences with racoons making a mess and maggot/fly infestations. I would consider a purchase at the lower price of 170.

[blue_dolphin]

I agree on the price. $170 would make it more palatable.
I have also avoided setting up a composting area because of concerns about attracting animals and insects. We are provided with green bins for yard waste but but food scraps are prohibited. Starting Jan 1 we have a new trash hauler and will be required to put food waste including paper with food on it in with the yard waste for composting. I’m looking forward to seeing how it will work. 

[Anna N]

For anyone who is interested here is a PDF of the user manual for the FoodCycler. (Includes power consumption numbers). 
Click

 

Strikes me as being very high maintenance in terms of what you can and cannot put in the unit. If you follow the Atkins diet you might be better off than those who do not follow the Atkins diet! I’m just saying. 

[Kerry Beal]

4 hours ago, Anna N said:

For anyone who is interested here is a PDF of the user manual for the FoodCycler. (Includes power consumption numbers). 
Click

 

Strikes me as being very high maintenance in terms of what you can and cannot put in the unit. If you follow the Atkins diet you might be better off than those who do not follow the Atkins diet! I’m just saying. 

Yeah - looking at what you can't put in it - I would leave me with the same amount of stuff in my green bin that I already have in my green bin!

[gfweb]

https://www.theonion.com/kitchenaid-releases-new-80-pound-stainless-steel-block-1847605645?utm_campaign=TheOnion&utm_content=1637185627&utm_medium=SocialMarketing&utm_source=twitter

Edited November 21, 2021 by gfweb (log)

[Margaret Pilgrim]

Our municipal "green bin" system seems to work well.   Food scraps + food papers go into a bucket lined with a compostable bag on our counter.  We fill it probably twice a week although we do put fish/shellfish detritus out immediately.  We've never had a problem with smell or insects.   

[rotuts]

very interesting idea

 

when I first moved here

 

I began ' working ' on a veg garden

 

using free pallets , 4 arranged in a square 

 

was what I started out with .   eventually I had 3 , as I had the space.

 

no animal scraps were ever added there , and there were no issues

 

w wild life.

 

that's y background .

 

there is a several towns wide organic pick up ,

 

Ive seen the truck traveling around .

 

but be ' aromatic '

 

Id say , for those that do the organic pick up

 

this might be easier   assuming cost // power consumption / counterspace

 

or floorspace works out.

 

im in the ' burbs ,and all homes have yards of some king.

 

it may or may not matter that the result from the bucket is not compost .

 

if placed on your plants , they won't benefit until its

 

compost ,  in composting w your ' pots ' of plants

 

the stuff would need a nitrogen boost to start ooff

 

but an interesting idea.

 

however , Im skeptical w the implication

 

that this devise is ''' more Green ''  

 

[ed.: ' green ' def may vary from time to time ]

 

thermodynamics suggests :   "" there is no free lunch '"

 

id be very interested in why the makers think

 

this is ' greener '   than an Organic ( food stuff and leaves , grass trimmings ) Landfill

 

I hope its not a commercial Bait and Switch :

 

1 ) what comes out of this is probably not truly ' composted '  ie broken down to very simple and

 

elemental nutrients , as far as I can tell

 

2 ) when you add the processed contents to soil , then that breakdown begins

 

and probably there are some gasses released.

 

add the second step to you total analysis , the ' green ' total effect

 

might not be that different.

 

this is not to say don't use this ,  you might get stuff for your garden 

 

or Pots , which is your personal benefit.

 

 

Edited November 21, 2021 by rotuts (log)

[rotuts]

there is one ' savings ' I see :

 

you will be saving transportation costs

 

of moving your OrganicWaste

 

to the land fill.

 

that's worth something 

 

but I dont know what that saving might be

 

you can multiply that by any neighborly factor you like

 

each unit uses energy to operate . Compost pile makes its own

 

cost of construction , transportation , decent company profit ?

 

its in each unit.

 

so , the major benefit is " I Feel Good " 

 

which is worth something