Garbage Bowl

[eJulia]

Recently, I was making a dish that required a great deal of vegetable prep. I decided to use the "garbage bowl" concept that Rachel Ray uses, and a number of other celebrity chefs seem to employ.

What a difference it made! I never would have guessed how distracting removing waste to my garbage pail under the sink was causing me....

I seemed to be able to focus better, and I'm sure it took me less time to complete my dish.

I'm curious, how many others use the "garbage bowl", when you use it, and have you seen a significant change in the way you cook?

BTW, a "garbarge bowl" is a large bowl you keep next to your prep center to collect scraps, peels, stems, etc that you create during your prep. You only deposit it once in your regular kitchen trash can (after completing your prep), rather than throwing all that "waste" one at a time in your kitchen trash can.

Thanks for any feedback you have.... Julia

[bigbear]

I use a basket that's about 7" x 7". It's just the right size for those plastic bags that you bring home from the supermarket's fruit and vegie department.

[ScorchedPalate]

I used to use those thin plastic produce bags as my waste container. When I was done, I'd just knot it off and pop it in the trash. (No dirty bowl to wash...)

I just moved to a city with municipal composting. The program includes all foods (even meat!) and food-soiled paper, so I started using paper lunch bags. But since they aren't watertight, it wasn't a good solution for my situation, since the compost bin is downstairs. The recycling company recommends milk cartons, but we don't drink that much dairy in our 2-person household.

So, looking for a better option, I just bought a small compost pail. It's about the size of a llarge lunch bag, and has charcoal filters over the vent holes (which I presume are there to keep things from going anaroebic and turning into a putrid mess.)

(edited for clarity)

Edited August 26, 2005 by ScorchedPalate (log)

[MelissaH]

I've always just used a plastic bag (either produce or regular grocery). I have no dishwasher, and a bag doesn't need to be washed afterwards.

MelissaH

[Maison Rustique]

I work right next to the sink. I dump stuff there and then grab it all in one fell swoop to toss it.

[godito]

One of my first chefs told me once: always have a bowl for your garbage and a bowl for your prep. Also, when at the CIA, I got used to working with a bowl for my food waste, a bowl for the rest of my garbage (papel towels or plastic wrap) and a recipient for my prep. Anything that keepsyou organized in the kitchen is good.

[Daddy-A]

I know others offer it, but the gang at Franke have a built in countertop waste bin that works really well (scroll down about 1/2 way).

Personally, I use a big stainless steal bowl and then empty it when I'm done.

A.

[snowangel]

I have a way cool compost pottery thing, so I use that as a garbage bowl (veg only!) and it goes into a compost heap.

[rancho_gordo]

I just moved to a city with municipal composting. The program includes all foods (even meat!) and food-soiled paper, so I started using paper lunch bags.

Good girl! Isn't it amazing how little regular trash you have when you compost? What a waste garbage is! Between composting and recycling I now have one small shopping bag worth of garbage a week now.

I caught Rachel Ray say the other day "GB, garbage bowl". I'm a little tired of trashing such a dim bulb, but how silly to give something a nickname and then call it by it's regular name as well. I realize she's a very busy gal, but "GB"?

[Foodie in Vancouver]

I have used a garbage bowl for a long time - I use a plastic container that lost its lid. It is about 10.5 by 6 inches and fits nicely into a drawer in my island making it very handy to pull out as I need it. I can't imagine cooking without it.

[sanrensho]

All our scraps go into a big stainless steel bowl. We only started composting this year, but I wish we had taken the plunge years ago.

[fou de Bassan]

I didn't know it had a name, but I've used one since I started cooking for myself. It just seemed to make sense. It certainly does streamline things.

Welcome to eGullet!

[howard88]

I have been using a large plastic bowl for years. All scraps that go into the compost pile are thrown into the bowl. Works out well; saves time, helps the environment and seasons the soil.

[Katie Nell]

I've always just used a plastic bag (either produce or regular grocery). I have no dishwasher, and a bag doesn't need to be washed afterwards.

MelissaH

←

Same here.

[Taboni]

OK I'll be the dissenting voice. Everything gets swept into my 1HP WasteKing and

ground up. I don't compost and I barely recycle. There I said it. I bet I'm not the only one flaunting the environmentalists either.

[birder53]

I just started using a "garbage bowl" after reading about it on a thread here. (Sorry, I can't remember who mentioned it in order to give them credit!) It made a big difference. Whenever my husband and I are both working in the kitchen, we jockey for position at the sink, and when anyone is at the sink you can't open the cabinet door to get to the trash can below the counter. With the bowl, I didn't have to wait for my turn to get to the trash can. The bowl also saved me from bending each time I had trash to discard. It does take up valuable counter space, but I found a way to work around it.

[fifi]

I am kinda with you, Taboni. But when I had my house, we had curbside recycling and I had a little compost pile. Then, I used a "garbage bowl." I can't wait to have a compost heap again. Oh . . . not for any tree hugging tendencies. I just like to have the compost for the garden and the various things that sprout from it are fun to watch. When I was a kid, my dad got a bunch of papaya "trees" out of the compost heap and, thanks to a mild winter, we had bunches of papayas the next year. Then there was that "mystery squash" that was so tasty.

What I am trying to figure out is a "municipal compost" that can use meat scraps. YUK!

[Varmint]

Heck, that's why I got the industrial strength disposal to go with my prep sink. I don't garden, I don't compost, I don't even have a lawn to mow!!!

[snowangel]

When I was a kid, my dad got a bunch of papaya "trees" out of the compost heap and, thanks to a mild winter, we had bunches of papayas the next year. Then there was that "mystery squash" that was so tasty.

←

Kinda reminds me of when we moved the outhouse at our cabin (so that the door didn't open to the lake). We capped of the drum with the "stuff", topped it with some dirt, and for the next few years, voila, a few tomato plants would sprout.

[eJulia]

Thanks everyone for your replies....

For those of you who have not adopted this method, I highly recommend it, and it looks like a lot of others use it too. Even if you don't have the opportunity to compost, it still makes meal making easier and faster.

Thanks for the welcome to eGullet!

[sparrowgrass]

I have a stainless steel bucket with a lid from Lee Valley Tools, and when I am done cooking for the day, the scraps go out to the chickens. They compost it for me.

[Curlz]

I caught Rachel Ray say the other day "GB, garbage bowl". I'm a little tired of trashing such a dim bulb, but how silly to give something a nickname and then call it by it's regular name as well. I realize she's a very busy gal, but "GB"?

←

Hey...she ONLY HAS 30 MINUTES, RG!!

I've been using the plastic grocery bags as 'GBs' ever since I can remember--it's just more efficient than numerous trips to the garbage can (even if it's only 2' away). And for those of you with disposals, I say PFFFT! Keep in mind that there are a lot of places in the US where they're not allowed.

[lesfen]

I've always just used a plastic bag (either produce or regular grocery). I have no dishwasher, and a bag doesn't need to be washed afterwards.

MelissaH

←

Same here.

←

DITTO.

[hsm]

No composting at the condo, so one more fan of those cute little plastic bags. They open wide in the sink. They hook onto the drawer pulls. They fit nicely inside the big stainless steel bowl and save it from a cleaning. I use them whichever way makes sense at the time.

[SuzySushi]

The Japanese make these neat little triangular plastic bins that fit inside a corner of the kitchen sink. They're made for vegetable scraps and can be used with a plastic produce bag if you prefer. That saves on counter space. You can get them at stores that sell Japanese housewares (and the 99-cent stores around here).