Coffee Grounds in Disposer?

[sarahperdue]

Please, oh please say yes...

My daily driver is a Sunbeam C-30, and rinsing it out in the sink makes cleaning it bearable.

But don't tell me sweet lies. I honestly want the truth.

Thanks,
Sarah

 

[iheartmaytag]

I have heard both ways.
Yes--as long as you run lots of water.
NO-as it packs up in the pipes and give you a solid clog.

Egg shells,
"Dito"

Rice--Never. Sticky and swells give you a concrete like plug.

But guess the same can be said for everything. Moderation and lots of water to flush it down. Make sure your pipes are free flowing to begin with.

Though I still have a disposer and use it all the time, I have been trying to send most of my kitchen waste to the compost bin.
[this post was last edited: 9/10/2012-14:11]

 

[cleanteamofny]

For years this has been should I or shouldn't I answer and it all depends on your house draining, are you on septic or municipal?

Can you put cheese in a garbage disposal? - Answers

Coffee Grounds Down Garbage DisposalsFrom what I've read, yes, and no. I hate getting rid of the grounds from my french press, so I've done a bit of online research. If you have a septic tank, the answer is no. Solids of any kind contribute to the build up of sludge in the tank, which means...

wiki.answers.com

 

[bwoods]

I would say go for it. If your sink stops up, which I doubt, stop doing it.

Personally, I have never exprienced any problems with coffee grounds from the percolator or drip machine.

Used coffee grounds have already absorbed all the water they are going to, so I don't see how they could expand in your pipe when they are already expanded. Plus your disposer is shredding them and diluting them, even more, in a stream of moving water.

I have never previously heard anyone ever say anything about coffee grounds in a disposer before and have never read anything against them in any of the manufacturer's instruction manuals, at least the ones I have had. So this is a new one.

So be scientific. Try it. In the rare chance, your pipe clogs up, unclog it. It was worth experimenting to find that there is something in your system that couldn't handle it.

If it does work, then you know and you won't have to worry anymore!

The one caveat. A lot of cheap plumbers and unknowing homeowners use one of those "disposal installation tailpipes", which allow you to install a disposer in one side of the sink, and discharge it directly into the tailpiple coming down from the other sink bowl.

This forces large volumes of waste laden water make an instant 90 degree turn in only half the diamaeter of a pipe. So naturally this is a clog point. I have lived in apartments plumbed this way. And a house I bought was also plumbed this way. It's not an uncommon way for a disposer to be installed because it's cheap and easy, not because it's right. Disposers often get the blame, instead of the plumber.

If you have this situation. Go to Home Depot or Lowes and for a few dollars more you can get an extra trap and some PVC line and run your disposer directly to the main drain pipe under the sink, not the tailpipe of the other sink bowl.

You will probably never experience a clog then.

 

[cleanteamofny]

Just thinking?
Living in a single family home, clogs like this can occur because not enough water is flowing through the system unlike a multi-dwelling home.
Water volume is much less so everything is not pushed to the final destination unless a top loader is used since they use the most water to keep the system free and clear.

 

[jakeseacrest]

I've been putting coffee grounds down my disposal for around 20 years and have never had any problems. I say go for it!

 

[jerrod6]

Never thought about this, although I have a drip maker and usually put the grounds into the trash instead of the disposer.  Can't give any reason for me doing this though but maybe because I use paper filters and the filter is going to go into the trash so I just chuck the entire thing in there.

 

One thing my disposer manual recommends is that you  frequently run the disposer while draining an entire sink full of water hot or cold.

 

I do this once a day.  They probably recommend this because with todays low flow faucets you just can't get a strong enough water flow to really flush the lines adequately.  I know my flow is sometimes so low it makes we want to jump and and down demanding "SOME WATER PLEASE" 

 

[bwoods]

I just put the wet filter, as well as the grounds, down the disposer. One of my Sears (AKA InSinkErator) owner's manual from some years back specifically says you can put paper napkins down the disposer, I figure a filter is pretty close.

Those absorbent pads you find under hamburger, steaks, and in other meat packages, that get messy with blood, I also run down the disposer. They just about gag me to look at, let alone put into my trash.

Anything that can putrify in my trash compactor or garbage can goes down the drain, including small amounts of paper towels that have been used to wipe up grease messes, spilled milk, etc.

Paper emulsifies very quickly in the disposer, a lot more quickly that many food wastes and is biodegradeable anyway.

We had a big discussion about this on the AW website sometime back, and some members don't put paper down their disposals, some do. I just get grossed out with the thought of food wastes rotting in my garbage. Everybody is different. Anyway I don't grind rolls of paper towels at a time, just small amounts that are wet soiled.

So when you try putting grounds down there, you might try the filter, too. I agree with you, Jerrod, it's always good to run plenty of water, and let it run for a few seonds after the disposer is turned off, no matter what you grind up.

 

[whirlcool]

With our Cory Vacuum pot we let it sit on the counter top for a few hours which seem to dry out the grounds, then we just dump it upside down on a paper towel and throw in the trash. Only about 1-2 tsp of grounds are left in the upper part and we just rinse that out and let it go down the disposer. Never any problems and we have a cheap "Whirl-Away" disposer.

Coffee grounds will not stink up your house in the trash. In fact, they act as a deodorizer. An old flight attendant trick is if the can on an airplane starts to get stinky, just put some coffee grounds in the trash container. The grounds will absorb the stink.

 

[volsboy1]

My disposer says Coffee Grounds,Filters,Napkins,Cigarette butts,Plastic forks,Paper towels,any and all bones and corn husks ,artichoke and (ANY AND ALL FOOD) that will fit through the hole..This is my instructions for my 1971 Wasteking SS8000 though.It will grind all of that stuff I have tried it LOL.... I have a 1975 commercial Wasteking I have never used its a 1.5 H.P. I am really thinking about installing just to see what it can do.

I know I am kinda crazy but to each is own..but  I think you know were I stand. I was looking through my files and my 1973 Tappan says it will grind coffee filters and coffee grounds,tea bags and here is a pic of the grind chamber I have never tested it but it shocked me so I don't think coffee is a big deal..

 

[mixfinder]

Only 61 years experience, too soon to tell.

I only use expensive disposers and I always make sure enough water runs behind the debris to push it into the main drain. I have never, ever had a problem. In houses I have lived with no disposer, I always rinse the grounds down the sink drain. They don't need a disposer to make them any smaller. Its still about significant water flow. I also throw the paper filter in the disposer with the grounds. If pipes can carry out turds and other larger amounts of human waste why couldn't they handle coffee grounds? I hate those STUPID screen cups that fit over the drain and capture the tiniest food particles. How stupid is that besides being a germ factory.

 

[58limited]

I use a French press and have been dumping the grounds in the sink for at least 2 years. No problems but I run a lot of water as I do it, plus the dishwasher drains in the same line so it gets a good flush from that.

 

[petek]

When we had a disposer we did.. Now that we don't have one we still do.  Never had a clog from coffee grounds.  The only time we had clogs with our disposer was the one in our first Calgary house,,, but that was because the drain pipe took about a 25 foot meander across the basement and there wasn't much if any of a downward incline. 

 

[dustin92]

Wow... we cant put anything more than table scraps down ours or the drain clogs about ten feet from the diaposer. No lettuce, rice or pasta, that clogs it almost instantly.

 

[frigilux]

Grounds go in the trash when I use the drip coffeemaker because they're contained by the paper filter.

Grounds go into the disposer when I use the espresso machine. I use a chopstick (Hi, Kelly!) to loosen the "puck" of grounds into the sink.

Have never had a problem with backups, but the dishwasher drains very hot water into the sink pipes every day, so that may help keep things clean.

 

[joeekaitis]

We use No. 4 paper filters for coffee, which go in the trash, grounds and all.

We feed our Waste King 1/2 horsepower disposer chicken bones, small rib bones, egg shells, bell pepper seeds and seed pods, uneaten leftovers and grease in cooled liquid form (drizzled slowly with the motor running and washed down with plenty of water). His majesty does NOT enjoy corn husks and silk, onion skins and larger beef bones even though the instructions claim they're on the menu.

I always run the water for 30 to 60 seconds after the grinding noise subsides.

 

[dirtybuck]

I've lived in apartments for the past 20+ years and have never had problems with coffee grounds in the disposer.

Now, which is better...running hot or cold water to help get all the food and stuff down when the disposer is turned on?

I use hot.

 

[joeekaitis]

Now, which is better...running hot or cold water . . .

Cold when the disposer is running. My building-inspector brother-in-law, who's also a plumber, says hot water can cause enough metal expansion to make the turntable bind against the grinding chamber wall. It probably won't grind to a halt but it does increase friction.

Hot water is OK with the motor off, as when the dishwasher drains.

 

[arbilab]

The only thing I ever put down a disposer that stopped it up

potato peels. Lousy disposer, worn out BOL ISE. It would still eat rice and pasta, just not anything the least bit fibrous.