Yeah, I totally agree. It's not organic matter yet. But at least I can directly dump it into the soil, and it will slowly break down. If I add raw food to soil, rats and rodents will smell it in minutes and make mess all over. If I traditionally compost, it takes 2 years due to year-long low temperatures in my area.

@@aerogardenexperiments oh absolutely, it's way better than burying raw food scraps! I guess I just don't like how these companies **Lomi in particular** tried to make it seem that the end product is fertilizer when it's really not, at least not yet. They've since backtracked, but some people buying these types of things still aren't aware. Anyway, this video will be very helpful for perspective buyers!

It is addicting!

@@idahogardengirl942 It is! 😆

Most of these types of devices work by heating the metal container while stirring/grinding. That only really dries the material in contact with the hot surfaces. Instead, they should also have an air-fryer type convection blower to also rapidly dry out the rest of the material. Dry material is much more friable than damp stuff. I did an experiment a few months back where I had some tough vegetable stalks that constantly jammed my FoodCycler. I removed that fibrous material and dehydrated it in my turbo toaster oven at the same temperature I usually use to recharge my silica desiccant beads. A few hours later, I returned the drier material to the FoodCycler and this time, when the blade encountered a bundle of the fibers against it, the material shattered like glass instead of bending and clogging. Vitamix now has an improved version of the FoodCycler that doesn't jam as much, but the addition of an air fryer would make even that unit more reliable. The only issue might be the increased power requirement to run both heating elements at the same time on a standard 15A breaker circuit.

yeah, power consumption is a great point to consider in terms of sustainability. I am waiting for my next electricity bill to compare.

Do you have any updates on the electricity bill and how it is doing with that?

Yeah, electricity bill spikes depending on usage. I am limiting the usage 2-3 times a month to stay in the lower slab.

@@aerogardenexperiments oh boy ok. I was planning on doing it everyday, have to observe our bill and see how feasible it is.

Lots of eye-opening thoughts. I will consider all these thoughts going forward. Thank you.

Freezing and making stock from peels sounds like a great idea.

The math I follow is based on how much nutrients I add in Aerogarden Harvest. For 2.5 liters of the Harvest model, I add 8 ml of nutrients. So, for 6.5 liters of Mufga, I add 20 ml of Aerogarden nutrients. Basically, 3.5 ml of nutrients for every 1 liter of water.

@@aerogardenexperiments Thank you so much ❤️

Composting requires the right conditions food does not break down when sent to the landfill

Yeah, as Hannah explained, natural composting takes time and requried specific conditions like high temperatures etc. Also, I always see lots of rodents can easily find the raw food, dig in, and create mess.

I got excited for a short period of time. I still use it now and then. A couple of things I want to call out: 1. This is not a real composter as titled. This makes the material ready for composting. It basically dehydrates the food which eliminates odors and the compost ready material is not attracted to rodents. 2. This consumes lots of energy. It's pretty much like running the conventional oven at 500°F for an hour. So, if the electricity is expensive, then it's not worth. The electricity is not so expensive in the area where I live, so I am OK to run it once a week. 3. We need to replace the filter after a couple of uses and the filter is very expensive. I am not there yet so I am not sure whether I am going to replace the filter or just throw away the device. 4. I see this more of a landfill saver. I deeply care about the sustainability and try to avoid landfill in every possible way. I am really proud of running this system and reduce 3-4 cubic feet of landfill every single week that is coming from my plant waste and food waste. Waste management charges me a lot for real composting so this is my alternative. Hope this information is helpful. Let me know if you have any further questions.

It means, the blade got stuck due to some tough material in your food scraps. I see this often when I put plant matter like small woody branches.

Thanks

Yeah, it takes a lot of power. It is almost running a conventional oven at 400-500° F.

Have you bought this exact same model and it smells? Or, is it a different model that you got? I see this model comes with an activated charcoal which seems to be helping a lot controlling odors.

@@aerogardenexperiments Mine smelled before i realized i did not remove the seals to the filter. once i removed those, it doesn't smell.