Whatever happened to the Kich’n Komposter?
According to the various fragments of promotional material I’ve seen the Kich’n'Komposter is a cross between a separating centrifuge and a waste disposal unit. It grinds up food waste, then separates it from the water so it can be composted. This may not seem particularly fantastic to some, but we try and compost everything, so as summertime swings by once more, the downside of regular kitchen wastage once again takes to the wing: Flies.
Grinding up food before it goes in the compost has two key benefits:
- It helps the worms to eat the scraps more quickly, because there’s more surface area they can attack it from, this means the composting time is drastically reduced, so there is less compost being made at any one time.
- The waste can be more easily mixed-in with the existing worm tailings (soil), so flies can’t get at it so easily. If they do lay eggs near it, they’re less likely to become viable maggots if the food source is buried.
The Kitch’n'Komposter therefore seems like a great idea, so:
- Has anybody seen one?
- Does anybody own one?
- Does it work as we might imagine and is it effective?
- Why can I not buy it anywhere?
…for real! What happened?
The Kich’n Komposter
by
Carbco Industries
240 Michigan St.
Lockport, NY 14094
I read about these years ago and I want one!
If you find any, let me know!
If I can’t find one, I’m thinking about building
a valve system attached below the sink disposal unit
with one pipe leading out to the sewer as usual, but
the other pipe leading outside, through the wall to
a self-draining compost bin. I’d just reserve food
scraps (like you’d normally do to collect them
before carrying them outside,) finish the dishes
making sure that all the oil and soap is thoroughly
rinsed from the sink, then flip the valve under the
sink over to the compost side and begin to feed the
vegetable scraps into the disposal unit, effectively
washing them down a pipe outside into a compost bin
that drains the extra water off, (perhaps collecting
it to use for gardening.) Then you’d just have to
remember to flip the valve back when you finished.
You get the benefits of grinding up the food, plus,
your compost stays moist…..in theory….
I work in the State of Vermont and just found a piece of company literature in an old box I am sorting out. Been looking for them myself.
It turns out they had a problem with the first generation and took it off the market to revamp. They think they’ll have something back on line by the end of next summer.
Made by Joneca Corporation, email infor@joneca.com, website http://www.joneca.com
We have a Kich’n Komposter, that we have never used. It is still in the box and in perfect condition. We are happy to sell if anyone is interested. E-mail us for more information.
We reviewed this product in 1993 in Environmental Building News, then returned to it in 1998 with information that the product was available from the manufacturer: Joneca Corporation. However, more recently we have been unable to determine whether the product is still made; I’m hoping Vicky is right that it’s returning this year.
I have held on to a sales order/ flyer for this product from a friend since 1996.
It has surfaced again and this time I have actually gotten this far following up.
It is the day after earth day, so through this next weekend people will be turning
to me as the compost and water recycling authority. It sure would be nice to have
such a product to plug in to the kitchen.
to karen wildish & any else out there i would be interested in & about the kich”n komposter status as of 10/08 and karen if u still have it how much thx to everyone
I want one too. Please let me know whats happened since the last emails in 08.
Thanks.
I tried searching Joneca’s web site with no luck. We’re interested, too.
i too am looking for a kitchen composter . please advise me if you have found one.
thanks
rc
Not yet!
Wouldn’t an common or garden food mincer do a similar job at no extra cost? or am I missing something here?
Yes, it would… but I had a food mincer and it was a pain in the arse, cleaning it every time, so I gave up on it.
I had one on the boat and found it really useful, but I can’t stick it down to a non shiny work surface so it went to the charity shop! I suppose I could break things up in the mixer or the blender….. but then, kitchen waste breaks down pretty quickly in my compost heap… which has thousands of worms in it!
I’d love to have something like this so if it does resurface on the market I hope to hear about it. I’ve been saving literature on it for a few years….
I am currently an Engineering Student at Rowan University. I am working on a project to re-engineer this product into something that can be produced mass market. I am currently looking into this product for patents or any other technical information that would help or also hinder our ability to get funding for this project. If anyone has ANY information it would be greatly appreciated.
my email is
njdevils23@optonline.net
Thank you very much.
I was thinking about building something not unlike what Brian suggested, and then I stumbled upon a reference to the Kich’n Komposter. I’m pretty sure it didn’t have its own mincer, but was added into the drain line after a standard garburator. It looks like it has a diverter and then a centrifuge to release as much of the water as possible. The only drawback I can see, and this may have been its demise, is you would have to crawl under the counter every time you wanted to use it. I’m going back to the original plan and build my own. It will have an access hatch through the counter-top next to the sink where the garburator is. It will have a diverter so that you only collect compost-friendly food scraps when you wanted. As soon as I have a prototype working, I’ll be offering the plans and then you can build your own. Keep an eye out if your are interested at innovationincluded.com
I just spoke with a person at Joneca Corp today (8-3-2010) about this product. They are currently redeveloping it to make it a little more consumer friendly, including developing a compostable filter/liner for the basket to ease the burden of cleaning after dumping. They estimate that it will be available by spring/summer of 2011.