iCompost is not a very fussy machine and you will find it quite intuitive, especially if you have tried some form of composting before. But there are some general guidelines which you should stick to in order to have the best experience. In this article, find out what foods can be disposed of in the iCompost and why certain foods aren’t recommended for the device.
1. Foods That You Can Always Put in the iCompost
Among the foods that the iCompost can always process are:
Fruit and vegetable trimmings (including peels);
Cereals, grains, nuts (without shells) and legumes;
Eggs and eggshells;
Coffee grounds and tea bags;
Solid dairy products, such as cheese.
All of these foods are very easy to process and will be very beneficial to your soil and plants, especially with all the nutrients they contain already.
The greater variety of food types that you add in a cycle, the better the cycle will run.
2. Foods That You Can Put in Small Doses in the iCompost
The foods listed in this section are not restricted to be used for the iCompost, just put them in smaller quantities and be sure to mix them with other foods mentioned in section 1. Adding too much of these foods may render a lower-quality natural compost.
For example, starchy foods (pasta, rice, potatoes) as well as foods that are too sweet or sticky (peanut butter, jams, cakes, desserts, etc.) may clump together and result in a less uniform and less appealing compost. It’s the same for very sweet fruits (melons, grapes, pineapples, bananas). That said, there is no problem adding a piece of toast with a little peanut butter. Potatoes will need to be cut up because they tend to roll around on top of the blade if kept whole.
On the other hand, foods that are too salty contain a significant amount of sodium. Too much of this nutrient in the soil could be harmful to your plants, as you risk causing osmosis, which causes them to dry out and eventually die. Once again, a small amount of salty food may be processed by the iCompost, provided that it’s mixed with other foods mentioned in section 1.
The iCompost is equipped with a grinding system that is robust enough to grind small fish bones. However, chicken bones or larger bones may cause the blade to get stuck so they are not recommended.
Finally, some of the more fibrous or robust foods will be better ground if you cut them into smaller pieces beforehand: celery, spinach, melon or pineapple peels, asparagus stalks, etc.
3. Foods That You Can Never Put in the iCompost
It is important to note that for several reasons, some foods can never be processed by the iCompost.
Firstly, very hard food can damage the device, break the blades inside the bowl, or get stuck between the blades and block the motor. These include:
Wallnut shells;
Pistachio shells;
Oyster and coconut shells;
Certain fruit pits, such as peaches, mangoes or nectarines, avocados
Large bones found in beef or pork or chicken
Corn cobs
Liquid shouldn’t be used in large quantities, but you can put wet food in the device. For example, a glass of milk or soup broth cannot be processed, while chicken with sauce drippings or large food pieces in soup (pasta, meat, legumes) can be processed.
Fats and oils are simply too fat to be dehydrated by the iCompost and may also harm the health of your plants. However, we are talking about the addition of these elements in large quantities. For example, a salad leaf with dressing remains on it could be processed by the device without any problem, but a bowl of butter not.
Finally, although biodegradable packaging like paper bags could technically be composted, they require wetting first in order to break a part. The iCompost has not been designed nor tested to ensure that this wetting process occurs so we do not recommend adding any type of packaging to the iCompost. In short, the iCompost allows you to transform several foods into a natural nutrient-rich compost for your outdoor plants, vegetable garden or pot plants. Its use is intuitive, and you will quickly discover which foods offer you a more satisfying cycle.
In our next articles, we will discuss the subject of the outputted compost in greater depth. What technology is behind the transformation cycle of the iC? What are the different properties of the final compost material and how can I use it? Stay tuned for answers to these questions!