Does anyone have any recommendations for a good kitchen composter?

Question

preferrably one that doesn't cost too much and isn't too smelly.

Answer 1

I don't think you want to make compost in a kitchen.  Compost is some combination of carbon (the brown stuff) and nitrogen (the green stuff), keep supplying it with air and water and the way it breaks the raw materials down is by growing bacteria, they basically eat it. I'd recommend doing it in the back yard.  :-)

If instead you want a garbage disposal to mount in the sink drain, insinkerator makes dependable models which are relatively inexpensive.  Just make sure when you hook up the wires that you ground it (the green wire).  If you don't connect the ground wire it can shock you.

Answer 2

There is a easy safe way to compost in your kitchen, which may be necessary for apartment dwellers:  Vermicomposting

Basically you set up a bin under the sink for red worms.  These special worms chew up your scraps and leave you with their droppings which is great for your plants.

You can learn more here:

http://compost.css.cornell.edu/worms/ste...

Or you might just want to listen to one of my favorite podcasts, More Hip Than Hippie.  They did a show on worm composting.

http://media.libsyn.com/media/morehiptha...

Answer 3

What you want in your kitchen is a jar to store food scraps.  I put organic, raw fruit and veggie scraps in mine.  I also throw in some organic coffee grounds.  Any jar will do, I use a huge glass jar with a wooden lid that seals tightly.  Some people use coffee cans.  You don't have to spend a lot.

You can get a "compost bin" to dump the kitchen waste in outside.  Tightly sealed bins need worms and dirt added.  Worms will migrate to bins that aren't tightly sealed.  I only use a compost bin in the winter.  In the warm weather I just bury the scraps directly in my garden.

I actually have a "how to" article about it.  You can link to it below.