Compost grinders are new to the world, with a few old designs of kitchen waste shredders completely pushed out of the market by the latest designs, which pulverize, grind, and dry out your food waste for compost in less than eight hours.
While there aren’t many competitors, there are some great brands that have started producing these ingenious countertop food grinders that grind and prepare compost without the need for a compost pile at all. In this article, we will look at how they work, and their potential uses in your home.
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Top Pick
Premium Choice
Best Value
Compost Grinders Product Ratings
Product | Our Rating | Price | |
|---|---|---|---|
1. Vitamix Eco 5 FoodCycler 71594 |  | | |
2. GEME Food Cycler Compost Machine G601N-2K |  | | |
3. Cavdle V2 Smart Kitchen Waste Composter DCEC01-V2 |  | | |
4. Paris Rhône Smart Waste Kitchen Composter PE-EB004 |  | ||
5. Cavdle Wastecycler Electric Compost Bin Kitchen |  | ||
6. Vitamix FC-50-SP FoodCycler |  | ||
7. DoubleTT Smart Waste Kitchen Composter MD-11400 |  | ||
8. Sage FoodCycler Compost Grinder |  | ||
9. Vitamix Foodcycler Compost Grinder |  |
Compost Grinder Buying Guide
Source: sageappliances.com
What is a Compost Grinder?
Compost grinders turn food waste and kitchen scraps into dehydrated, ready to use, compost. For gardeners with small spaces, or balconies, there has been no way to make your own compost without losing space in the garden, until now.
Compost grinders take up a tiny portion of kitchen countertop, and can even live under the sink, making them an excellent option for gardeners who are sick and tired of their food scraps going to waste, simply because they don’t have anywhere to process their left-overs.
Why do you need a compost grinder?
Compost grinder machines are ingenious gadgets that turn food waste into compost. While they are primarily aimed at homes without large gardens, with limited composting space, or even apartment dwellers, they are a much more efficient way to create usable compost for dedicated gardeners too.
With removable buckets and easy to clean filters, they are super convenient ways to create plant food, whether you’re using them to create compost or just a mulching fertilizer.
Compost Grinders vs Food Shredders
Compost grinder machines work differently from traditional food shredders, which essentially just pulp your food waste. The old fashioned way still works, but only by speeding up the natural composting process, which can still take up to a year to break down into usable compost.
The biggest advantage of compost grinders is that, by dehydrating everything before grinding, they produce a finer end result with no odors, and don’t attract vermin.
What to Look for When Buying a Compost Grinder
Source: amazon.com
It’s important to say that there isn’t much choice between brands right now, with two very similar owning 100% of the market, but keep an eye on this space over the next few months or years, as there are emerging brands coming out of Denmark and Malaysia that should start offering budget models online pretty soon.
As compost grinders become more commonplace, the chances are that they have varying capabilities. Some of the newest models which have yet to reach the US include fast drying models which won’t break down bones. The best compost grinders can break down bone, and eggshells – which even waste disposals won’t do.
How a Compost Grinder Works
The two leading brands of compost grinders both have a three-stage system, which removes moisture, grinds, and then cools the dry waste into usable EcoChips.
- Step 1: Dehydration (4-8 hours depending on moisture content)
- Step 2: Grinding (5-10 minutes depending on materials)
- Step 3: Cooling (30 minutes)
Once the machine has stopped, you’ve got EcoChips ready to use as compost, mulch or fertilizer in the garden, hanging baskets, or containers.
How to Use a Compost Grinder
Composter grinders are easy to use, and give great quality results. Their biggest asset though in our opinion is that they are capable of storing food waste until you’ve got enough to grind. So if you don’t make much waste, but still want to make your own compost, you can store scraps in the odor blocking compost caddy.
When you’ve got a full compost caddy, you simply load up the compost grinder and set it off. The clever machines do the rest.
Using EcoChips from a Compost Grinder
When your compost grinder turns off, your EcoChips are ready to use. EcoChips are the dehydrated and ground food waste from your kitchen, with all the nutrients, but none of the smell.
They make incredibly fast-acting fertilizer for houseplants, or hanging baskets, and are particularly great for tropical flowering plants thanks to their ability to include eggshells and bones, which provides plenty of calcium to your compost.
There are three simple ways to use the EcoChips from a compost grinder machine:
- Mix into the existing compost pile to add nitrogen and carbon to a green mix.
- Use directly as a mulching fertilizer.
- Mix into potting mixes to provide great moisture retention and for nutrient hungry plants like tomatoes or basil.
Compost Grinders Safety Guide
It’s essential to clean the components after each use to stop blades jamming up. Still, thankfully all the removable parts are dishwasher safe, making them easy to maintain.
The machine itself is incredibly safe, with low energy consumption, heating rather than cooking your food waste. It’s not advised to check on the process while the machine is in operation but it doesn’t reach any great temperatures so is safe to open if there is a problem.
Best Compost Grinder Reviews
1. Vitamix Eco 5 FoodCycler 71594
Vitamix has led the kitchen composting market in innovation and invention for a few years now, so they do have a better idea of what works and what doesn’t than most brands.
This 5 liter FoodCycler actively decomposes all of your food waste into usable compost chips, for mixing through soil, or mulching house plants in about eight hours.
It might sound slow, but it’s beautifully clever in its design, and reduces odors to near-zero, even if you’re using the bucket as a storage caddy while you collect enough kitchen waste to compost.
Pros
Generous 5L capacity
Odor blocking kitchen caddy
Easy to use
Reusable filters
Good value
Well designed, and looks good in any kitchen
Easy to get replacement parts
Cons
- N/A
2. GEME Food Cycler Compost Machine G601N-2K
This gigantic 19L food waste recycler effectively composts all your kitchen waste, as well as acting as a convenient bin alongside your regular kitchen bin.
Its simple display screen makes it easy to set up and use too, meaning you can store and compost all of your food waste in one place, with one click.
For most families, 19L of food waste should be more than enough for a week, meaning you can reduce energy use too, with just a single cycle.
Pros
Effective composting
End result is fine, and has loads of potential applications in the garden
Holds 19L of food waste
Cons
- Expensive
3. Cavdle V2 Smart Kitchen Waste Composter DCEC01-V2
If you’re happy to spend a little more, Cavdle have upgraded their first kitchen food recycler with a new optimized design, to make the whole process easier.
The bucket can be filled while it’s in the machine, saving space on your kitchen counter, but what really gets me excited is that you can watch the whole decomposition process through the clear window at the top of the machine.
I know it’s not going to get everyone’s pulse racing, but being able to watch the process of composting as it happens in real time is truly exciting for any green-thumbed gardener.
Pros
Generous 3L bucket
Gorgeously designed appliance
Simple to use, and intuitive display
Includes one-year warranty
Odor-free food waste storage
Cons
- N/A
4. Paris Rhône Smart Waste Kitchen Composter PE-EB004
Paris Rhone’s kitchen composter has multiple cycles, to break down your food waste either into fertilizer chips, even mulch, or fully fermented and composted compost.
It’s a simple-looking kitchen tool that boasts a very attractive price tag, and does exactly what it promises. There are larger units available, but the 2.6 quart model (PE-EB004) is more than enough for most families.
Pros
Good build quality
Handy storage caddy
Three modes for different compost stages
Odorless storage
Easy to get replacement parts
Cons
Smaller than many kitchen composters
Not a recognized brand
5. Cavdle Wastecycler Electric Compost Bin Kitchen
Cavdle’s Wastecycler makes food waste a thing of the past, breaking down nearly all raw food into usable, nitrogen-rich compost that can be used to feed and fertilize your garden.
It’s a relatively unknown brand, but it’s a relatively young tool, with only a handful of brands in competition to break through in this market.
What makes the Cavdle composter stand out for me is its simple screen that lets you know where it’s up to in its cycle, so you don’t need to worry about timers, and you can keep an eye on the process without lifting the lid.
Pros
Effectively breaks down food waste into useable mulch
Good 3 liter capacity
Good value
Cons
- Compost is coarse
6. Vitamix FC-50-SP FoodCycler
Vitamix have been innovating in this market for a while now, so if you’re happy with a smaller capacity, you can go back a few models with their 2L FoodCylcer, which offers one-touch composting, as well as odor-free food storage.
It works just as well as their larger models, but (depending on your personal taste) isn’t attractive, and holds a fraction of the food waste.
However, for half the price, it’s well worth investing in this small food waste composter for your kitchen.
Pros
Great value
Trusted brand
Odorless food waste storage
Easy to use
Reusable parts
Cons
- Small 2L capacity
7. DoubleTT Smart Waste Kitchen Composter MD-11400
This 3L kitchen composter from DoubleTT is a clean-looking appliance that turns any kitchen waste (including paper cups) into instantly usable compost.
With a fast 5-hour cycle, it’s one of the speediest kitchen composters out there, but it’s also one of the newest and least tested, but one of the least-known brands.
If you’re willing to take a bit of a risk, it’s worth it, because it’s such good value, offering a generous 3L of food waste composting in one go, with the option to run repeat cycles to decompose food waste even further and into finer compost.
Pros
Great value
Easy to use
Makes great compost
Odor-free food storage
Cons
- Unknown brand
8. Sage FoodCycler Compost Grinder
Source: sageappliances.com
Sage has the edge on build quality, with better materials, a more reliable warranty, and the peace of mind of buying directly from the manufacturer. I also think Sage has a slight lead on looks too.
The teal detailing makes it feel more contemporary, and would fit into most kitchens as a kitchen gadget you’d be proud to display on the worktop, rather than hidden under the sink.
Sage is also one of the industry leaders in kitchen blenders, making their blade quality more trusted too.
Pros
Smooth to use
Better built quality
Makes compost in less than eight hours
Odorless EcoChips
Odorless waste storage
Cons
Most expensive
Difficult to get replacement parts
9. Vitamix Foodcycler Compost Grinder
Source: amazon.com
While the FoodCycler by Sage was the first compost grinder on the market, it’s got some stiff competition from Vitamix, whose latest product works almost exactly as well.
The size of both machines is identical, with mirrored designs, but the slightly lower budget materials from VitaMix keep the cost down significantly, so if you’re looking for a new compost grinder machine and want to spend a little bit less, their FoodCycler works perfectly for most domestic kitchens.
The advantage that comes with VitaMix is that replacement parts are actually pretty easy to find online. Spare buckets make it easy to have one batch of EcoChips in production, while still keeping the kitchen tidy too.
Pros
Least expensive
Easy to find replacement parts
Easy to use
Makes compost in less than eight hours
Odorless EcoChips
Odorless waste storage
Cons
- Less well built
Compost Grinders Top Picks for 2025
Top Rated Compost Grinder
The latest release from Vitamix is the current market leader, with a generous 5 liter capacity, making food waste history, with a kitchen counter composter that breaks any raw food waste into compost you can use instantly.
There are parts that need replacing, but they are easy to find, and relatively inexpensive, while the most important elements (the caddy, the filter, and the unit itself) all being infinitely reusable.
Premium Choice Compost Grinder
GEME’s kitchen composter is the biggest, and most capable kitchen composter on the market, with a 19L capacity which means you can run just one cycle a week, saving time, and money on your energy bills too.
Sitting neatly alongside your normal kitchen bin, this plug-in composter means you can have compost to use in the garden, or to mulch and feed your house plants in a few short hours, rather than waiting months for the same amount of food waste to naturally decompose outside, without any of the unpleasant odors.
Best Value Compost Grinder
Cavdle are quickly responding to customer needs, with their second kitchen compost grinder in less than two years. Not only does it work well, it looks good, and it’s cheaper than most competitors too, meaning you’ll save money as well as space.
Its 3L, odor-blocking caddy can store about three days’ worth of raw food waste for a family of three, and makes compost in around two hours, making it fast, as well as space efficient.
Compost Grinder Frequently Asked Questions
Can you dehydrate your own kitchen scraps?
Dehydrating kitchen scraps is easy, but inefficient. Modern technology, and recently launched products like Compost grinders make light work of reducing your kitchen waste down, reducing odors and even making it compostable in under eight hours.
Dehydrating your own kitchen scraps in the oven takes just as long but uses more energy.
How do you grind down kitchen waste at home?
You can use all sorts of gadgets to grind down kitchen waste, helping it to compost faster, or simply take up less space in the trash.
Using your existing blender is a great quick way to reduce the volume of waste you produce or using an apple grinder, or leaf mulcher can make light work of heavy loads that can go straight on the compost.
For bigger composting needs, see our buying guide and product review on the best garden composters for 2025.
Wrapping Up Our Compost Grinder Guide
It’s not easy finding kitchen compost grinders, but they are worth the effort and will save you time and space too. If you’re starting a garden in an apartment, or have a small urban space to keep green, then a kitchen compost grinder machine is the perfect way to stay eco-friendly, make your own compost, and reduce your waste at the same time.
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