Foods You Can & Can’t Put Down a Garbage Disposal

“Grease is related to up to 65 percent of sewer overflows,” adds Rebecca Shelton, a wastewater engineer in the Atlanta metro area. To dispose of FOGs properly, experts suggest using oil solidifers like FryAway.

You might not realize that creamy foods like peanut butter and dairy products fall into the FOGs category. So butter, heavy cream, and ice cream are also out of the question.

Sometimes it’s unavoidable for small amounts of grease to go down the disposal—think sautéed vegetables or creamy sauces—which is why you should always use cold water when operating the disposal. “Cold water is key,” says Jeremy Gattozzi, senior category manager for disposals at Moen. “It causes small amounts of grease to solidify.” Then the disposal can break those solids up, reducing the chances of a clog.

Starchy food: Scraping dregs of macaroni off a plate is fine, but a takeout container of week-old fried rice? Toss it in the trash. “Large quantities of starchy foods like rice, pasta, and potatoes break down into a mush that can clog your drain and also gum up your disposal,” says Paul Abrams, the public relations director for Roto-Rooter.

Fibrous vegetables and peels: Celery, corn husks, artichokes, edamame pods, asparagus, and rhubarb are also problematic. “Premium food waste disposals featuring Multi-Grind technology can handle fibrous foods better than a standard single-stage grind disposer,” says Eric Schultz, director of product management at InSinkErator. “Stringy food waste materials often pass through most standard disposals without being ground properly. This can result in food waste material balling up in the downstream plumbing and potentially causing a clog.”

As counterintuitive as it seems, fruit and vegetable peels can cause similar problems, especially if you cram a bunch into the disposal at once. “Fruit and vegetable peels can be very thin, and lack heft,” Schultz says. “This can cause them to slip through most standard disposals without being completely ground. This, in turn, can cause a clog in a similar fashion to fibrous materials.”

Eggshells, shellfish, and coffee grounds: Seems harmless enough, but they don’t decompose quickly, and a large amount of them accumulate and stop up the drain, especially if you’ve got older pipes. The same goes for shellfish and coffee grounds, which don’t break down easily and are also quite oily—a double whammy.