Best Continuous Feed Garbage Disposals

If you are downsizing, this 1/2 HP continuous feed unit is the most compact model on the list. At just 7 x 7 x 13 inches, it should fit handily with room to spare, even in tight spaces.

Easy to install and made of a combination of galvanized and stainless steel components. Both are designed to hold up to heavy use in wet conditions without corroding.

Offers 1-stage grinding. This is typical of compact models, but not as powerful as 2-stage or multi-stage. May not grind challenging materials, such as heavier bones or fibrous vegetables.

Recommended if you have limited space and need a compact model to make things work.

Buyer’s Guide

You may have read articles suggesting that continuous feed models are popular because they are cheap. This can have negative connotations, so maybe you have gotten the impression that batch feed models are inherently superior and you should go with that if you can afford it.

But every character is a two-edged sword. Let’s talk about some of the reasons other than price why a continuous feed model may be the better answer for your household.

Familiarity

Continuous feed models are the most popular style of disposal out there. More people are familiar with their normal use, operation, and maintenance than with the use, operation, and maintenance of a batch feed model.

Habits are hard to overcome, and disposals are potentially dangerous. Old habits can kick in and create problems if you are tired or busy.

If you have a lot currently going on in your life, developing new habits surrounding the use of an ordinary kitchen item like disposal may be a headache you don’t want. It may be far better to skip the aggravation involved and the increased risk of errors.

Some people are simply more adaptable than others. But even if you are normally very adaptable, high stress or busy times in your life can reduce your capacity to adapt.

If you are starting a new job in a new city, just moved into a new house because of it, have a baby on the way, or other major life events, familiar processes will be more comfortable. They will be safer and more efficient. This can be a perfectly good reason to simply go with what you already know, no matter how enticing some other shiny product may superficially seem.

Cleanliness

Batch feed models encourage you to create a little pile of food waste and wait until it is a certain size before you process the batch of food waste. Some people mistake leaving it for a few days, waiting for it to be a full batch. This can cause problems.

If you leave it to sit too long, it can start to smell. If it starts to smell, then you know it is rotting. This means it is growing germs that can be a health hazard for the home’s occupants.

It can also attract insects and other vermin. Even if you promptly process the pile of waste that first attracted them, you may now have a battle on your hands to get rid of the pests that have taken up residence in your home.

Continuous feed models don’t have these issues. You never intentionally leave food waste sitting in them.

If you have someone in the house with serious health issues, a continuous feed model may be more desirable for the increased cleanliness. There are many people who are more vulnerable to infection than an able-bodied adult. This includes children, elderly relatives, people undergoing cancer treatments, and individuals with a genetic disorder.

For some families, the potential for increased risk of disease introduced by a batch feed model outweighs the decreased risk of an accident. It’s just not worth it, and they would much rather develop safety protocols and educate family members about safety for a continuous feed model than deal with the germs and potential pests from a batch feed unit.

Convenience

Continuous feed models are more convenient than batch feed models. You just turn on the water, turn on the disposal, and start feeding food waste into them.

In contrast, a batch feed model needs to have a batch of food waste added first, then you turn on the water, and it gets closed up with a stopper that activates it. It’s a more complicated process that can be a hassle.

The convenience of a continuous feed model comes at a small cost: They aren’t quite as safe as batch feed models. It is possible to drop a utensil into the unit while it is running or have someone else accidentally turn it on while you reach into it for some reason.

Some people with small children, elderly family members, or similar concerns prefer the extra safety of a batch feed disposal. But if you don’t have reason to be particularly concerned about someone seriously hurting themselves, the inconvenience of a batch feed disposal may be a bigger issue for you.

For a busy household of all working adults, the convenience of a continuous feed may be more valuable than the safety enhancement offered by a batch feed design. There may be no need for extra safety features that add steps to the process. Simplicity may be far preferable.

You Can Hear It Running

Batch feed models tend to be quieter than continuous feed models. Some people value this because it lets them clean up the kitchen without waking up the baby or drowning out the TV show someone else is watching.

But there is an unexpected downside to how quiet they can be: People sometimes aren’t confident that batch feed models are actually running. So some people prefer the audible grinding of your typical continuous feed model. It’s a signal that the unit is operating properly.

This can help with detecting jams. If you turn it on and it isn’t making normal grinding noises, then you know something is wrong. It serves as an early warning system.

Our Best Choice

Our all-around favorite is number 1. Waste King L-2600 Garbage Disposal with Power Cord, 1/2 HP. A lot of continuous feed models do not come with a power cord. We like the fact that this one does.

It’s not especially fancy, but it’s a good deal. It’s also fairly compact, which helps leave room for storage under the sink.