The countertop kitchen composter is a lovely vision. Instead of a smelly bucket of vegetable scraps and coffee grounds breeding fruit flies on your counter or attracting rats to your backyard, you could just put it all into a nifty electric gadget, and at some undetermined point in the future you'll have a bountiful supply of nutrient-rich compost to use in your garden.
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Unfortunately, none of the more popular electric machines on the market do this. Even though some of these devices are marketed as “composters" and have instruction booklets and apps detailing all the ways in which one can use compost, the vast majority of kitchen composters are just going to grind up and dry your food scraps. Your waste output will be greatly reduced in volume and will no longer smell, but if you’re hoping to put eggshells and banana peels into a machine and magically scoop out the kind of true compost you’d buy at the garden center, that’s just not going to happen.
That said, you can mix small amounts of these grounds into potting soil in very small ratios, or use them as feeder for a “real” compost pile, but most of these machines are meant for those wanting to reduce the volume of food waste their household produces. Which is in and of itself a legitimate goal, as cast-off food makes up 24 percent of municipal solid waste, resulting in the release of methane, a destructive greenhouse gas, as it breaks down in the landfill.
Or maybe you'd just like your food grounds to be odor-free and shelf-stable before adding them to your green waste bin for municipal composting or your backyard compost. In any case, despite critics’ cries of greenwashing and corporate astroturfing, there is still value to these devices. They make people more aware of their food waste. They don't use as much power as you think they would (around 1 kilowatt-hour was typical). And our top pick, the Reencle Prime (8/10, WIRED Recommends), even produces something close to compost.
Read on for our assessment, and once you're done, check out some of our other kitchen-related guides, including Best Coffee Makers, Best Toaster Ovens, Best Meat Subscription Boxes, and Best Meal Kit Delivery Services.
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I'm WIRED's senior commerce editor in charge of home and kitchen devices and have been reviewing products for our Gear section for the past 10 months. I cook daily for my family of three, and I've been processing our kitchen scraps in these composters in my home kitchen since summer . Each was tested under typical household use for a minimum of four weeks each, and in several cases six weeks or longer. I tested all cycles offered and with all manner of foods allowed according to the manual, and in the case of the Reencle and the Mill, even attempted to use the finished product in my yard and houseplants (to varying effect).
As previously mentioned, none of these machines make truly ready-to-use compost, but the Reencle Prime (8/10, WIRED Recommends) comes closest to a traditional compost bin. Popular in South Korea years before it appeared in the US, the Reencle arrives with a starter bag of ReencleMicrobe (which can be purchased separately for $65) containing activated carbon, wood pellets, glucose, and a trio of patented microbes ready to chow down. There's also a prefilled carbon filter that slots into the back.
At 14 x 15 x 22 inches, the Prime is too large for a kitchen counter but instead conveniently operates much like a heated trash can. The lid can be opened via sensor at the bottom or a button on the control panel, and in goes your organic matter. That's it. There are no cycles, tablets, or auxiliary buckets to worry about. Even the app is totally optional. Within hours to days, depending on the item, the scraps are broken down into a material resembling a cross between dirt and sawdust.
Dimensions12 x 13 x 18.4 inchesCapacity:Minimum 1.5 lbs., maximum 2.2 lbs.Can't process:Large bones or shells, fruit pitsFastest waste breakdown:2 to 24 hours or longer, dependingHow to use its output:Sift, mix 1:4 ratio with soil, cure for 3 weeks and add to plants indoors or outdoors; add to compost pileWarranty:1 yearFoodCycler
First off, I appreciate that FoodCycler doesn’t even pretend it's making a composter. “The FoodCycler is a food waste recycler,” the company explained firmly before agreeing to ship a test unit. “Our primary goal is to provide a modern food waste solution for users who may lack access to traditional composting or other disposal options that divert from the landfill. Therefore, the resulting byproduct cannot be labeled as ‘compost.’” And indeed—the FoodCycler breaks down food so quickly, and with no microbial involvement, that there’s no way anyone could think this was proper compost. But if you are going to go with a grinder/dryer, the Eco 3 is one of the most efficient ones you can buy.
Launched in , the Eco 3 is a smaller version of the Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 (7/10, WIRED Review), sporting a larger 3.5-liter capacity and, according to FoodCycler, better grinding capability. At 11 x 9 x 13 inches, it is small enough to sit on a counter- or tabletop, though the real convenience with this machine is its auxiliary pail. Fill the sleek, 8-inch-tall lidded container with scraps (in my household of three people, this took about three days), and once it's full, swap out the lids, seat it in the machine, and press a button.
A few hours later, you'll have a handful of “Foodilizer,” a "homemade soil amendment” that looks like finely ground dirt. In fact, the output is the most finely ground of any of these machines. There's no assembly with this machine (other than filling a filter with carbon granules), no app, no making an account, no pods or tablets or choosing various cycles—you don't even have to plug it in until you're ready to use it.
The cycle runs from four to nine hours depending on the water content of the scraps, and it produces an audible but unobtrusive whir (about 36 dB on my decibel meter). I did occasionally have trouble getting the bucket to seat correctly, but the manual addresses this, and I was always able to get it right after a couple of tries.
Dimensions:11 x 9 x 13 inchesCapacity:3.5 LCan't process:Compostable plastics, beef bones, candy, oils/fatsFastest waste breakdown:4 to 9 hoursHow to use its output:Mix with soil at 1:10 ratio, or 1:15 if using meat/dairy; add to compost; sprinkle on your lawnWarranty:3 yearsPela
The Lomi 2 is the new smart version of the original Lomi, which WIRED contributor Richard Baguley rated a 7/10 in . It has an app with three cycles that serve different purposes” “Eco-Express" for quick breakdown; “Grow” for grounds to use in your yard; and “Lomi Approved” for approved bioplastics and related items. Like the FoodCycler, Pela straightforwardly markets this as a food grinder and dehydrator—the Lomi does not make real compost, and its primary purpose is to either reduce the volume of scraps in your trash can or process the scraps to be added to a “real” compost pile. However, it does perform these tasks well and for several hundred dollars less than the Mill (below).
When I first unboxed the sleek-looking 2, I watched the setup video in Lomi's app, where an actor removed items from the packaging, including a bag of Lomi Pods, a microbial “nutrient activator” for Grow mode (45 tablets for $30). My machine did not come with Lomi Pods, and it turned out these both need to be purchased separately and are optional, in case you plan to add the resultant “Lomi Earth” from the Grow mode to your garden (at a 1:10 ratio).
At 16 x 13 x 12 inches, the Lomi is small enough to sit on a counter or table, though it is on the larger side—about the size of a small microwave—so it will take a significant outlay of counter space. There's an activated charcoal filter, which you fill with a baggie of granules. Scraps (including meat and dairy!) go right in the bucket set into the machine, which means you have to open and close the lid each time you add something. (Unlike the Reencle, above, or Vego, below, scraps can't be added during a cycle.) Though the lid wasn't hard to get on and off, it was enough of a pain that I found myself using the bucket from the FoodCycler, above, lined with a Matter compostable food scrap bag. When it was full, I just threw the whole thing in the Lomi, bag and all.
Which leads me to perhaps the best feature of the Lomi 2: It can break down compostable bioplastics, like bags. In fact, the Lomi itself comes in a giant compostable bag, which, when torn into pieces, can be processed down to what looks like dehydrated lettuce right in the machine. It should be noted, though, that Lomi recommends only 10 percent nonfood waste per cycle. (I exceeded this percentage on multiple occasions to no negative effect, but rules are rules.)
You can also earn points in Lomi's app each time you run a cycle (up to 10 points for a Grow cycle), to redeem for things like filter refills (like the FoodCycler, Lomi uses activated charcoal granules), cases from Lomi parent company Pela, or merch from partners like Pakt. The app also has a helpful, searchable database telling you what can or can’t go in. However, the Lomi makes significantly more noise during its cycles (46 dB) compared to the Reencle, but the trade-off is that it is totally odorless with its lid sealed. Update April 30, : Lomi says it is pulling the Lomi 2 from the US market for now due to tariffs.
Dimensions:16 x 13 x 12 inchesCapacity:3 LCan't process:Beef bones, candy, oils/fatsFastest waste breakdown:3 hours in Eco Express modeHow to use its output:Mix with soil at 1:10 ratio, or 1:15 if using meat/dairy; add to compost; spread on your lawnWarranty:1 yearVego
If you have a surfeit of stinky kitchen waste and want it dry and broken down lightning fast—say, in two hours, the quickest of any machine on this list—the Vego is your machine. It's roughly the same size and dimensions as the Lomi, with many of the same operational features but the distinction of being significantly less expensive. However, there are definitely some inconveniences that go along with the price point.
For one, like the Lomi, scraps need to be added into the bucket seated in the machine. You can remove the bucket, but unlike the FoodCycler, there's no separate lid for the bucket and the metal mechanism underneath is exposed. Further, the lid to the machine is a bona fide pain to get on and off, requiring a precise lining up of notches and two hands to wrench it open or closed. Not easy to do with fists full of scraps. It's also got four different cycles to choose from—Vego, Express, Fertilize, and Grass. I tried them all. Express mode results in grounds that look more roughly chopped, as with the Mill, but there seemed to be little visual difference among the others, including Vego mode.
Vego claims its Vego mode does create a biologically active soil amendment when processed with one of the included VegoTabs (packet of 30, $25 if purchased separately). These “compost enhancer tablets" can be added during the Vego, Fertilize, and Grass modes. You can also add scraps while it's in Vego mode, and there's a clear lid and nifty light inside in case you want to watch the process.
In all modes, but Vego mode especially, the barrel turns every couple of minutes, emitting a loud whirring. Because the sound isn't constant, it's more noticeable. Even from 10 feet away, I found it obtrusive enough to want to turn up the TV volume. The Vego has an app, but it's meh at best, unhelpful at worst. It tells you the weight of scraps you've added (why?), as well as the benefits of and directions for using finished compost, which is not what is produced by the machine. There's also completely unrelated information about composting outside. However, this is the best entry-level option of this type of machine, so it's worth a look if you plan on having a separate bucket setup.
Dimensions:14.37 × 11.22 × 12.64 inchesCapacity:4 LCan't process:Meat, dairy, fat/oils, hard items like fruit pits or beef bonesFastest waste breakdown:2 to 24 hours depending on cycleHow to use its output:Mix with soil at 1:10 ratio, add to existing compost, spread on lawnWarranty:1 yearMill
All of these machines do a great job breaking down food scraps in some way or another, but still don't fully address what one is supposed to do with them absent a yard or compost pile. Adding them at a 1:10 (or 1:15!) ratio to potting soil is kind of a pain, and many people don't have the space to store all this dirt. The Mill is the only device that addresses this issue by allowing users to ship their grounds in a box via USPS to a farm in Washington state that repurposes them for chicken feed.
When I first tested the Mill (6/10, WIRED Review), I didn't care for this idea, which seemed inefficient at best, and canceling out the benefit of recycling the food waste at worst. I also didn't love the coarse texture of the grounds, having tried to use them in my garden and finding them too easily rehydrated. The price also seemed over the top for what's essentially an oversized Lomi. But if you're looking to reduce the amount of food waste leaving your house, the Mill has the best ease of use, requiring the least amount of work on a user's part.
After testing seven specially designed compost bins, I still prefer a simple mixing bowl for collecting my kitchen scraps. Using the wide mouth of a mixing bowl was liberating after fiddling with lids and bins with narrow openings.
If you’re someone who cooks a lot of fresh produce, you’ll probably appreciate how easy it is to scrape stems, peels, and cores directly off the cutting board with the back of a knife. Mixing bowls are available in a range of sizes, so you can find one that is large enough to hold a heap of cast-offs, and crucially, is easy to clean.
If you empty your compost bowl regularly, you should be able to manage odors and fruit flies, but you can always cover the bowl with a plate, beeswax wrap, or other covering. Mixing bowls with matching lids—such as the freezer-safe Cuisinart Stainless Steel Mixing Bowls with Lids—have an airtight seal that might help keep odors at bay.
You can use it without a top, too. “Candidly, I think my food scraps are pretty,” said Cassandra Marketos, compost expert at Edendale Grove Community Compost Hub in Los Angeles and author of Compost This Book and “The Rot,” a newsletter about composting. “I like looking at them as they accumulate. They’re a lovely reminder of care—I cooked well that week, I fed myself and my friends, and we ate food that was good for us. It makes me happy.”
For freezer storage, a flexible bag is the best option for most people. Though a bag is floppy and not leakproof, it can be stuffed into odd voids and crannies. It can also be plopped into a mixing bowl (see above) as a liner during meal prep then squished back into cold storage.
If you prefer the flexibility and portability of a bag, this nylon tote is lightweight, washable, and squishable (so it can fit in the freezer).
Any flexible bag works, like a reused plastic bag or even a paper one. But a reusable nylon tote, like our staff-favorite Standard Baggu, has greater capacity than many zip-top bags, is washable, and may outlast single-use plastic, which can get brittle over time.
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It can also double as transport: New York Times Cooking recipe developer and food columnist Melissa Clark told us that she uses a Baggu bag to drop off scraps at her local composting program.
If you’re in search of a compost bin with more odor control, we liked the 1-gallon stainless steel Package Free Compost Bin Container. It’s better looking and less expensive than similar bins, and it comes with a charcoal filter that helps reduce odors.
A stainless steel option with a replaceable charcoal filter, this bin is sleek, sturdy, easy to clean, and less expensive than similar styles. You do need to buy the right-size filters online.
May be out of stock
Because the Package Free compost bin is made of sturdy stainless steel, it should last you a long time—as in, your whole life. A friend of mine, an architect, has used hers for three years, and it’s held up to daily use.
The hinged handle makes the pail easy to transport and empty. The bucket and fully removable lid (minus the filter, which can be hand-washed) is dishwasher-safe and can also easily fit in a sink to hand-wash.
We ordered the Package Free compost bin online, and although it’s not literally package-free (it ships in a cardboard box), it arrived in considerably less packaging than its stainless steel competition, and with zero plastic.
The Package Free compost bin isn’t perfect, though. The 7-inch diameter opening requires some precision when tipping scraps from a cutting board into the pail. And you need to buy the right-size, 7.25-inch filters, which are only available online. To extend the filter’s life, wash it by hand with soap and water and hang it to dry.
This no-nonsense plastic bin with a comfortable-to-hold handle keeps a low profile, and its flip-up lid pops off for cleaning. But it’s not the best choice if you’re trying to cut plastic from your kitchen.
Over the years, a number of staffers have been fans of the OXO Easy-Clean Compost Bin, and in our testing, we found it held up to the hype. Still, we think that our stainless steel pick has a better lifetime value.
The flip-up lid and ergonomic, hinged handle make it easy to use. Because of a lip on the lid, you can flip it open and closed with one hand or a knife during the course of cooking.
However, the lid doesn’t seal, and it’s less effective at containing odor than the charcoal filter pails we tested. You can also keep it in the freezer to contain odors, as our accessibility editor Claire Perlman has done for the past five years.
When it came time to clean the bin, the shiny smooth surfaces and interior curves made hand-washing it easy. The lid is fully removable, and the internal bucket can also be run through the dishwasher.
The plastic pail comes in 0.75- and 1.75-gallon sizes. We tested and recommend the bigger bin, which has the advantage of holding more—in theory, its size extends the time between trips to empty it out, though not by so long that the scraps putrefy.
If you want a smaller size, we prefer the 1-gallon, stainless steel Package Free Compost Bin Container over the 0.75-gallon OXO bin. It costs a similar amount but is slightly more generous in size, has an effective odor filter, and the steel material should last a lifetime.
If you have access to municipal pick-up or compost at home, you should stick to a small collector. But if you go through a large volume of fruits and vegetables and drop scraps off at a garden or farmers market once a week, then you may need a bigger vessel.
In that case, your best bet for the money is a heavy-duty bucket with a tight-fitting lid, like the Leaktite 5 Gal Foodsafe Bucket. Due to its size, a 5-gallon bucket is best for people who have a lot of kitchen scraps to collect, aren’t squeamish about getting a little splattered, and can drop it off by car or walk with a wagon.
A heavy-duty plastic bucket with an airtight lid can hold more food waste than a countertop bin. It’s also secure for transport, but it’s hard to carry when full.
Because the lid is sealed, your kitchen scraps can and likely will become hot and vile. To avoid this, freeze your scraps and use the sealable bucket mainly for transport. But for those who are short on space, try adding moisture-absorbing materials like newspaper, brown paper, or wood shavings, as Renée Crowley, deputy director of the LES Ecology Center, recommends. “By absorbing the excess moisture in your food scraps you can reduce odors and make the bin less attractive to pests,” said Crowley.
Before you spring for a special vessel, compost expert Cassandra Marketos recommends experimenting with what you have on hand. Anything works: mixing bowls, takeout containers, old jars, buckets, repurposed bags. Try that test bin in a few locations, like by your sink, in the fridge or freezer, by the trash, or on your counter. Here are some tips to help you find just what you need.
Consider how you eat. How much you cook at home, and what you tend to eat, will determine what size and style of vessel works most seamlessly for you. A vessel with about a 1-gallon capacity and at least a 6-inch opening is a good starting point: It’s big enough to be practical and user-friendly and small enough so you take it out regularly (anywhere between every night to once a week), which will deter odors and mold. The more often you take out your unfrozen compost, the less it will smell.
Consider the fridge or freezer. If you know you won’t be emptying your kitchen scraps frequently, or if you’re finding odors to be a problem, try freezing them until you’re ready to drop them off at a community garden or farmers market. Crowley also suggested using the fridge.
Look for a simple and smooth bin, with a fully removable lid. We recommend a pail with smooth surfaces, with very few nooks and ledges, and that is made of a single material, such as stainless steel. These features all help you get a quick and deep clean. A removable lid also makes it more likely that the pail will fit in your dishwasher or sink, no matter the shape of your faucet.
Consider a filter. If you want extra odor protection, a bin with a charcoal filter can be effective, as long as you still empty it regularly. Ali Greer and Eric Tomassini, who run Avenue 33, a regenerative farm in Los Angeles, suggest a filter if you’re not emptying your bin more than once a week or if your kitchen gets really hot. Most charcoal filters can be hand-washed and reused before they’re replaced.
Skip the bag liner. Some bins are designed to hold a compostable liner. But you don’t need to line your kitchen food-scrap bin with anything.
Waste less, stink less. The best way to manage your kitchen compost collection is by collecting less of it. The less you throw away, the less moisture and sugar in your bin that can make a great habitat for mold and unpleasant odors to bloom. We have lots of tips for how to cut down on your food waste.
The Oggi (a former staff-favorite), Enloy, and Epica stainless steel bins were nearly identical in size, performance, and smell tests to the Package Free Compost Bin Container we recommend. But they were all more expensive or didn’t function quite as well. That said, any of these will serve you about the same and last for years.
We liked the look of the Bamboozle Compost Bin and Lalastar Compostable Bin, both made of bamboo, but at about $40 each, we found them overpriced for their size. We were also concerned about their durability, and in our experience this material is frustrating to keep clean over time.
The 2.5-gallon TerraCycle Compost Bin is composed of 50% recycled plastic (a percentage of which, TerraCycle claims, comes from TerraCycle’s reclamation program). We’d prefer if the hinged lid was fully removable for easier cleaning, but at about $20, it may be a fine option. We did not order it in time for this round of testing.
We tested the plastic Lalastar Hanging Compost Bin in the 1.8-gallon version. The 1.75-gallon OXO compost bin has a better design, but if you are looking for something that you can mount to a cabinet and commit to emptying frequently, this is a fine option.
We tested the 3-gallon Brabantia Sort & Go Recycling Trash Can. While we liked the compact design and found it to be an ideal size, its lack of a tight seal lets out odors and makes it vulnerable to leaking during transport.
We were intrigued by the 1-gallon Simplehuman Compost Caddy. But on closer inspection, we decided not to test the caddy, since in our experience, the narrow proportion would prove messy (a hypothesis reflected in several reviews). At nearly $50, it’s also far more expensive than our picks.
We were momentarily starstruck by the 1-gallon Emile Henry Compost Bin, which is made from French ceramic and comes with a 10-year warranty. However, it costs about $150 and weighs more than 8 pounds without being filled.
Anna Perling contributed reporting to an older version of this guide. This article was edited by Marilyn Ong and Christine Cyr Clisset.
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