iDOO Compost Bin, Electric Composter for Kitchen Countertop, 3L Smart Mill Composter Kitchen Bin, for Mom, Auto Home Compost Machine Odorless, Turn Waste to Pre-Compost for Plants

Before purchasing the iDoo Garbo electric composter, we struggled with food scraps. We would put them in a very thin compost plastic bag inside a bucket. The food would sit for three or four days before we emptied it, during which time it often grew mold and started to stink. When it came time to transfer the bag to our larger compost bin on the side of the house, the bag frequently broke due to the decomposing food, creating an even worse smell. Setting up the little bag in the bucket and letting the scraps sit for days was too time-consuming and unpleasant. That's when I decided to get the iDoo composter to simplify things. I've used it several times, and it's been very effective. It's much easier to dump the food into the composter and let it grind everything overnight. I believe an electric composter should be affordable for all families. While the $259 price is not affordable for me, many people might find it too expensive, especially considering the additional cost of refills like charcoal filters every three to six months. Given that composting is required for food scraps in California, there should either be a tax credit or a very inexpensive model available for everyone to compost food. Using thin compost bags inside a bucket is not ideal unless you have a large bin constantly filled with grass and other materials. However, this method risks attracting rats and mice, complicating matters further. Therefore, an affordable electric composter would be a much better solution for everyone. My only issue with the setup is that the manual instructions don't specify how much charcoal and white beans to pour into the filter. I dumped them both in, and it worked okay. I'm curious how long it will take before I have to purchase another pack of charcoal and beans. I also wish the company would upload the instruction manual on their website. I don't like hanging onto paper manuals.

I had a bit of a "love-hate" experience with the iDoo Electric Composter. Here is the breakdown of why I can’t fully recommend it despite the solid performance: The Good: When the unit was operational, it did exactly what it promised. It efficiently dehydrated and ground down our kitchen scraps into a dry, manageable material that was perfect for use in our garden. It’s a great concept for keeping waste out of the landfill and helping the yard. The Bad: The durability is a major concern. The rod connecting the bucket to the grinder eventually snapped, rendered the entire machine useless. The Dealbreaker (Support): The most frustrating part was contacting customer support. I wasn't necessarily looking for a handout—I was willing to pay for a replacement bucket—but they told me they could not offer one for free or for purchase. Whether the product is discontinued or the company is having internal issues, the result is the same: once a single part breaks, you're left with a very expensive paperweight. Final Verdict: It’s a shame because the technology works, but I cannot recommend buying a kitchen appliance that has no path for repairs or replacement parts. If you buy this, just know that any mechanical failure will likely mean throwing the whole unit away.

I eat a primarily plant based diet so I have tons of produce peels and scraps. Garbage pickup is only once a week and I won’t have a smelly bin anymore! Amazing, quiet and efficient machine, huge bucket of scraps goes in and out comes a half cup of powder that I throw under the bird-feeder or if it has coffee grounds into the garden or sprinkled on the lawn. It’s so clean and there isn’t a bad smell. Just dump Wipe it clean and start over. Best investment I have made in a long time. My garbage is cut in half and doesn’t stink anymore even when it gets hot!

I have owned the Nagual for years so I think I can speak from experience on how good this iDOO is. First, it is bigger than most other models. It completely holds my rather large sink compost bin. The door is easy to use, and locks. It looks nice and not like a piece of electronics. And the composting is more complete (things are drier) than the Nagual, which I usually had to run twice for each batch. This iDOO is easy to use, has a water reservoir (the Nagual would just dump on the counter) and a cleaning mode, which the Nagual didn't have at all. I have also had less problems with things getting stuck to the bucket (so far) compared with the Nagual. Is this unit perfect? No. There are several things I would improve. First, the codes are lame. There are too many odd letter codes that have to be deciphered. I'm not sure why they need so many codes, but they either need a little screen with words rather than codes, or include a "code card" to say what the codes mean. Secondly, the manual is just ok. For a unit like this it needs to be bigger and clearer. For example, they include 2 bags of "charcoal powder" (one white and one black) and they tell you to dump both into the filter. But they don't tell you in what order, or what to do when they need replacement. What is in them? Also, there are times when you may want to add some things to a cycle already in progress, or stop a cycle that is finished early. To do this, you hold down the power button for a few seconds - but nowhere is this documented. What other functions are missing from the manual? To be fair, 99% of the time, users will be dumping things into the bucket, closing the lid, and pushing start. So from that perspective, the negatives are pretty minor. It's really working great so far and easily deserves 4 stars, if not 5.

I’ve had this composter for almost a year now and I can’t imagine life without it. It has cut down so much food waste going into the garbage, which keeps our dogs from getting into it. It also makes the trash less stinky. Recently it stopped churning and customer service helped me figure out that I just needed a new bucket. They promptly shipped one out and it’s working again. They were very helpful to work with.

I am measuring 4.3 amps of energy consumption at phase one of three phases. The first phase acts like a dehydrator. Surprisingly, during this phase when the electric device makes some sounds, energy consumption drops. The electric composter is a heating machine that breaks down the leftover food stuff. It does work well. Update: ———— To be honest, I returned this machine and purchased another Idoo hydroponic system instead. While I like the idea of turning in-house veggie leftovers into some sort of compost, on a practical level it did not work out for me. Nice idea but it does not create real compost. The first three times worked out for me, running for 6 hours. The next 5 times the inner kept getting stuck, all lights blinking and making a big noise. Honestly, I can Not recommend this machine (but the idea is good).

Brought this to replace my old counter top composter bin. The quality and outlook are very nice, easy to operate and very quiet. We have used 4 times in past 2 weeks, the average about 8 hours to complete one cycle. I plugged a electricity usage monitor and get 1.47kwh average. If use our bill rate will be $0.23 per use. (We don't really have to pay for it because we have solar panel on the roof.) I recommend to use it outdoor or garage. Depend on what you put in to the bin, some smell is very strong. The smell is occupied the whole house. I put it in kitchen at first but now it is at patio. The outcome is not real compost rather a dehydrated debris that need further fermentation for use. For an organic garden, this is really an easy way to create nutrition for your plans. I recommend this product.

UPDATE: Just after the product went out of manufacturer's warranty, the grinding blades broke off, rendering the product useless. I have heard others complain about incomplete drying during the initial baking phase. In my case, this apparently caused a large chunk of still-wet veggie material to get jammed between the grinding blades and he inside of the bucket, even though I did not fill it up anywhere near the "Full" line shown near the top of the bucket and used only veggie material (No meat, bones, etc.). The product has no failsafe mechanism to protect it from a disastrous jam. It turns out that they do not sell parts for this product separately; but they offered me a "one time courtesy" of a new bucket that cost me more than $50. I accepted the offer. But I would like to caution folks not to fill the bucket more than about half full or else the baking phase won't dry things out properly and you may experience a product failure. Also, avoid putting much liquid into the bucket (e.g., soup) or it won't get anywhere close to drying the contents out prior to the grinding phase. I have since found another brand sold on Amazon that offers a three-year extended warranty. If and when my current product fails again, I'll switch to the Lomi brand. From the Lomi manufacture's email to me: "A purchase of LomiCare will extend warranty coverage to your Lomi to an extended 3-year term, starting from the date of your original order. This is a one-time purchase with no recurring costs that helps to provide further peace of mind and ensure that we've got you covered long term." ____________________ Original review: I don't know how durable this will turn out to be, but it seems really solidly built. It's very easy to use: just plug it in, put organic material into the grinder container, shut and lock the lid and press one button. It automatically goes through a three-part cycle: heating/drying the material; then grinding it to a consistency similar to sawdust with a few larger, chip-like pieces mixed in; then a cool-down phase. It also beeps when completing cycle phases to let you know its progress. It's relatively quiet, even during the grinding phase, and emits no perceptible odor. The charcoal filter works really well and I figure that doing a full load about once a week, the charcoal filter should last a couple of years before needing replacement. (I'm a one-person household, so I generate a limited amount of compostable material. Larger households likely have to change the filter more often.) My first test was with banana and cucumber peels (after first removing and discarding the hard, wooden stalk from the end of the banana). It worked great, so I did a second test with thicker material: cantaloupe and honeydew melon rinds cut into relatively small pieces (so I can fit more material into the grinding container). That also worked great, except that when I filled up to the recommended line on the container, the end result of the process was just slightly damp output. But spreading this material out afterward in a large, pan-like container got it to dry pretty quickly. So I recommend not filling the container up to the top line but only about 2/3-3/4 full. Then it will come out completely dry instead of slightly damp. I haven't tried the cleaning cycle yet. I have just put the emptied container in an empty kitchen sink and filled it with plain, hot water. After soaking for 10-15 minutes, nearly all the residue comes loose, and hot faucet water rinses out the remainder. Then I wipe the inside dry w/a paper towel and put it back on the machine for the next batch. I'm really pleased w/this machine so far and hope it lasts a long time. :-)

The inside mechanical parts is not moving any more, therefore the trash is not mixed but most of them are sticked on the bottom, neither is the stuff fully dried out as it was to be before it became malfunctioning.