This Vitamix Machine Turns Practically Any Leftover I Can Think of Into Plant Food, and It’s on Rare Sale

When I was in daycare, my teachers would encourage us to finish our snacks or lunch by saying “make the dogs cry.” I’m not entirely sure why making dogs sad would motivate me to eat, but I grew up smack dab in the middle of Cajun country, so there were a lot of phrases I didn’t understand. Regardless, the idea of not wasting food stuck.

Fast forward three-ish decades, and I’m still looking for ways to avoid food waste. Which is why I was excited when Vitamix, the brand behind some of the most powerful blenders out there, offered me the opportunity to try out the latest iteration of its countertop composter: the FoodCycler Eco 5. (Psst — you can grab it for $100 less right now during Vitamix’s end-of-year sale!)

FoodCycler by Vitamix Eco 5

The FoodCycler Eco 5 a supercharged composter. It’s designed to break down a wide variety of foods into a fine powder that is a tenth of the original volume and looks very similar to dirt in a matter of hours. A much speedier process than the months that it takes your typical compost bin to create fertilizer. It almost feels magical.

And I do mean a wide variety. What sets the FoodCycler Eco 5 apart from the majority of electric composters on the market is that it can process nearly any leftover you throw in its 5-liter bucket. In addition to the obvious fruit and veggie skins, egg shells, and coffee grinds, over the past nine months of testing, I’ve found that this machine can break down meat, cheese, chicken bones, corn cobs, and avocado pits. The list of things you can’t recycle is relatively short: beef bones, candy, cooking oil and grease, compostable coffee pods, and cardboard. While the brand advises not to add too much of one type of food in a cycle, the upside is I never have to wonder if something is compostable (or not) before tossing it in. 

The FoodCycler Eco 5 breaks down food scraps by grinding them with a paddle at the base of its bucket, while the machine's heating system dehydrates them. The brand describes this as an eight-phase process, which I’ve found takes about eight to nine hours when I run it with a full bucket. And operating it couldn’t be more straightforward — just put the compost bucket into the main body, close the lid, and press the on/off button. I’ve gotten into the habit of turning it on just before I go to bed, so it’s finished its cycle by the time I wake up.

This machine is pretty big, with its 13.5-by-10.9-inch footprint, and it’s 30 pounds, making it also pretty cumbersome to move. My coffee machine and toaster are already battling for the little counter space I have, so my FoodCycler lives on the floor next to my trash can. If you have an out-of-the-way place to store it, like a laundry room, basement, or pantry, that’s great too. It just needs to be on a flat surface near an electrical outlet.

While the appliance is physically hard to ignore, I was surprised by its lack of smell or noise while running. My Vitamix blender is very powerful and also very loud, so I was expecting a similar volume from a gadget that’s crushing fish bones, watermelon rinds, and peach pits. But I hardly notice the low whirling of the FoodCycler Eco 5. It reminds me of a white noise machine (set on the lowest volume).   

Carbon filters limit the gadget’s foul odors — one in the bucket’s lid to keep smells from escaping while you collect scraps, the other is a cartridge inside of the machine that works while the machine is running. The Eco 5’s interior filter is filled with carbon pellets that are very easy to remove and replace, an improvement over the FoodCycler FC-50, which requires you to replace the entire filter once it’s spent.

Over the past nine months, my FoodCycler has become part of my kitchen routine. I keep its bucket handy while I prep ingredients for my meals, then dump any leftovers inside when I’m finished eating (or cleaning out the fridge ahead of trash day). In my two-person household, I run it about every week or so, then empty its contents into my garden or add small amounts to my houseplants.

I’ve noticed my plants growing a bit bigger since I’ve started adding the powder the Eco 5 creates, but I do want to note that it is not dirt, and it won’t have the beneficial bacteria found in organic material you’d get from traditional composting. You need to mix the powder into your soil to dilute its nutrient concentration, and if you want those soil probiotics, Vitamix sells tablets that the brand says will boost plant hormones, beneficial organisms, and root mass.

The FoodCycler Eco 5 typically costs $600, which is definitely one of — if not the — most expensive composters out there. But I think its straightforward interface, quick and quiet performance, impressive 5-liter capacity, and ability to break down such a wide variety of foods makes it worth the investment. And based on the quality of Vitamix’s other appliances, I’m pretty confident in its longevity. (It comes with a three-year warranty if anything does go awry.)

If you’re interested in adding the FoodCycler Eco 5 to your kitchen, now is a very good time: Vitamix slashed prices on several of its top-rated appliances in an end-of-year sale, and you can grab the FoodCycler Eco 5 for $100 less. The event ends December 30, so don’t waste time (or food scraps) — add it to your cart today.

Shop More Vitamix Deals:

Immersion Blender

A3500 Gold Label

Explorian E310

Professional Series 750

At the time of publishing, the price was $500.