Vitamix FoodCycler FC-50 SP Food Cycler

To say that I’m impressed with this product would be an understatement. I’ve had it for just over a week and have used it every day.

I’ve used a variety of food waste including coffee grounds, leftover meat scraps, citrus, vegetables, eggshells, bread / bagels, fruit, even some leftover cat food. It has worked wonderfully to “compost” all of it.

I live in a rural area – yes…skunk, opossum, raccoon, fox, and bear. So, having a traditional outdoor compost setup just won’t work out. We have weekly garbage pick up but I was looking for a way to reduce some of that. Granted, it’s just my husband and me but I do a lot of cooking and 99% of the items I use are fresh and not processed / premade foods.

I will say that the food “bucket” that you use for your scraps is on the small side so if you prepare your meals, as I do, with a lot of fresh ingredients and you have a family of four or more, you might not be as thrilled. On the occasions that I have more than I can process at a time I can run 2 cycles a day or just keep the scraps in a ziplock win the fridge until the next day.

There is no foul odor. The filters do what they’re supposed to. The lid for the bucket works to contain odor as I fill it up during the day. Can’t even smell the onions or other strong odors as it sits on my counter.

Once the composting is done, I dump it into a plastic bucket that I keep outdoors and when that gets full I will dispose of it on our property. There is no smell to it so it won’t attract any critters.

Some folks have commented in their reviews that it’s noisy, foul smelling, it leaves a goopy / sludgy mess, or that it takes too long. It’s not loud, it doesn’t smell, you have to use common sense as far as what you put in to process, and who cares how long it takes. It’s not like you have to sit there and keep it company.

The bucket has some type of lining / coating that’s almost like a nonstick surface. Cleaning it is a breeze. I simply wash it out by hand though it is dishwasher safe. The unit is a bit heavy to move around, though not impossible, so find a place that will be convenient so you don’t have to relocate it often. It isn’t huge but does take up counter space so find a location that works for you.

My only negative is that though Vitamix has been around for many years, and certainly is a reputable company, the FoodCycler is made in China. Not happy about that.

Overall, the unit is robust and well made. It is easy to use and works very well.

Es un obligado para cada casa, reduces tus residuos y generas compost a de excelente calidad

Muy buena compra, tenia mis dudas si es que iba a funcionar pero sin duda la marca es garantía…. desde el primer día la he usado y todo bien, últimamente la uso hasta 2 veces por día y no he tenido problemas, solo hay que agarrar el modo y listo…. eso si los rayones que causa el desperdicio es evidente….

I’m a backyard gardener in Wyoming, where the season is short and the winter is long. I have a small tumble composter, but summer is never long enough for it to be effective and make compost in a timely manner. And in the cooler months I just threw everything away. This machine is a game changer! I add the after product to my composter and it enhances and speeds up the composting process to make it effective for me.

I ran a series of tests. The cycler handled a whole potato that was slightly mushy as well as a whole apple that had a huge bruise. Normally, I quarter anything that large, but when it’s too mushy it’s nice to know the machine can handle it. I ran one cycle that had two batches of coffee grounds, the ends of lemons, about 7 strawberries, a couple paper towels, two bad apples (quartered) outer lettuce leaves, cucumber ends, some blueberries, a moldy cutie orange, and two potatoes worth of peelings. It worked like a champ.

It won’t fit under my kitchen sink, so it’s in the basement laundry room. It does put out an earthy smell, but very lightly and no one but me has even noticed it. It’s very quiet.

Here is my hybrid composting system: I have a compost bin (the size of a bathroom trash can) under the kitchen sink. When it’s about half full of food waste, coffee grounds, and the odd paper towel I take it downstairs and run it through the cycler. Next to the cycler I have a lifer container meant to rise bread dough that I dump the cycled food in. I also have a second compost bin under the sink that brown materials go in – the daily newspaper torn up, cardboard cut up, etc. When that’s almost full I start cutting the food waste (green materials) into small chunks for the food waste bin and when both bins are full I put them in the tumble composter along with all of the cycled food waste I’ve collected. I do this all year long, and about March I quit adding food waste unless it’s cycled, and I store the brown waste. I use most of the compost and then start over with my equal parts brown and greens and cycled.

Doing it this way has kept my compost healthy and active and makes the short season not matter as much.