Ice Cubes or Chicken Wings?

It’s funny how the natural progression of things usually works out fine and we often learn something in the process. I have also found that true stories are usually more interesting than fiction. That is why I wrote my Ice cubes or chicken wings story.

I just recently removed and cleaned my ice bin/augur on my residential refrigerator. We use the crushed ice mode most of the time and the chute gets clogged up with shaved ice, (another topic for a future blog). I usually grind a cup or two of ice down the garbage disposer. The rest gets stored in the freezer and poured back into the bin when I’m done. Choosing to dispose of all the cubes, I dumped all of it into garbage disposer. I had been told (by who I don’t remember) that grinding ice sharpens the blades and cleans the disposer. I figured more is always better, right

My wife and I came home from dinner that evening and found water on the floor next to the sink cabinet. I traced the leak to the bottom of the garbage disposal and that’s when I remembered the sizeable amount of ice I ground up earlier that day. I was slightly irritated at having possibly caused the issue, but, since the unit was 10 years old it probably needed replacing anyway (at least that’s what I told myself).Since it was late, I unplugged the disposer, put a bucket under and would repair it the next day.

Being the type of person who wants to know how mechanical things fail, I naturally “Googled” the problem and learned that this leak wasn’t uncommon. I also learned that I should use cold water while using the disposer. That’s “strange” I have always used hot water to break down any grease, and that was logical. This “DYI” video also recommended putting a cup of ice down the disposer once a week to help keep it clean. At least I was only half wrong.

I installed the new disposer the following morning, and it operated fine with no leaks. That cold water is better than hot didn’t sound right, so I searched for the “Insinkerator” website to find out what the manufacturer had to say. It so happens that cold water works better because it hardens up any oil or grease and that goes down your drain better. It surprised me to see a video where the host was putting chicken bones and peach pits into the disposer and claiming that these sharp fragments would do the cleaning. They also claim that ice melts too fast and doesn’t work very well. And, since disposers don’t have blades how can they get sharpened. I was feeling pretty foolish since I could have just looked inside the disposer and seen that for myself. Yes, they are just spinning impellers.

So, if I use this alternative method of cleaning, will I still get another 10 years of life from my new garbage disposer. Oh, since I am on a roll and correcting myself, the proper term used by the manufacturer is “garbage disposer” not “garbage disposal”