For the full article, visit https://www.wired.com/story/home-composters-buying-guide/
Photograph Credit: Kat Merck/Wired
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 2024, 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.
