Thermador disposal: The never ending search for a good grind has ended!

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ultralux88

ultralux88

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Well I finally found the disposal I want, a genuine vintage (albeit a very late example) Waste King garbage disposal! This one is a Thermador branded unit, 3/4 HP, which I think is as powerful as they get, not sure they had a 1HP version ever... I bought the thing used and feared the worst, but it’s in excellent condition really, I’ve read that the grind ring in these doesn’t really wear down and it seems to be true! See link for video of it having some fried chicken bones!

 
I have a 1Hp WK machine-these do work well-but the shred is quite coarse.And the paper items really should go in the trash! Trust me they can cause future clogs.Disposers cannot shred the paper fibers fine enough.Their sizing screens are too large.I let the paper shredder,trash truck or stationary transfer site compactor take care of my paper waste!
 
Is your Waste King one of the old ones or a newer Anaheim?

Coarse grind? This thing grinds pretty fine, I watched the clear P trap I have under the sink, it came out the consistency of a smoothie food it seems, I didn't see the larger flaky bone chunks I'm used to seeing come out of the newer Anaheim Waste Kings, the ISE Kenmore or even the high speed GE I used for a while. I ran some celery bits down it too, and the slicer blades under the flywheel did definitely chop those up!
 
Sadly mine is a newer one-Yes,the older models had the undercutter blades to slice material that goes between them and the flywheel.Good you have one of the older models--good find!Happy grinding and shredding!Seems like there is something in us that likes to see things shredded in disposers or large shredders.Visit the SSI World website and see!And visit the "Classic Refuse Trucks" to see trash truck videos of stuff crushed in them.
 
I had an Anaheim Waste Maid for a while, only replaced it because a metal bit fell down it and no one noticed, then turned it on and broke a hammer off! I was both disgusted and sad, as it was a good disposal even if a far cry from this Thermador WK! I’ve personally seen these Anaheim units take beef ribs, ham bone, and even a pork roast bone!

I was hoping you’d say it was an older one like this, as then I’d hope to find the 1HP one day... I think 3/4 was as far as these old Kings went, and I’m glad that’s what I managed to find! Tim’s family and another collector friend of mine here both have the 1 HP like yours, and have been very satisfied and they both use them heavily to avoid food waste in the trash!
 
Heavy bones should go to the dog or the trash-they may be too much for most disposers.Put a beef bone in a Bus-Boy disposer-in an apartment-the bone went thru the hopper!!I had to PAY to have it replaced.So then on I threw heavy bones in the trash.On my brothers farm--they use their pigs as "disposers"!
 
Nice garbage disposal Reggie. My aunt had a 1958 Waste King Universal and a Kitchen-Aid dishwasher. I remember the disposal being very quiet.
 
It was just one smaller beef steak bone.I have an ISE Evolution dispoer-right now its in the garage.It will work-but its SLOOOWWWW---A Maytag with undercutters is faster and shreds finer.If you can find an older Maytag-those were good disposers.They have the heavy cast steel,ground shred rings and large stainless steel hammers on a SS flywheel.Your WK is better than the new ISE Evolution.Those are just too slow.Vita Mix prides that their blenders can grind similar wood blocks to "cerial" as they call it.Haven't tried that.-Just take their word for it.Same as for Blendtec.I have used an older VM blender as a disposer-worked really well.Saved a container just for that use.
 
But do you think this WK sounds bad? I just think it should be quieter, like it was before the mounting flange swap.


 


I'd love to find a batch feed Maytag or Kitchenaid/National for the other side of the sink, the Thermador WK is the disposal I really wanted for this side, the other side needs to be batch feed because there's just the one wall switch.
 
That WK disposer is tough-but the bones should just go into the trash-faster!Esp the plastic fork.I have seen MANY plastic forks go thru commercial type ISE and WK disposers.The sewer companies are not fond of that.
 
You're the first to say anything about the fork! I did that just to see what people might say. I don't usually have such dense and hard bones to dispose of, usually it will just be getting pork and chicken bones which go pretty fast. It really was just for fun, to see how it would handle it, how long it would take.
 

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