Same question here!

I just got a catalog with a small kitchen composter called the "Nature Mill Plus" that claims it will compost 120 pounds of kitchen waste (including dairy and meat) per month. It has an electric warmer and it aerates the mix every four hours. It has a carbon filter for odors and it uses baking soda and sawdust pellets to neutralize and add browns.

Do these things really work? I would like a no-worm indoor composter. I will not be adding dairy and meat (I'm a vegetarian, and my cat and dogs get those kinds of leftovers).

It costs $300. I hate to spend that kind of money, but if it DOES work, it is a way better investment than an outdoor tumbler for the same money. I'd then turn my (way too slow) bin composter into a leaf-mold composter and keep all greens in the kitchen machine.

I really do not think we have nearly 120 pounds of kitchen scraps though, so I will not be pushing this machine to its limit.

Hi--I can't comment on greenmonk's question regarding the 02Compost blower compost bins--sorry! But I can respond to natschultz's inquiry about the NatureMill electric composter. I have used one since Nov. '09. It does turn ALL kitchen scraps into compost: meat, dairy, fish, as well as the usual vegetable and fruit scraps. Takes about three weeks, once you have it up and running, with about two to three more weeks for the dark brown, crumbly compost to "cure" and lose a slight ammonia smell. For our household of two persons I've "harvested" about 10 gallons of finished compost so far. I scatter it lightly around my garden, rather than piling it on as I do with the compost made from leaves/grass clippings in my compost bins.
What I like about the NatureMill, and the reason that I will keep using it, is that ALL kitchen scraps can be composted--not just vegetative ones.
I must mention that there is a smell that results from the composting process in the NatureMill. Using plenty of sawdust pellets (which can be purchased a lot cheaper at the hardware store) and baking soda helps to reduce this--but I keep my NatureMill in the garage rather than in my kitchen.

Thanks for the quick reply! It's good to know that it actually does what it is advertised to do. I guess I'll still need a compost collector in the kitchen if it smells. I just won't keep worms in the house or garage, and they'll die here in winter outside, so this looks promising.

Are sawdust pellets the same thing you buy for a pellet stove?

I can't say much about that system except it is a very expensive way to get into composting. For people with a lot of money it may be something to try.
Their webs site can provide you with the information you are looking for.

Here is a link that might be useful: O2compost

I compost my kitchen waste in a homemade worm composter:

http://forums.gardenweb.com/forums/load/verm/msg1118343128997.html

I've made a few improvements to the design since that post but I've been using it for years and it's very clean and efficient. I even put non-veg scraps in it, for example, I added some turkey trimmings from thx-giving and of course any fish/seafood scraps incl crab shells and cleanings. The only caveat there is to bury it well within the other material to reduce odors. This thing lives in my garage though, so I'm not too concerned about odors.

I can't believe the volume of stuff that disappears into this. I think I mentioned in that old post how it basically "burns" the material down biologically. Same thing in a conventional compost pile but it's just much more apparent in a vermicomposter - you're like, geez, I've been adding 3 gallons of waste/week to that for the past 6 months and all I have is 5 gallons of compost.

Having land out in the country, where no one cares how it smells is great. I pile it up & wait, when I have time I turn it.
So I have never used a store bought composter.

If someone makes compost that has an offensive smell then that person is not making compost well and should take a good look at what they are doing and correct what is wrong. A compost pile, correctly put together, will never produce unpleasant odors.

This post was edited by kimmsr on Sat, Dec 8, 12 at 7:25