Best Garbage Disposals of 2024
With a flick of a switch or a twist of a wrist, these models grind their way to the top of our ratings
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Garbage disposals are the unsung heroes of many a kitchen. Mounted beneath the sink drain, these devices pulverize food waste into tiny bits so that you can easily wash them away. Less food winds up in your trash can as a result, helping you cut down on funky odors and pests.
The garbage disposals in CR’s latest tests cost $60 to $370. “On the lower end of the price range, you’ll see disposal motors with ⅓ horsepower and a shorter one-year warranty,” says Larry Ciufo, who oversees testing of garbage disposals at Consumer Reports. “Typically, more money buys you more power, less noise, sturdier stainless steel components, and auto-reversing grinders that help prevent jams.”
Disposals fall into two categories: continuous-feed and batch-feed.
- Continuous-feed disposals are the most common. These are operated with a wall switch and allow you to toss in scraps while they’re operating. They will continue to grind until you flip the switch off, and they require some caution to ensure that fingers and small utensils remain clear of the opening.
- Batch-feed disposals are less common and grind food in batches with a twist or a push on a stopper that covers the opening. Because of the stopper, batch-feed disposals are safer, quieter, and require no extra electrical wiring beyond powering the under-sink unit. Batch-feed disposals typically offer more horsepower than continuous-feed models but are generally more expensive. Because they operate only when covered, there’s less risk of injury.
We don’t track data for predicted reliability of residential garbage disposals, but they typically last about 12 years, according to the Association of Home Appliance Manufacturers. Your current model might be ready for replacement if you notice it taking longer to grind or making louder-than-usual noises, or if you need to press the disposal’s reset button often.
CR members can read on for ratings and reviews of the best-performing garbage disposals from our tests, listed alphabetically in each category. We find that how well a garbage disposal performs varies even within the same brand. You’ll find models from a single manufacturer at the top as well as the bottom of our ratings. See our garbage disposal buying guide for tips on choosing a garbage disposal, and for test results on more than 60 models, check our full garbage disposal ratings.
Best Continuous-Feed Garbage Disposals
Continuous-feed garbage disposals are the most common variety and make up a vast majority of the models we test. They’re popular due to their convenience and range of options across different price brackets.
The 8-amp, 1¼-hp Everbilt US-10-EB1250-PC is the largest disposal in our ratings and delivers the power you’d expect. It’s one of only two units to get excellent ratings for speed and quiet (heavier models are more insulated). The unit also does very well grinding beef bones and vegetable scraps in our fineness tests. That kind of power and construction is probably why it’s backed by a lifetime warranty.
The pricey Franke FWDJ75 is more than twice the cost of the highly rated Frigidaire and Everbilt garbage disposals. This 14-pound disposal keeps the noise down and gets an excellent rating in our noise test, and the ¾-hp unit grinds bones and scraps with very good speed and fineness. That said, you can get better horsepower, performance, and price with other disposals. This Franke disposal has a dishwasher connector and a plug-in power cord, and it’s backed by a 10-year warranty.
The Frigidaire FF13DISPC1 lands among our top-rated models. The 1¼-hp unit breaks down rib bones fast, earning it an excellent rating for speed, as well as very good marks for grinding scraps and noise level. The 13-pound disposal comes with a 10-year warranty, a removable splash guard, and a plug-in power cord. A magnetic ring prevents utensils from falling inside, and antimicrobial protection guards against odors.
The GE GFC1020N is a 1-hp garbage disposal that earns a very good rating in our speed test and an excellent rating in our fineness test, meaning this midpriced grinder will demolish your food scraps thoroughly without wasting lots of water. But it’s slightly lighter than some others and thus noisier. It has an EZ-Mount sink connection to ease installation but needs to be hardwired to power. It’s backed by only a one-year warranty.
Like the Everbilt garbage disposal above, the Moen EX Series EXL100C earns excellent ratings for speed and noise. With a 1-hp motor, it performs very well in our tests for how finely it grinds food. Like most disposals, it also comes with a dishwasher connector, a plug-in power cord, and a 10-year warranty.
Best Batch-Feed Garbage Disposals
There are only nine batch-feed garbage disposals in our ratings. Most garner strong marks in our lab tests, but the three options below perform a cut above the rest.
The ¾-hp batch-feed InSinkErator Evolution Cover Control Plus demolishes rib bones exceptionally fast in our test, earning an excellent rating for speed. The midpriced model scores a very good rating for fineness, too, and does so while operating relatively quietly. This 19-pound disposal is one of the heaviest we test, which could make it more cumbersome for the installer. It also requires a hardwired connection. It comes with a seven-year warranty.
This ¾-hp batch-feed disposal from KitchenAid is the priciest model we test. While it performs admirably in all our assessments—excellent for speed and very good for fineness and noise—the InSinkErator model above does just as well for a little more than half the price. Like the InSinkErator, this 19-pounder will be a heavy lift during installation and also requires a hardwired connection. It comes with a seven-year warranty.
The Waste King L-8000TC excels in our tests and is one of the most affordable batch-feed models in our ratings. It scores an excellent rating in our fineness test, but it will take longer than a minute to get through a load, garnering just a middling score for speed. The midpriced model weighs 14 pounds and comes with a plug-in power cord and an EZ-Mount sink connection for easier installation. It has a 10-year warranty.
How CR Tests Garbage Disposals
Consumer Reports bases the ratings of garbage disposals on several tests. To test speed, we grind pieces of beef rib bones for 1 minute with cold running water and then measure how much food remains in the disposal. The more food that’s left, the longer it takes to grind—and the lower the score.
To see how thoroughly the disposals grind food, we toss a mix of bones and raw vegetable scraps into each model and run the resulting fragments through four different-sized sieves to gauge fineness. A garbage disposal that garners an excellent rating in that test turns out food particles fine enough to slip through most of the sieves. The bigger the bits left over, the greater the chance the kitchen sink drain will clog, resulting in a lower score on this test.
For noise, we measure the decibels emitted while the disposals grind a mix of bones and vegetables. In general, we find that the quieter models are heavier due to more insulation.
