Don't put anything down the garbage disposal!
 

Be sure to note what you can and cannot put in the garbage disposal. It is not meant for peelings of any kind, lettuce, seeds. Found out the hard way. Also if you do get a clog do not put Drano in. Disposal not covered by warranty either. A service call to your home costs $70. Be careful to use the disposal only for table scraps (repeating what plumber told us).

I opted out of the garbage disposal. Never had one before. Did not see the need for one now.

Are they puny? Get what you pay for I guess. Peelings shouldn't be a problem.

We have been putting peels down the disposal for a year with no problems. Maybe I need to rethink doing that though.

This is open for debate. We USE our garbage disposals. They are insinkerators. We don't put potato or onion peels down but pretty much everything else. If you ask a plumber that is their advice...you would think they would encourage you to use them to drum up business.

My dad and brother were Steam fitters.

The insinkerators here are not inferior. We have had two new homes and they both were fine. Do not put your silverware down them.

The disposal is typical builder's junk. My disposal in Jersey would shread a spoon if you put it down the drain. The one in my house in the Villages gets jammed up if you put a toothpick in the drain. I will be shortly replacing it with a more powerful motor.

Gee, your post is surprising. We have had one(new) Gardenia and one(new) Seabrook and the insinkerator grinds up things the way they have at all of our other homes.

Is there a different quality used in different series of homes or at different times they were built perhaps??

Peelings shouldn't cause a problem...except for celery and onion skins because of the stringiness of the vegetable.
Celery will cause problems guaranteed. One trick I've used in the past is if your disposal is clogged, and the water in the sink slowly drains, try putting ice cubes in the disposal. Run the disposal and let the blades chop up the ice. Often it will break up whatever is causing the clog.

Ours is listed as a "Badger 5 1/2HP". I looked on Home Depot and saw an "InSinkErator Badger 5 1/2 HP Continuous Feed Garbage Disposer" listed. It had 4 out of 5 rating with 120 reviews.

But it won't matter since we eat out almost all the time. We have to "dust" the stove off once in a while in case one of the burners accidentally gets turned on :)

Dump ice down it once in a while and it keeps it clear. Also the dish washer in suppose to dump into it but I dont see them hooked up that way ( Run the disposal with the ice in it)

I have a Sears and I put everything down it.... potato and carot peelings all food scraps. I have found that after I have ground up a bag of potato skins (for example) I usually fill the sink full with water and spin that through to flush it out. Once or twice a week I grind up a lemon or orange (any citrus you have hanging on the tree) and that makes it smell clean and fresh.

The one piece of advice re: garbage disposals that I pay attention to is:
Never, never put your hand in it, even though it's turned off it could turn itself on. Weird things happen. Sh--t happens.

Just had to respond to your post. I am a steamfitter also, local 638 NYC...Hoping to sell my place up here..soon. been to TV twice with my wife and we enjoyed it...One thing I do know about the disposals is dont run them dry. Always run the water when you use them...

We've put potato peelings down ours. I'd never put tomato peelings down or onion skins as someone else said. I always do it slowly with ALOT of water going with it too. In all the years of having disposals have never had a problem....except when one wore out and needed a replacement.

I've been told to never put potatoes or potato peelings down the disposal -- too much starch and it will ultimately clog it up (learnt that lesson the hard way in California). Other things to not put in disposal are anything stringy (celery, broccoli stems, asparagus, etc.); pasta (it swells as you add more water and clogs up the pipes); egg shells; large seeds such as peach and avocado pits. Ice is a good thing to put down every so often. So is the occasional lemon cut into quarters (makes the whole kitchen smell good).