REVIEW -I’ve had a round or two with power composters and my track record is sketchy…I had one I really liked but it died within a year of my review. Since then I’ve been on the lookout for a new one because I really like the convenience of throwing my kitchen waste into something other than the trash. The Vego Kitchen Composter has a few features that are very unique so I considered myself super lucky to be able to try it out.
What is it?
The Vego Kitchen is an indoor composter that turns food waste into a valuable soil amendment.
What’s included?
- the Vego Kitchen composter
- Instructions
- A carbon filter kit
- Vego tabs
Tech specs
Click to expand
- Dimensions 14.37” × 11.22” × 12.64”
- Weight (Out Of The Box) 16.64 lb
- Color Black and White
- Volume 4 L
- Compost Capacity 3.3 lb Kitchen Waste
- Waste VolumeReduction 85% – 95%
- Power Input 120Vac, 60Hz, 400W
- Materials RoHS compliant, FDA compliance
- Connectivity and Communication Bluetooth 2.4 GHz Wi-Fi
- Safety Regulation & Certification ETL & CETL, FCC, IC
Design and features
The Vego Kitchen Composter is a countertop machine that breaks down food scraps. It has five modes: quick composting mode, Vego mode (which is the game-changer for me), grass mode (which I didn’t test), fertilizer mode, and self-cleaning mode. It has a large bucket for collecting your scraps, and it has an app that tells you when your compost is ready, among other things. It has also won a couple of design awards, including the Red Dot for innovation.
Assembly, Installation, Setup
The Vego Kitchen Composter is a little different than other composters in that it has a carbon filter so your compost doesn’t fill your home with odors. You need to install the filter by pouring what looks like little pellets of charcoal into the filter basket and then topping it with the included sponge-like sheet. It’s not terribly hard and it’s relatively intuitive, but it also didn’t snap back into the machine as easily as it came out. I had to fiddle with it and eventually it went in. One other thing that some composters have is a fluid collection container because some kitchen scraps have a higher water composition than others and fluid can collect. I don’t know how the Vego Kitchen Composter does it, but there is no fluid collection at all. One less thing to worry about from my point of view, because with my previous composter, it overflowed sometimes.
This photo and the one below look pretty similar to me. One was done in quick mode and one was done in fertilizer mode. Can you tell the difference? They both involved different foods being broken down, so I guess the top one looks less finished but it’s pretty hard to tell if you ask me.
Performance
The Vego Kitchen Composter works by heating your scraps and breaking them down by turning them in the bucket. It’s sort of like a miniature version of a backyard composter, but by heating it and constantly stirring it, it speeds up the process. As I mentioned, the Vego has several modes and I tried them all, but I couldn’t see a big difference between the quick mode and the fertilizer mode. The output looked very similar and was sort of a sawdust-like consistency. The quick mode doesn’t use a “Vego tab” and doesn’t produce a finished product, according to the literature, but it finishes faster. The fertilizer mode requires a “Vego tab” but it can be used as a top dressing in the garden. I did not test the grass mode because I don’t have enough grass to do that, but apparently it incorporates more grinding to break down grass specifically. I kind of feel like the point of these modes is lost on me anyway because for my money, the Vego mode is where it’s at.
The Vego mode is what every composter should have. Why is it so special? Well, if you’ve ever composted anything, you know that composting is like cooking spinach. You have a humongous amount of material that you put in the bucket, but it breaks down into almost nothing. It is so anticlimactic because if I empty that into my garden, it feels like I added nothing. The Vego mode lets you continuously add scraps to the composter. That means that if you are in Vego mode you can fill up the bucket every day and it will keep breaking it down. Once you add scraps, there is a built in scale that measures how much more you’ve added, and then the Vego Kitchen Composter cycles the waste for the right amount of time to process it, and then it goes into standby mode. Every two hours it turns back on and stirs the compost for a few minutes to maintain optimal conditions for composting. I really grew to love Vego mode, because I felt like I was in control of the appliance instead of it telling me when I had to empty it.
I threw every kind of scrap into the Vego Kitchen Composter and it just processed it without issues. Banana peels are so fibrous, and it handled about 6 of them at once without any issues. Celery, Carrots, you name it had no problem. I should note that the literature says it should only do fibrous foods a little at a time, so maybe don’t do what I did in the name of testing. The only issue I had besides having to fiddle with the filter was that the bucket sometimes didn’t want to slide all the way into the machine. There is a dot that tells you how the bucket should be situated, but sometimes it took a bit of fiddling for the bucket to “ka chunk” onto the gear that stirs the material.
Some of the modes (Fertilizer and Vego) require you to add a little water and the aforementioned “Vego tab.” The Vego tab is essentially (I think) a compost starter, although nothing really says that in any of the literature. It just helps your scraps get a head start towards breaking down. Vego sells these tabs and replacement charcoal on their website but they also offer a subscription in case you don’t want to have to keep remembering to order more supplies. You can get money off on the composter if you subscribe, but personally, I think I’d just buy the composter and replace the rest as you need it, because I often wind up with a surplus of stuff whenever I subscribe to anything.
After the “quick” mode I had some stuff baked on to the piece in the bottom that stirs the material so I tried out the self cleaning. I filled the bucket with water and gave it a spray or two of Dawn and it did self clean nicely. It was impressive. Most of the time, though, I didn’t have much to clean so I just kept running it.
The lid is see through so you can check on your project, but you can also use the app, which will tell you when it finishes or how much stuff you’ve composted. I really didn’t use the app much and I don’t think I will. I have a lot going on and checking on my compost is not something I’m apt to do. I sometimes think someone needs to tell gadget inventors that not everything needs an app. Everything has an app, though. Everything.
What I like about the Vego Kitchen Composter
- Seems to work great
- Vego mode is awesome
- Has a big bucket for scraps
What needs to be improved?
-
- Maybe work on the filter basket because it’s fiddly
- Also work on the bucket so it goes in easier
Final thoughts
Overall my Vego Kitchen Composter sits on my countertop and hums away and I kind of forget about it when I’m not cooking. It’s not a small unit, though, and I might be tempted to find a spot in my kitchen where it can live out its life while not taking up counter space. Really like it so far, though!
Price: $319.95
Where to buy: Vego Garden (Save 10% with code: Gadgeteer10%OFF)
Source: The sample of this product was provided for free by Vego Garden. Vego Garden did not have a final say on the review and did not preview the review before it was published.
