The Common American Kitchen Appliance You Rarely See In Other Countries

Kitchen

The Common American Kitchen Appliance You Rarely See In Other Countries

You know that odd little device beneath your kitchen sink — the one that obliterates leftover food? It's an appliance many Americans take for granted — but outside of the country, a lot of people don't even know it exists. Some might wonder whether it's a miniature blender or maybe a futuristic compost bin.

This gizmo is the garbage disposal — also called a food waste disposer, garburator, or in-sink macerator — which shreds food scraps into tiny bits (around 2 millimeters or smaller) and flushes them into the plumbing system. In 1927, John Hammes invented the garbage disposal in Wisconsin. Hammes patented it in 1935, and his company, InSinkErator, brought the garbage disposal to market in the late 1930s. Th