“There’s a Beast Under My Sink!” A Medieval Fairy Tale
Written: May 30 '03 (Updated Jun 04 '03)
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Product Rating:
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Pros: Fast; effective; loads of power. Accepts foodstuffs that would give other disposals ulcers.
Cons: Installation could be tricky for the inexperienced.
The Bottom Line: This is without a doubt the best disposal I’ve ever used. It is not silent, but is the quietest I’ve heard. It handles far more than I would have expected.
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| a_southern_mom's Full Review: InSinkErator 3/4 HP Heavy-Duty Disposal 444 |
Within our castle, underneath the stainless steel double-sink, lived a dinosaur. He lived on scraps of leftover food I tossed down the sink, thus easing my life in the kitchen. He understood his duty was to eat well and often, and our family fed him daily. We knew to keep our fingers out of his mouth while he was chewing, and we’d gotten on happily for many years.
As he grew older, I grew accustomed to his underperformance and diminished appetite. His teeth began to break, and I repaired them until I could no longer. He became virtually toothless.
I adapted by tossing larger bits of food into the wastebasket, so as not to stress out my aging, arthritic dinosaur. He grumbled noisily when I forgot to do so, but limped through his assigned duty; such that at least, water continued to meander down the drain. Daily he begged me for retirement.
One day, my knight in shining armor arrived at the castle with a large cage; some call it a ‘box’. He’d known I wanted a dinosaur under my sink no longer. I wanted a beast. Delighting me more than with gifts of diamonds, he let me take a brief look at our new beast. He put it away quickly, however, because it had yet to be tamed.
My knight then regaled me with his adventures through the forest full of animals who claimed to be beastly garbage disposals. He’d found some were, in reality, only purring kittens. He rode on through the night knowing his lady desired a true beast. My knight had determined the amount of gold and silver required was no object. The might and skill required to tame the new beast mattered not. His lady would have the beastliest of beasts.
Concluding the story of his adventures, and confident I fully appreciated his efforts; he then insisted I retire to my quarters as he began to tame the beast. He warned me it could be vicious, as it had to be hard-wired. I feared not for him, as he has tamed beasts of all sorts for many years; and has always emerged victorious. He has many illustrious tools of battle. They fill the garage to bursting, lining the very walls. Sometimes, the chariots cannot squeeze into the garage!
Despite his warnings, I could not help but quietly emerge from my quarters, and demurely ease down the staircase to peek. I saw my knight wielding his special sword, which looked a bit like a wrench from a distance. He garnered his shield, which he refers to as a ‘toolbox’. For the next 2 ½ hours, fierce battle would ensue.
At last, my knight emerged from under the sink, and called to offer me the spoils of battle. The intensity of his encounter was evident; covering the greater part of the kitchen floor. I daintily stepped over the refuse of the battlefield, missing all but a bit of plumber’s putty that lodged itself between my toes. Being a lady, I said nothing.
Then, I was able to squat proudly by my knight; as we gazed under the sink at our newly tamed beast. For the final moment of glory, he took my hand and we both slowly arose, steadily gazing into each other’s eyes. With one hand, he reached over to give the beast a cool drink, and then flipped the switch that told our beast it was time to eat.
The quiet, purring sound anointed my knight conqueror. A smile sliced through his unshaven face, and my joy was boundless.
If only we could locate the servants to clean the ravaged battlefield!
Modern Translation:
My husband replaced our old Badger garbage disposal with a new ¾ HP InSinkErator 444. The new one was much larger than the old one, so installation was more difficult.
(Wasn’t the Medieval version a little more fun, though?) ;D
Details:
The “official” description of the InSinkErator 444 from CornerHardware.com is as follows:
“This affordable 3/4 hp continuous-feed garbage disposal features a stainless steel shredder ring and corrosion-resistant grind chamber. Installs easily with Quick Lock #153; mounting assembly. Dura-Drive reg; single phase induction motor. Stainless steel sink flange and one-piece stainless steel stopper. Includes dishwasher drain connection, cushioned anti-splash baffle and self-service wrench. 4 year warranty. UL, CSA and IAPMO listed.”
At Etronics.com, their description included the insulated outer shell, plastic grind chamber, stainless steel grinding elements with two stainless steel 360° swivel lugs, permanently lubricated upper and lower bearings, overload protector manual reset, and exclusive cushioned anti-splash baffle.
In appearance and “feel”, everything about this disposal appears to be sturdy and well constructed. To me, lots of stainless steel is a “great thing” when it comes to hard-working appliances.
The disposer height is 12 5/8” and 7 ¼” wide, and we have a wall switch.
The directions instruct you to grind small bones and fruit pits to clean the grind chamber, as well as citrus peels and melon rinds. Small amounts of fats and grease are even acceptable. In fact, the only objects precluded are caustic chemicals, glass, metal, whole bones, hot grease, and the like.
Of course, with any garbage disposal, it’s important to run cold water before and during operation to keep the motor cool. Run water afterward to flush your drain, as well.
Installation:
There is no way I could have installed this appliance myself. I can do minor repairs, and own more than a couple of tools; but this project remains in the ‘Sir Husband’ realm for me. (He refers to my tools as the “Velvet Toolbox” collection!).
I would recommend self-installation only for those who have experience with this kind of thing. (You know who you are, gamblin_man, GuisBuild, michiman1, and toolshed1 !) In my ‘home-repair-illiterate opinion’, I don’t think it would be a great first-time ‘do-it-yourself’ project. One reason is that ours at least, had to be hard-wired. There is a plug-in kit that can be purchased separately if your current set-up will accommodate it.
A client of my husband’s said they recently had a plumber install their garbage disposal. It took 30 minutes, and cost $75. My husband frowned as he considered his 2 ½-hour installation, but I do think ours was more difficult. I suspect their plumber may have selected a disposal based on space available, rather than selecting one based on his wife’s requests! Besides, there are other things we can do with the $75 saved!
The InSinkErator box indicated you would only need a slotted screwdriver, adjustable pliers, plumber’s putty, and electrical tape for installation. Beneath that, however, was a lengthy list of tools you “might need”, including but not limited to; a drain auger, 3/8” electrical clamp connector, second 1 ½” drain trap, water hose clamp, pipe wrench, copper ground wire, dishwasher drain connection kit, air gap, and drain tube extension. Much of it will depend on whether you’re replacing a disposal, or if this is a new installation. Thus, I would not recommend you grab only those first four items and begin installation without reading through all the instructions and checking your tools on hand.
Warnings:
Yes, you need to keep your fingers out of the disposal! Don’t insert children if you’d like to have them back. Reading the manual probably isn’t a bad idea, either.
InSinkErator Performance:
Hungrily, the InSinkErator chomps through food left by my picky eaters, mystery items cleaned out of the fridge, vegetable peelings, and even the stuff I remove from meat before cooking. I’m not sure I need a wastebasket anymore! It might just devour an ice cream carton should I attempt it; (though I won’t, and don’t recommend that you do either!). LOL
I no longer have to poke every morsel of food into the disposal. When I flip the switch, it sucks food down the drain as though I had a Shop-Vac residing underneath the sink.
It makes no more noise than our dishwasher. (Wait! I’m not sure that’s saying much!) LOL It does have a very quiet, contented purr that’s vastly different from our old disposal.
After 6 months of hard use with our family of eight, the InSinkErator 444 is truly getting the job done.
Purchasing Info:
We purchased our InSinkErator locally at Home Depot for about $125.00. I checked online at CornerHardware.com, and the price was $165.50. Shipping to Arkansas would have added an additional $11.75 for shipping and handling. At Etronics.com, the price was $139.99, with shipping at $21.00.
There are more expensive, more powerful disposals than this one; as well as the reverse. The InSinkErator 444 falls in the mid-range category. For our family, it was our choice as the best balance between power, performance, and cost.
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Final Thoughts:
“The way to a man’s heart is through his stomach”.
That is an old saying I find highly debatable; (think…fishnet hose! hehehe).
; )
However, if that saying has any merit at all, then perhaps the way to a cook’s heart is through installation of her favorite kitchen appliances!
(Well…., maybe. You see, I didn’t really mean that thing I said earlier about preferring a garbage disposal to diamonds!!!).
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Recommended Reading:
If you like to read about tools, projects, home improvement stuff, and get terrific tips and info, here are the URL’s for the wizard Epinionators I referenced earlier.
gamblin_man http://www.epinions.com/user-gamblin_man
GuisBuild http://www.epinions.com/user-guisbuild
michiman1 http://www.epinions.com/user-michiman1
toolshed1 http://www.epinions.com/user-toolshed1
If you enjoy things Medieval, check out the Medieval Write-Off, hosted by Dr. Devience! Some terrifically fun writers participated!
Recommended:
Yes
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a_southern_mom
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Member: Becky
Location: Arkansas
Reviews written: 31
Trusted by: 63 members
About Me:
"Setting a good example for your children does nothing but increase their embarrassment." -Doug Larsen-
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