I’m a little confused. We had summer all winter long and now as
we approach the spring we have snow in the hills and hail on the
flatlands. And the mud. Whoa, doggies, don’t get me started on the
mud again. Anyway, the bad weather kept the real estate market
somewhat sluggish last week.
I’m a little confused. We had summer all winter long and now as we approach the spring we have snow in the hills and hail on the flatlands. And the mud. Whoa, doggies, don’t get me started on the mud again. Anyway, the bad weather kept the real estate market somewhat sluggish last week.
The amount of new listings was brisk (31 in San Benito County, 46 in south Santa Clara County) but the number of contracts reported was down (12 in San Benito, 29 in Santa Clara). The inventory throughout our region swelled a bit, not unlike a piece of plywood left out in the interminable downpours!
Since you’re unlikely to spend much time working on the exterior of your home or the garden during bad weather, and because a garbage disposer near and dear to me decided to get a case of the sulks, we’re going to look at the maintenance of such machines. I did a little research for us on the Michigan State University and the Maytag Corporation Web sites. (Hey, those Maytag guys are always looking for work, aren’t they?)
The garbage disposer is one of those conveniences one never notices until it goes out. So how do you make sure your disposer doesn’t go out at just the wrong time – like when you have 10 people coming for dinner or your in-laws down for the weekend?
First of all, think cold. Use a strong flow of cold water and keep it running at least 30 seconds after that infernal noise of grinding has stopped. Why cold water? It solidifies fatty and greasy wastes so they will be chopped up and flushed down the drain. You need to flush all food particles through the drain line. Use lemon or orange rind or ice cubes to remove odors after flushing.
Hot water will not hurt the disposer, however, and you may safely run hot water from the sink through it. Just use cold water when you are operating the disposer.
If you wash dishes in a sink with a disposer, check to be sure all small objects are removed from the sudsy water before you drain the sink. Count Aunt Milly’s silver teaspoons before you turn the ravenous machine on. With a continuous-feed disposer, keep silverware and other small items away from the edge of the sink counter to avoid accidentally knocking them in while it is running. Rule of the Universe: Small objects only leap into the sink when the disposer is running.
Follow directions in the manual (if you can find it!) with your disposer as to what should not be put through the disposer. Do not grind large bones fibrous materials unless the manual specifically states that it is all right. With fibrous foods (celery, chard, asparagus ends, etc.) put through only a small amount at a time with a full flow of water. If drain line is long and quite horizontal, fibrous foods or too much garbage at one time can clog the line.
Take it from me, artichoke leaves have no place in your disposer.
Surprisingly, you are encouraged to put small bones through. They scour the sides of the grinding chamber. Who knew?
Do not put uncooked fat off meat into disposer as it may clog. Do not pour liquid fats down line; solidify in empty tin can in refrigerator, and dispose in trash. Even with cold water rushing through, the fat will congeal in your pipes much like your arteries, and isn’t that a happy thought?
Run the disposer each time you put food waste in it. This is particularly advisable in the less expensive models corrode easily from the acids formed by food waste left for a long time. An unusual noise while disposer is operating may mean a foreign object. Turn off disposer immediately and retrieve the object.
All disposers have overload protectors to avoid damage to the motor. If the disposer stalls, turn off the disposer and the cold water. Remove the pesky item causing the problem. Press the reset button on the disposer. If it won’t stay in, wait a few minutes and try again. If the disposer won’t start when the switch is turned on, check the house fuse. If that doesn’t work you may need to call one of those guys in the Maytag uniform.
Garbage disposers clean themselves if used properly. I like that. I wish my entire house cleaned itself. Anyway, do not put lye or other chemical drain pipe cleansers into the disposer. Periodically, and always after disposing of fibrous food wastes, purge the drain line by filling the sink with two or three inches of cold water. Turn on the food waste disposer and allow this water to run through with no wastes added. When was the last time you did this? Yeah, me too.
Well, that’s enough garbage out of me this weekend. It’s a good life. And remember to be kind to your Realtor.
