Kitchen countertop compost is a pleasant sight. Instead of a bucket smelling of vegetable scraps and coffee grounds breeding fruit flies on your counter or attracting mice to your backyard, you can simply put it in a fancy electric appliance, and at some unspecified time in the future, you’ll have an abundant supply of nutrient-rich compost to use in your garden.
Unfortunately, none of the most popular electric machines do this. Although some of these devices are marketed as “composters” and have instruction manuals and programs that explain all the ways one can compost, the vast majority of kitchen composters will grind and dry your food scraps. Your waste output will be significantly reduced and no longer expanding, but if you’re hoping to put eggshells and banana peels in the machine and magically scoop out the kind of compost you’d buy at a garden center, that’s not going to happen.
That said, you you can mix a small amount of these bases into potting soil in very small proportions, or use them as food for a “real” compost pile, but most of these machines are intended for those who want to reduce the amount of food waste produced by their households. This in itself is a legitimate goal, as food waste contributes 24 percent of municipal solid waste, leading to the release of methane, a greenhouse gas of destructionwhen it breaks down in a landfill.
Or maybe you just want your food to be odor free and shelf stable before you add it to your green waste bin for municipal composting or your backyard compost. In any case, despite the cry of critics of green washing and corporate astrologythere is still value in these devices. It makes people more aware of their food waste. They don’t use as much power as you think they would (around 1 kilowatt-hour was typical). And my top choice, Reencle Primeit even produces something almost for compost.
Read on for our review, and when you’re done, check out our others guidelines related to the kitchenincluding Best Coffee Makers, Best Toaster Ovens, Best Meat Registry Boxesand Best Meal Kit Delivery Services.
Updated April 2026: I’ve added Terra II from GEME and Clear Drop’s Organics Collector to the section on other devices I’ve tested and made sure the ingredients and prices are up to date. I am currently trying the compost from Airthereal.
Table of Contents
Best Overall
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Reincle
General Electric Composter
As I mentioned above, there is no ready-made composting machine, but Reencle Prime comes closer for a traditional compost bin. Popular in South Korea years before appearing in the US, Reencle comes with a ReencleMicrobe starter bag (which can be purchased separately. for $65) containing activated carbon, wood pellets, glucose, and three patented ready-to-chew microbes. There is also a pre-filled carbon filter that goes in the back.
At 14 x 15 x 22 inches, the Prime is too big for a kitchen counter, but it works just as easily as a heated trash can. The lid can be opened via a sensor on the bottom or a button on the control panel, and the organic matter enters. That’s all. There are no extra cycles, pills, or buckets to worry about. Even the program is completely optional. Within hours to days, depending on the item, the scrap breaks down into a material that resembles a cross between dirt and dust.
smell it’s not always pleasantbut it can usually be reduced by using the control panel’s “Dry and Clean” buttons or by adding what, in the compost dictionary, is called “brown” – dry, carbon-rich material such as bread or shredded paper.
Photo: Kat Merck
Reencle also does not smell when fed his preferred diet of 1.5 pounds of scraps per day. Unlike other machines, it can also accept meat and milk. For large households, there is Reencle Gravity ($649)which is several inches long and can hold 3.3 pounds of waste per day. I also tried this and found it quieter than the Prime – not that the Prime is loud, only about 30 decibels – but the Gravity is almost silent, which is a nice bonus.
When the volume reaches the filling line, the Reencle bases can be dissolved, mixed with potting soil in a ratio of 1:4, and left to cure for three weeks (I used a large tub in my garage). Later, it can be used for outdoor and indoor plants. I have used this combination of results to positive effect internally and externally.
