Mill Food Recycler Review

Product testing has led me down some silly paths. I’ve baked dozens of pot pies to find the best toaster ovens, fried 44 eggs in search of the top ceramic skillets, and taken a whole, raw turkey on a boat to New Jersey.

And I’ve loved every minute of it. Going to great lengths to write reviews keeps my days interesting, replenishes my store of dinner party anecdotes, and gives me a reason to have friends over for pancakes flipped with various turners. 

Most recently, I tested the Mill Food Recycler. I doubt I’ll have any stories to tell of it, because it worked really well. The Mill was easy to use, required minimal setup, and made disposing of food scraps easy. If you have the cash, it could be worth investing in, but it’s not without its cons.

The Tests

• User Experience Test: I set up the Mill in my kitchen, downloaded the app, and programmed it to run a grinding cycle according to my schedule. Throughout testing, I evaluated how easy it was to use.
• Performance Test: I used the Mill to dispose of compatible food waste for a period of two weeks.
• Smell Test: I sniffed all around the Mill during every stage of the processing cycle to check for odors. 
• Noise Test: I used an online decibel meter to assess noise levels during the Mill’s grind cycle. 

What We Learned

What Is the Mill Food Recycler and How Does It Work?

The Mill Food Recycler is a sleek, white bin about the size of a kitchen trash can. This smart device uses heat and built-in paddles to process food scraps into odor-free “food grounds” overnight (or whenever makes sense for your schedule).  

Electric food recyclers are techy, Wi-Fi-enabled alternatives to countertop composting bins. However, Mill—like the Lomi and the Vitamix Food Cycler—doesn’t make actual compost. True composting is a natural decomposition process in which microbes break down organic material until it becomes a dark soil amendment. Electric food recyclers produce dried food grounds. The results might look like soil, but they’re still unconverted organic matter.  

From Mill’s perspective, this might be a good thing. The company is working toward developing chicken feed that puts recycled food scraps to waste. The Mill recycling process uses gentle heat to preserve the nutrients in food scraps. The resulting mixture can be added to compost bins, home gardens, or chicken feed. 

You can recycle most kitchen scraps with the Mill. Exceptions include liquids, large bones, and thick clam shells that are too tough for the grinder to break up. The Mill’s app features a library with detailed entries explaining which food items are or aren’t recyclable. 

Pros of the Mill Food Recycler

I’m lucky enough to have curbside compost pickup in my neighborhood. All I need to do is toss food scraps into a countertop compost bin, empty it into a city-provided collection container, and place it on the sidewalk for pickup. It’s as easy as taking out the trash, but somehow the Mill feels much simpler. If you’re squeamish about the compost, you might like the dry, blissfully unscented experience a Mill provides. 

This device has a simple, modern design with smooth, rounded corners, a soft white finish, a tight-sealing lid, and a simple push pedal. The size and the flip-top lid create a clean, hands-off user experience. It’s easy to carry a cutting board over, step on the pedal, and scrape scraps into the bin without getting close to the contents.

During testing, I also found that the Mill reduced the amount of time I spent managing my food scraps. I—or more often, my compost-loving husband—usually empty our countertop compost bin twice a week. Waiting too long means risking pungent aromas, fruit flies, and dreaded compost juice leaks. The Mill can process up to 40 pounds of scraps, according to the company, before it needs to be emptied. The drying process also reduces scrap volume—the Mill’s 6.5-liter bin is large enough to hold several weeks’ worth of kitchen waste at once. Drying also reduces odors and eliminates the potential of any seepage.

Composting and food recycling share a common goal: waste reduction. Both of these methods have merits and, frankly, anything is better than the landfill. One potential benefit of recycling with a Mill is that it can process food more quickly than traditional composting. Many compost sites don’t accept meat or bones. The Mill can recycle animal proteins and small bones, helping you reduce your waste even more.

Cons of the Mill Food Recycler 

The Mill has two big drawbacks: its price and footprint. It’s 16 inches wide, 13 inches deep, and 37 inches tall. By my standards, that’s big. Adding an additional full-sized trash can to my kitchen (which is quite large by Brooklyn standards) is a tough sell. If, like my sister, you live in a huge haunted house in the Midwest, I’m sure you could just stick a Mill composter in every room and have square feet to spare. 

Shoppers can choose between renting a device for $35 a month or buying a Mill outright for $999. Rental plans have a 12-month minimum commitment. Mill owners have the option to use their food grounds themselves or pay extra for Mill pickup. Pickup is $192/year for either plan. For renters with a pickup plan, that’s $612 for the first year. 

Cutting costs by doing away with the pickup plan might not be a great option for everyone—that would require a reliable way to use all of your food grounds. Mill’s website suggests adding food grounds to your lawn or garden, using them in a compost pile, or feeding them to chickens. However, gardens can only process up to eight cups per 10 square feet of soil every two weeks. Additionally, if you want to use your food grounds for chicken feed, you’ll need to restrict the scraps you add to your Mill to items suited to those purposes. Foods like onions, avocado pits, and coffee grounds, for example, aren’t good for chickens. 

Six hundred dollars is a lot of money, so much that I’m inclined to start asking questions. What, exactly, am I getting for all of this cash? The unfortunate truth is that purchasing a Mill means volunteering to spend hundreds of dollars to dehydrate your own leftovers instead of just throwing them out with the rest of your garbage. There could be real benefits if everyone committed to food recycling, but, in its current state, it requires a consumer with a flush bank account and a desire to reduce waste out of the goodness of their own heart. 

The Verdict

The Mill Food Recycler simplified one of my least favorite chores. It’s stylish, easy to use, and works well. That being said, I can’t see myself spending the money and sacrificing the space just to make my semi-weekly interactions with the compost bin less gross. It doesn’t seem to make sense for small households. However, if you produce a lot of kitchen scraps and have a clear use for food grounds, a Mill might be a worthwhile purchase.

FAQs

Is Mill or Lomi better?

The best electric composter depends on your needs. Lomi is smaller and more affordable than Mill. Larger households may prefer the Mill’s generous 6.5-liter capacity.

Can paper towels go in the Mill? 

The Mill can process a limited amount of paper towels as long as they are 100% paper and free from cleaning products. Mill users can find detailed information about compatible foods and limitations in the Mill app. 

Does Mill require a subscription?

The Mill is available for outright purchase or rental. Renters pay a monthly $35 fee for their bin. Mill’s food scrap pickup service is available as an add-on subscription service for either plan. 

Why We’re the Experts

• Madeline Muzzi is a food writer with over 10 years of experience testing products.
• She has written numerous reviews for Serious Eats, including countertop composters and toaster ovens.
• For this review, Madeline tested the Mill Food Recycler in her home for two weeks.
• Madeline has practiced home composting in five different homes and always removes the sticker before composting banana peels.