This is the one I have ordered. My friend has one and loves it:

http://www.rev-a-shelf.com/Common/ProductClassification.aspx?class=Waste%20Containers&family=Chrome%20Accessories&category=Pivot-Out%20Waste%20Bins

You meant mounted in the counter right?

Here's a link to an older thread.

Here is a link that might be useful: In counter waste

Thanks to you both. I think we'll be going with plan "b", a container under the sink, attached to the door. Just need a small container for compost as we empty every night. As more cities move to composting, I'm sure someone will come up with something for less than $600!

I bought those restaurant steam pans. They are great. The 1/6 size steam pan is about 6" square.

You could drill a 5" diameter hole and put a 6" square stainless container under it.

I've been extremely happy with our door mounted waste bin where the lid lifts up as the door opens.

I've been searching for a compost answer for 25 years and I consider this a pretty great solution.

A business friend had done what you originally described back in the late 80's. She and her dh had put their heart into their totally diy kitchen. We used to get frequent updates at work about the progress of the cabinets as her dh lovingly crafted them from multiple species of wood (woodworker as a hobby.) They were avid gardeners and big composters. When I visited after the kitchen was finished I noticed they had a hole in their counter for compost, much like you describe. A few years later when I visited I noticed the set up was abandoned (but the hole was still there.) I lost touch and never found out why they stopped using it.

I had briefly considered putting a hole in our counter with a bucket underneath. I am glad we decided against it. It turns out I prep in a different place than I "planned" to prep when our kitchen was on paper. I thought the most logical prep spot was between the fridge and small sink--in the same space our trash is located. But when I started using the kitchen I found I liked prepping on the peninsula next to the range. I would have been heartsick that we ruined our counters needlessly.

Plenty of people have and love their in-counter compost systems.

Here's our bin. It's made by rev-a-shelf. We originally purchased the cheaper all plastic bin (also by r-a-s) but the bin began sagging after 3/4 of a year or so. This one is much sturdier--I wish I had spent the extra bucks to start.

{{!gwi}}

We bought the Blanco Solon inset compost pail - only paid around $300 and we LOVE it. It is the one feature in our new kitchen that everyone who visits covets. Our cabinet maker was impressed too. He said "the build quality is exceptional".

Here it is Google "Adcraft stainless steel 11 qt." I found it last week.

It seems like I'm going to die trying to do this thing. Westy...check it out

I think many of us composters have been searching for years and years for The solution....

Recently I feel I may have had it under my nose for all these years and didn't notice. I can't tell you how many hours I've spent searching for just the right container, fruitlessly. Turns out the shape I was looking for I owned all along, it's the square 3.5L plastic food service bucket with square lid . I posted a link below but I'm absolutely flummoxed by the price. I'm sure I bought mine for about $8 total including lid at a restaurant supply store, albeit a few years back. ... yeah, here we go: $5. I'll use that link instead of the first which was advertising for $50!

What I love about this container is the lid. It's square and clicks on and doesn't dome up, so it's stashable. I also like that the container is *not* fixed inside a drawer so that you can just take it to your peeled mess rather than having to multiply sweep the mess into the bin. And miss.

I haven't built this yet but my plan is to have an open shelf right next to and below the sink where I can stash this bucket with its lid on, and yank it out quickly when needed. I just know it will spend much of its life on the surface of the counter, but it will have a home to go to when the urge to clean up comes over me. The shape is easy for toting and the right size for me for stink:volume -- that is, when generating tons of compost, any container will be too small. It's for the small drips and drabs that sit around for a while that size becomes an issue. Too large and it becomes rank before filled up. Too small and of course you get too much exercise emptying it (wouldn't want that).

I've had these containers for years only I use them for grains.

I like that the containers are a really durable plastic because our compost bin is a square tower with plywood sides in a corner of our yard. I'm always tapping it on the top of the plywood and cracking the pretty compost pot. This is better because the plastic is really durable - tap away and no splits yet at least.

And btw, florantha -- I hope you're reading -- or was it lavender... a while back you mentioned worrying about bugs in the flour. Thinking about this, my flour bin reminds me: I was told about this trick by an employee of a flour company. Bay leaves (1 per #25) keep the bugs away. And I've never been aware of a flavor or smell from the leaves in anything I cook. Since putting bay leaves in my flour I've had never a single moth or bug in 15 years. Makes you wonder....

Here is a link that might be useful: Square plastic food service bucket as Perfect compost bin

Ever since our city initiated curbside compost pick up (with trash & recycling) a few years ago I seem to generate so much more compost...

Haven't figured out where the compost bin will be in the new kitchen. In the past, I've used a paper shopping bag as a liner in a 18 inch trash can under sink. I love alaris 19's square solution, but honestly think it will be too small. The rev-a-shelf looks like a pefect size, and the perfect upgrade fitting of this kitchen remodel.

Also, saw Blanco compost bins on-line for about $300. If I was willing to cut into my soapstone, I would consider that.

I'm willing to spend more than $5 for a solid container. Maybe as much as $10. Ikea has some now. Restaurant supply stores have some too. Cube shape, cylinder shape, or rectangular.

I looked at the Blanco Solon product, and a Franke one too. I looked long and hard. I emailed the companies, got names of distributors, called or emailed them, got their address and opening hours, and went to see the product in showrooms. What a lot of work, just to see a cylinder. Even tho' the "build quality" could be high high high, I just figured I'd go get any other container, somewhere else. To justify a couple hundred dollars, I have to see a few added features. Hint hint if you the reader happen to be designing new products. I mean, think of it: there are nice middle class people willing to spend hundreds if you give them a way to do so.

I think aliris and I could save billions if we were in charge.

Hth.

I was thinking about asking a "what to do about compost" question, did a search and came up with this thread. I too, am looking for a compost solution. I have a vegetable garden and lots of flowers, and end up generating huge amounts of green waste. Ideally, the compost could be pushed off the prep counter into a bin without having to lift lids or open doors with mucky hands. Lee Valley has a garbage solution that is a bin pullout and has a gasket installed inside the cabinet to seal the bin when the pullout is closed. Does anyone have one of these? For me, the seal would have to be tight to insure both smells and fruit flies do not become an issue. I'm also considering the undersink container with the lid that comes off when you open the door and the restaurant tray in drawer idea. Any other brilliant ideas out there?

I throw the compost directly into the bin while prepping. I put the compost bin in my large single sink or just put the compost on the counter during my prep. The sink is big enough there is enough room even if I put the compost bin in the sink. Then I store the compost bin in the pull out drawer under my sink. I actually have 2 compost bins under the sink, since I have to have one for the city (which takes all cooked food scraps including meat products) and my home compost (which only includes egg shells, coffee grinds, and uncooked vegie/fruit trims...)

The lid fits tight so that smell and fruit flies are not an issue for me. Even so, you have to take it out daily in the summer time. In the winter, we take it out every few days when the bins are full.

I have had this bucket before. The handle makes it easy to take it out for my kids since the kids have that chore. I did not want a system that relied on bags that stayed intact. I use biodegradable bags to line these compost bins and they are not very sturdy. You can't line the compost with plastic bags because the bags do not compost for obvious reasons.

When the bucket gets gross after a few years, I toss it and buy another one. The bucket fits in the DW which is a must for me.

I did not want to mount the compost bin attached to the door that opens when you pull it out since the chance of something ending on the floor is much greater than my current system. I really dislike picking up coffee grounds that end up on the floor!

Here is a link that might be useful: The compost bin I use.

I too, have one of these, also from Lee Valley. When I'm doing meals, etc. I usually pull it out and set it on the counter but there are so many other times in the day when a small amount of compost is generated and the bin is in the cupboard with the lid on. I would really like something more accessible.

Someone I know cut out the counter and installed a SS restaurant steam pans with lids on the top of the counter. It sits on the counter like a traditional over mounted SS sink. This is considerably cheaper than the Blanco solution. I am with others, I would not want to have a hole on the my counter nor want to look at the compost bin all the time. I like the bucket system that comes with me where I go.

A friend of mine preps with a paper grocery bag on the floor and tosses the compost in there while he preps. He only cooks on the weekends, so he does not worry about the in between times...

Over the years, I have also learned that the compost bin cannot be too small. If it is too small, it gets too full before the end of the day. It has to be big enough to be useful. Each family has a GOOD size that work for them.

Here is a link that might be useful: steam pans

Hi 10KDiamond, Davidrol -- sorry; I let this thread slide. I don't know how others keep up with this. When you haven't posted the question how do you know to check back?

10K - those square plastic food service bins come in all sizes. I, for example, have a square one large enough to fit a whole #25 sack of flour. It's 12.5" tall (I know because I measured it so as to have a deep enough storage drawer for it). I'm quite certain those are not the largest size either but I simply cannot imagine wanting one even that large for compost! But there are several intervening sizes as well: point is, if the shape, material and cost interest you, you can no doubt find just the right size to suit you (I think I actually shelled out something like $12.50 for the giant size including lid (which is sold separately)).

I generate probably, when in full-cook mode (which is not the case right now), approx 10L per day of compost I'd guess. More when citrus is in season! But again, personally, if I'm on a tear compost-wise, then I'll just take out a giant pot and fill it up for a single trip to the compost bin. The standing bucket in the kitchen I just want to be a size bracketed by the following parameters: not so big as to prevent my getting around to taking it out before it reeks while collecting drips and drabs (as opposed to a large meal-making worth of compost) and not so small as to be inconvenient to sweep stuff into. Hence the square top - way better for sweeping. And hence not really all that big. Again, it's for drips and drabs, not a production-cooking session.

A cousin sent me the *prettiest* compost bucket one year. It was of pottery made by a potter near Monouth, ME -- I put a link down below but I don't think they do the internet-thing. I loved that pot so much that I drove way out of my way to buy another (at a rather high cost) after I'd broken the first. And I think I even replaced it once more before deciding my pocketbook had just had enough of that. Better to buy more of their beautiful pottery for the table and skip the heartbreaking repeated cracks.

Here is a link that might be useful: Maker of a beautiful hand-thrown iris-decorated compost pot