Can pumpkin guts go down the garbage disposal?

No. Pumpkin pulp is long, wet fiber that wraps around the parts of the disposal that do the grinding, and the bits that do get through turn into a starchy paste that settles in the drain. The seeds are slick and hard enough to collect in the trap under the sink, so scrape the insides into the trash or a compost bin instead and keep the sink for rinsing your hands.

Halloween lands on a Saturday this year, so the next two weekends are when most of the carving happens around Milford, Novi, and Farmington Hills, and a pumpkin's worth of pulp sitting next to the kitchen sink is a real temptation. It's one of the few foods that's bad for the disposal and for the pipes after it at the same time.

Why the disposal can't handle it

A garbage disposal doesn't have blades. It has a spinning plate with two small lugs, called impellers, that throw food against a grinding ring around the inside wall, and it works best on small, soft pieces that break apart. Pumpkin strings don't break apart. They wind around the impellers and wedge between the plate and the ring, which is how you end up with a disposal that hums and won't turn.

Even when the strings do make it through, the pulp gets ground into a thick, starchy mash, the same way potato peels do. That mash still has to travel 20 or 30 feet of drain pipe, and it sticks wherever the pipe bends or the flow slows down, starting with the trap under the sink. The seeds go along with it, and a cup of slick seeds is exactly the kind of thing that piles up in a trap.

What to do with pumpkin guts instead

Scoop the insides onto a sheet pan or into a bowl as you carve, so the pulp never goes near the sink. From there:

• Compost it. Pumpkin pulp breaks down quickly in a backyard compost bin.
• Save the seeds. Drop the stringy clumps into a bowl of water and pull the seeds free by hand, since the seeds float and most of the pulp sinks. Pour the water off through a strainer over a second bowl, or outside, rather than into the sink, and then roast the seeds.
• Bag the rest. Whatever's left goes out with the regular trash.
• Plan for the pumpkin itself. Once the carved pumpkin starts to go soft in November, it goes in the compost or out with the yard waste, not down the disposal in pieces.

If it already went down

Turn the disposal off and stop running water into it. More water on top of a jam just fills the sink, and running the motor against a jam can trip its overload or burn it out. What you do next depends on what the disposal is doing:

• If it hums but won't spin, it's jammed. Switch it off at the wall and unplug it or flip its breaker, then put the hex key into the socket in the center of the bottom of the unit and work it back and forth until the plate moves freely. Press the red reset button on the bottom and try it again. Our guide to a disposal that hums but won't spin has the full walk through.
• If it spins but the sink won't drain, the clog is past the disposal, usually in the trap. Plug the other side of a double sink and try a sink plunger over the disposal side. If that doesn't move it, put a bucket under the trap and take it apart to clean it out, or call us.
• Skip the chemical drain cleaner. It won't dissolve pumpkin, it can damage the disposal, and it leaves a sink of caustic water for whoever opens the trap next.

The rest of the season

Pumpkin is the start of the stretch when disposals work hardest. Thanksgiving is our busiest disposal week of the year, and the same thinking covers grease, potato peels, and celery, which we go through in what not to put down a garbage disposal. If yours is already loud, slow, or leaking, repair or replace helps you decide which way to go before the holidays, and our garbage disposal page covers installs and repairs in Milford, Novi, and Farmington Hills.

Quick answers

Can you put pumpkin in a garbage disposal?

No. The stringy pulp wraps around the disposal's impellers, and the ground pulp turns into a starchy paste that clogs the drain. Compost it or put it in the trash.

Can pumpkin seeds go down the garbage disposal?

No. They're slick and hard enough to collect in the trap under the sink. Save them to roast or throw them away.

What do I do if pumpkin jammed my garbage disposal?

Turn it off and cut the power, then use the hex key in the bottom of the unit to free the plate and press the reset button. If it spins but the sink won't drain, the clog is in the trap.

Countryside Plumbing is a licensed master plumber serving Milford, Novi, Farmington Hills, and southeast Michigan since 1979. Garbage disposal installation and repair are a big part of what we do. Free quotes at 248-705-7543.