[jyl]

Sometimes the garbage disposal/insinkerator is perfectly capable of grinding up the food waste, but the waste then clogs up at a particularly restrictive bend of the downstream plumbing. You might want to test - soak and mash up some food stuff (1 cup of stale bread crumbs, say) and dump it, all at once, down your drain with the water running. If your plumbing won't handle it then you may not get that much benefit from a garbage disposal.

I think they are handy devices, but not that much handier than a simple drain strainer. And you use a strainer with a garbage disposal anyway, to catch forks and spoons etc.

Every now and again they get stuck on something hard (peach pit, etc) and then you have to reach in, remove the jamming bit, and press the reset button.

I have one but wouldn't care if I didn't.