Petal alternatives

I bought it as a part of kickstarter and waited almost 2 years for deliver. When I got it, the excitement had waned but I unboxed it. And it's easy enough to setup and use. There are 3 versions, but only 1 makes usable garden compost; the others go into the compost bin (then what's the point of Lomi?). Anyways, if you cook a lot this composter gets full very quickly - and it makes a lot of noise - sounds like someone with GI issues. The company says it only happens in the beginning, but literally we hear it throughout the entire cycle. I thought maybe it was because we over stuffed it... but even when I loosely fill the Lomi, the sound continues. Additionally, it gets jammed up even when loosely packed with artichoke leaves - I mean it REALLY got jammed up, the grinders were completely stuck with artichoke fibers. I dunno, it's a lot of money for a composter - we have a worm composter in the backyard, and its slower, but it cost us almost nothing.