Bokashi Composting

Bokashi is a Japanese word that means “fermented organic matter”. Although it’s labelled as a type of composting, technically it’s an anaerobic (oxygen-starved) fermentation process that uses inoculated bran (bran soaked in water with molasses and beneficial microorganisms, then dried out) to ferment kitchen scraps, including meat and dairy.

Bokashi composting has many advantages:

• low odor (only an apple cider vinegar or pickly smell)
• it handles almost all types of food waste
• it doesn’t attract insects (you may have fruit flies for a short while, but they can’t live in the acidic fermentation conditions)
• it doesn’t attract mice or rats

Easy to Do

It’s also a very easy system to implement, and faster than traditional composting. However, it costs anywhere from $46 to $95 to buy a kit that includes one or two 5-gallon buckets with a spigot, and the bokashi (inoculated bran). The bokashi will have to be replenished about every 3 months. You can also make an inexpensive DIY bokashi kit with a couple of buckets and a lid, creating an airtight container, and there are recipes online for making your own bokashi.

How to use the Bokashi Composter

1. Chop your food scraps into very small pieces. You can compost fruits, vegetables, small bones, coffee grounds, cheese, meat, and fish.
2. Add a small amount of bokashi on the bottom of the bucket. Then add a layer of scraps up to 3 inches. Sprinkle bokashi on top of the layer, enough to coat it lightly. You’ll need more bokashi when adding hard to compost materials such as meat, fish, coffee grounds, cheese, and small bones.
3. Press down on the scraps to eliminate air pockets. You can use a plate or old pot lid that can remain on top of the scraps. You can also put a plastic bag over the food waste to keep the air out.
4. Close the lid on the bucket securely.
5. Siphon the compost “tea” (compost liquid) through the spigot every 2–3 days, or as needed. Dilute this “tea” (1 tablespoon per gallon of water) and use it within 12 hours on indoor or garden plants. You can also pour it down your drains to keep them clean.
6. Repeat these steps until your bucket is full of scraps and bokashi. Let it sit for about 2 weeks for the material to ferment, continuing to siphon the “tea”. Before your bucket is full you may notice a white mold forming and a smell similar to apple cider vinegar or pickles. These are good signs that the scraps are fermenting with healthy microbes.

Troubleshooting the Bokashi

If your bucket starts to smell rotten you can take the following steps to try to rescue the batch:

• add more bokashi
• cut down on the size and amount of food scraps you’re adding each time and don’t let them rot beforehand
• drain the bucket
• remove excess moisture from the scraps before adding
• keep the bucket away from extreme temperatures and exposure to sunlight
• keep the lid on as much as possible

When you open the lid after 2 weeks you should see pickled food waste resembling what you originally put in, but covered with white mold. Very little shrinkage will have taken place, and it will still smell like pickles or apple cider vinegar. Green, blue, black, or grey mold means your waste is putrefying rather than fermenting, and it will smell rotten You need to throw the batch out and start again.

What to do with Bokashi Pre-Compost

Now you’re ready to empty the bokashi bin. What do you do with the fermented food scraps that need to be transformed into finished compost?

1. If you have a garden, you can bury these scraps in a trench or multiple holes. Dig the trench 1 foot by 3 feet, empty the scraps, mix, and cover with soil. Wait 2-3 weeks before planting in that area, longer if there are larger pieces of food waste such as bones. Remember that pre-compost is acidic and harmful to plant roots.
2. You can bury the pre-compost in a backyard compost pile or bin. Dig a hole in the compost material, mix in the food waste, then bury it with dry materials (browns) as you usually would with your outdoor compost. It should take about 2-4 weeks to break down.
3. Make an indoor “soil factory” in a plastic storage container. First add a layer of healthy garden soil on the bottom (with earthworms and microbes). Empty the bokashi pre-compost into the container. Break up any lumps of the fermented waste, then add more healthy soil. Mix everything together so that the pre-compost is covered well with soil. Top this off with some more soil. The bottom soil, pre-compost, and upper soil layer should each be a third of the total content. If you have a lid, put it on so it’s loose-fitting. Alternatively, cover with a towel or newspaper to keep the moisture in.

You may see some white mold on top of the soil. As in the fermenting stage this is a good sign that the microbes are doing their work. Mix it into the soil if you wish. In 2–4 weeks the pre-compost should have disappeared into the soil and is ready for use. It may take longer if you have fewer earthworms and microbes in your soil factory. If you want to run your soil factory continuously, just remove the soil you need and leave enough in for your next bokashi load. You can store the finished compost as you would with other composting methods.

4. A variation on the soil factory method is to add the pre-compost to containers, planters, or pots. Use the same mix of “thirds” when adding the bokashi waste and soil. Cover the planter or container with a large plastic bag or lid if these are outdoors. Wait for up to 4 weeks before adding plants to the container.

An easy test to check the maturity of your compost is to add some fast growing seeds (e.g. radishes) to your planters or pots. If at least 75% of the seeds sprout and grow then your soil is ready.

5. You can also let the fermented waste sit in the bucket for up to 6 months before you transfer it to a trench or compost bin or pile. This would be handy during the winter, and you could continue to compost if you had more bokashi buckets.
6. Lastly, some people like to combine bokashi composting with vermicomposting. They begin by adding only small amounts of the bokashi pre-compost to the worms, making sure to also add material such as paper to neutralize the extra acid of the food waste.

Before starting another bokashi batch you need to rinse out the empty bin. Don’t use soap because it will stop the microbes from properly doing their job. Inspect the bin and lid for cracks and make sure everything is working properly.

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