The bokashi kitchen composter is a really good way of transforming kitchen waste into nutrient-rich soil conditioner. It will deal with almost all kitchen food waste including cooked and uncooked meats and fish, dairy products and cooked leftovers which can’t be added to a normal composting system. (See Composting food waste and Bokashi)
Bokashi bran, a dry mixture of bran, molasses and micro-organisms, is mixed in with the food scraps in a sealable container which can be kept in the kitchen. Once full, the mix is left for 2 weeks to ferment, then the contents are added to a normal compost bin or wormery, or dug into a hole in the ground and buried. The fermented matter then breaks down very quickly into rich compost.
Bokashi bran is normally purchased ready-made, and costs about £23 for 6 months supply (see The Recycle Works or the turning2green shop). The initial cost of purchasing the bins, plus the ongoing cost of the bokashi bran sometimes puts people off using what is otherwise a really good system.
However, it is possible to purchase the EM-1 Effective Micro-Organisms and make the bran mixture yourself at home for less. The blue sun sell 250ml of EM-1 for £6.99, or The Recycle Works have 1 litre bottles for £22, or see the turning2green shop
There are various recipes for bokashi bran on the web, but most work with large quantities and aren’t suitable for normal home use, so here is a very simple and easy recipe for a small batch of EM bokashi bran, enough to supply an average home for about a month at a total cost of around £1.50.
Mix one tablespoon (15ml) of molasses into 250ml of warm water, then add one tablespoon (15ml) of EM-1. Pour the mixture into 500g of wheat bran and mix very thoroughly. The bran will expand as it absorbs the water.
When it’s well mixed, seal it up in an airtight container and leave in a warm, dark place for about 2-3 weeks. VERY IMPORTANT – don’t open it up at all for at least two weeks, not even to have a quick peep, or the process won’t work!
When the time is up, the bran should smell fermented and there may be some white mould on the surface, which is a good sign. The mixture is now ready to use, but keeps better if it’s well dried. Spread out on a tray away from direct sunlight until completely dry then store in a cool dry place. The bran should remain active for at least a year.
An alternative suggestion I found is to use ‘kombucha’ tea as an inoculant instead of EM bokashi. This is a fermented sweet tea made from a SCOBY (Symbiotic Colony of Bacteria and Yeast), which looks like a white rubbery pancake. The tea tastes like a cross between sparkling apple cider and champagne, and is said to be a very beneficial health drink. It’s been used in China for at least two thousand years, where it was known as the ‘tea of immortality’.
A SCOBY costs just a couple of pounds on ebay and, once the culture starts growing it reproduces itself, so you might have a lifetime supply of enough tea to keep both you and your fermenting buckets healthy for next to nothing! I’ve never tried this and have absolutely no idea if it works, but it’s got to be worth a look!
See also: Composting food waste; Bokashi
If you try any of these methods, please do come back and let us know how you got on.
Posted under bokashi, compost, food, money saving ideas
Actually there are very few alternatives that are easy as using Bokashi for transforming our kitchen waste to odourless fertilizer inside the comfort of our home.
Thanks for this great post! I have been looking for a Bokashi recipe using smaller quantities and don’t fancy paying £22 a litre for the EM…so may well look into the tea, how did it go? that’s if you tried it…thanks again :0)
i bought my bokashi bins last year, along eith a supply of bokashi bran. I did not get to use all this as i have a wormery and compost bins. Can i reuse the bokashi bran using the Micro effective organisms, to make some more that works? I would welcome any responses. Gill
I see no reason why you can’t re-use the bran, but have you tried it to see if it still works? It should remain active for at least a year if it’s stored in a cool dry place.
I have tried making the tea – it’s delicious, and so far none of it has made it as far as the bokashi bin!!
Wheat bran is a bit scarce around here but we have a lot of rice bran, both the first grinding which includes the husk and the second, polishing, grind. What say you – suitable?
I reckon rice bran will probably work just as well. Would be interested to know
Each and every time I see blogs as very good as this mainly because I will need to quit bludging and begin working on mine.Thanks
Has anyone tried using scoby? I haven found anyone that explains how to do it. I really don’t want to buy EM stuff from a company.
Howdy! I’m at work surfing around your blog from my new iphone! Just wanted to say I love reading through your blog and look forward to all your posts! Carry on the fantastic work!
I’m about to try mixing EM, molasses and bran as directed above. I need advice as to the safe size of container to use. Will the mix expand much during fermentation? Will I end up with bran textured walls and ceiling?
Hello! I’ve been following your blog for a while now and finally got the courage to go ahead and give you a shout out from Kingwood Tx! Just wanted to mention keep up the great work!
I make water kefir – which is similar to Kombucha, in that it is a collection of yeasts and bacteria that you use to ferment sugar water into a probiotic drink. My kefir grains are constantly growing so that I have more kefir than I and my family can drink! I have started putting the apricots that I use in the kefir ferment into the compost and also adding a slosh or two to my kitchen caddy with each load. I’ve noticed that the awful kitchen caddy smell is less or even absent when I add water kefir to it – but I’ve yet to see the effect on the compost because I’ve only been doing it about a month. I’m guessing that I could ferment a bucketful for a couple of weeks each time rather than just putting it straight into the larger compost bin – but it seems like a stretch for me as I already have my water kefir bubbling away in the corner! Will report back when I’ve made a proper load of compost.