I just started my own bokashi bucket using a 5 gal bucket, a drain plate with a spigot and an airtight Gamma lid for ease of lid removal. I am at 2 weeks usage and my bucket isn’t quite full. I noticed yesterday that there is a slight garbage smell when I enter the kitchen. How is this possible? I’m using about a cup of bokashi mix every time I add food waste. Another thing I’m wondering about… I have been adding my coffee grinds + unbleached paper filters to my bucket (I shake the grinds out and then throw in the filter). Is it okay to do this or should I eliminate the paper filter from the bucket? Thanks!
Great question, Terry. You're doing everything right, so it really just comes down to tweaking your practices a bit. Try adding a little more Bokashi mix every time. A cup will usually suffice, but in warmer weather, the contents of the bucket will tend to putrefy quicker, before the fermentation process begins. Be sure to keep the bucket out of sunlight (you probably store yours under the sink, but that's another tip for anyone who might have theirs out in the open) as that will only make the contents get warm faster, and it will stink.
One final thing that will help, and I don't know if you're presently doing this or not, is to compact the contents of your Bokashi bucket. You can do this by simply putting a pie plate or dinner plate over the top of the contents of your bucket and weighing it down with a brick. This helps the fermentation process by ensuring that the food waste is in direct content with the Bokashi bran---and remember, this is an anaerobic system, so the more oxygen we can force out of the contents, the better it will work.
Regarding your question about putting the coffee filters in the bucket, there's no problem with that. Keep on doing what you're doing in that regard.
I hope that helps. Please let me know if the odor goes away. If not, we'll have to dig a little deeper to find out how to get rid of the smell.
Anyone else have tips for dealing with stinky Bokashi? Please share them in the comments!
Need help? Feel free to post a question in my forum!
Comments
There are a few other important and potential causes of foul (putrid)smells. As was pointed out, the most likely is that the fermentation is not being done in a truly anaerobic form. Check for air leaks in your system.
Also be sure the fluid is being drained from the system as build up of fluid will inhibit or slow fermentation and can induce putrifaction.
Your bokashi culture mix may be of low quality or damaged, possibly by UV light if it had been left in the sun light or exposed to UV light.
Adding a spray of sugar water to the material in the bucket can give the fungi a quick start and accelerate fermentation to overcome the competitors. Use a spray bottle with a table spoons of sugar in a cup of water and spritz the food waste in the fermenter.
Finally, be certain you are putting the waste material in the fermenter as it is being generated. Letting it sit around, especially in warm weather for even a few hours can get the putrifying organisms a big jump ahead so that fermentation is competing at a disadvantage.
Larry Green
Bokashicycle.com
Larry–
Thanks for your input on this one! I have never heard that sugar water trick before, but I’m definitely going to try that in my own Bokashi bucket.
Very good guide for those whose Bokashi are stinking. Actually on following the steps properly, the Bokashi will smell sweet instead.
Does anyone make composting buckets smaller than 5 gallons? This is much too large for me. Thank you.