Composting cooked/meat things

[Sonata]

Cooked and meat waste seem to be a problem for us - we throw away so much, seemingly. You know, bones and gravy and stuff. I currently have a 100L wormery (this one) and a 35L bokashi (this one) on the go. I try and alternate so the worms don't get too overloaded, but the bokashi bin fills up so quickly. Also, with the bokashi bin, you have to buy the bran, which is expensive. I mean, it does have advantages in that you get some bokashi "tea" for your plants, but once you fill it, you have to leave it for 30 days, then bury it or put it in the compost. I put it in the compost as it's not rotted down enough in the 30 days for my liking.

Are there any other systems anyone has tried? I've filled the bokashi bin..well, I think we fill it every 3-4 weeks, and the 100L wormery is about 2/3 full (I think I emptied it in September), so despite it supposedly being suitable for a family of 4, I'm considering getting another one. We don't have a lot of room to put them, but I could put another one next to the one I have (down the side of the house).

I'm thinking of maybe getting a tray wormery system (I'm looking at this one)? Do they work well? I know that my current wormery is a bit of a pain to empty (I had to do it with stinking, rotted FAILEDness in September-ish). Would the tray method work better? I was thinking of another bokashi bin, but I do like my worms. They just don't work fast enough for us, but if I had another one on the go too, maybe they would?

I think I need to reassess our composting needs...

[Two_Sheds]

I think I need to reassess our composting needs...

... or your meat needs? Mr TS has meat every day, but I get very little waste. He rarely has bones or skin to dispose of for instance, but when he does I boil them up for stock, then wrap & bury them in my Daleks

[Sonata]

We tend to use bony cuts so have bones to get rid of. Would they go in the compost? I'm not keen on the idea of rats in there (even though I've had rats as pets). I wish I could reduce how much food is wasted, but with a fusspot hubby and a three year old, there is a bit of wastage.

Oh, I do boil up stock too, but then I have all those cooked veggies and bones to get rid of.

[Two_Sheds]

bones ... Would they go in the compost? I'm not keen on the idea of rats

Like I said, I don't get many bones, but those I do are put in the (sealed) composters (Daleks).
I've NEVER had rats, although occasionally meeces try to nest in them

It's your call really

[RichmondHens]

I assume you don't have a cat or dog to feed the scraps to? What about a neighbour or friend with pets? Would they accept meat leftovers? I have been known to take doggy (catty) bags home from friends' houses for my cats, and veggie scraps for the chooks (ssshh, don't tell DEFRA). Can't bear to see food of any form thrown in the bin.

I understand your concern about rats though, and meat would attract them, although TBH if you put veg peelings etc on the compost heap (don't we all?) the rats have probably already discovered them. You could however bake and grind up the bones and spread on your garden - isn't that what bonemeal is anyway?

[grannymem]

How can we get better bargains for bokashi bran? I agree it's very expensive but can't find any suppliers on the net who do good deals. Has anyone found a good supplier?

[chris]

I didn't realise it was expensive.. glad I read this because I was planning on buying a couple.

[grannymem]

Although the bran is expensive, I still think it's worth it. I just think we should campaign for cheaper prices but, as I think has been suggested, until more are using it this is unlikely to happen.

PS Iam one ot the most squeamish, nasty-smell adverse people but I can honestly say I manage the bins with no problem at all - they really are fine!

[Alison]

I don't find that my bokashi bin is expensive to run but we do fill very slowly. Don't put peelings etc in as they are better in either the wormery or the compost heap which don't need added bran so really it's just used for fat off meat (don't put bones in as it doesn't break them down anyway), cooked stuff, fish skins, cheese rind etc. It takes us months to fill so I'm quite happy. Consider what you're putting where and you'll be able to bring the cost down quite a lot. Oh and there is non way I'd put meat left overs in either my wormery or my compost heap if they'd not been through the bokashi bin first. Had rats in the past, not nice.

[grannymem]

Thanks for that, Alison - I think we've been a bit over enthusiastic about using it and I will re-instate my small kitchen compost bin as well as using the bokashi - new year resolution

[Sonata]

I only put what I can't put in the main compost (i.e. cooked stuff) in the bokashi or worm bins. I've also found the bran to be expensive - I bought in bulk but found that the bags (despite being kept sealed and not opened and stored in a cool, dry place) of bran get mouldy. I had to throw a whole bag of it away (well, I threw it in the normal compost).

I find that the bones tend to get quite "dry" and clean when put through either the worms or bokashi..once they get to be picked clean like that, I'm happy to put them in with the normal compost as they then get crushed/mashed when I'm turning to scooping out the compost...or if there are big bits, I just bury them a bit deeper when digging it in.

I don't think either smells bad if they're working right, but at the moment, the "fresh" bran really stinks to me. Normally it's fine.

[chris]

I didn't realise you could put bones in compost bins ?

[francesbean]

Down here in Somerset we have a food recycling box provided by the council - that brings the recycling bins now up to 4 not including ordinary rubbish which goes out in black bags. I was worried that it might smell but gets picked up weekly except over xmas/snowed in period when I had to wait 3 weeks. Plus of course |I've got my 2 daleks for garden/veg waste, and the 3 chooks for 'leftover treats'.

francesbean

[Sonata]

I'd love to have chooks. I'd feed them all the slugs in the garden - not a bad bargain, turning slugs into eggs!

I've ordered a Worm City tiered wormery jobby.

[wormcity]

Hi
Ive come across this thread and thought I would answer the original questions.

Tray systems are a lot better than dustbin types, simply because you are increasing the surface area, this not only give a better airflow it also increases the working space for the worms.
They are easy to sort out and manage, and if you have a problem then its a lot easier to deal with it layer by layer.

If you do buy a tray wormery, do some research on the size, as some are very small and wouldn't handle the waste of a small family.

Bokashi does have a shelf life, if its sealed in a plastic bag and isn't allowed to dry out it should last about a year.
You can make your own, and there are a few websites that show how its done.
I believe that there are many ways and mediums that can be used to soak the ems into.

Ronnie