Quick verdict
Bokashi ferments all food waste, including meat, dairy and cooked food, in a sealed kitchen bin with inoculated bran, then finishes in soil in a couple of weeks. Bokashi Living's kit supplies the two bins the method needs, 4.4 pounds of bran and a full guide, with lids and spigots built to a higher standard than the copies. It is the right way to start and the bran is the only ongoing cost.
Strengths
- Two bins allow continuous collection while one batch ferments
- Handles meat, dairy, bones and cooked food that compost bins cannot
- Four and a half pounds of bran and a complete guide included
- Well-made lids and spigots that seal and do not leak
- Compact and odour-free enough for a kitchen
Weaknesses
- Bran is an ongoing purchase
- Fermented waste must be buried or added to a compost pile to finish
- Higher upfront price than single-bin copies
The overall YardToolLab Score is out of 100. Section scores are out of 10.
Composting the Food a Compost Bin Rejects
Outdoor compost bins take peelings and coffee grounds. They do not take meat, bones, dairy or cooked leftovers, which is most of what a kitchen throws away. Bokashi does. Food goes into a sealed bin with a sprinkle of inoculated bran, ferments for two weeks like a pickle, and is then buried or added to a pile where it becomes soil within a month. Bokashi Living’s starter kit supplies two bins, 4.4 pounds of bran and a full guide, which is everything the method needs.
This review is based on Bokashi Living’s specifications and on how two-bin bokashi systems work in households generally. We have not used this kit ourselves.
How the Method Works
Each day’s scraps go into the bin, get pressed down to exclude air and are dusted with bran carrying lactobacillus and other microbes. The lid seals. Over a week or two the bin fills; sealed for another two weeks, the contents ferment. There is no rot and no foul smell, only a sour pickle note when the lid opens. Liquid drains from the spigot every few days as bokashi tea, a strong plant feed when diluted. The fermented waste is then buried in the garden or added to a compost pile, where it disappears into soil in two to four weeks.
Why Two Bins
Fermentation needs the bin sealed and undisturbed, so one bin alone means two weeks with nowhere for scraps to go. Two bins alternate: fill one while the other ferments. Bokashi Living builds the kit around that and the guide explains the rhythm.
Build Quality
The company is pointed about cheaper copies, and the difference owners report is in the lids and spigots. A bokashi bin must seal airtight and the spigot must not leak tea onto the kitchen floor; these do both. The bins are compact enough for under a counter.
Ongoing Cost
Bran is consumed with every bin, roughly a cup per fill. The 4.4 pounds included lasts several months for a typical household; after that, bran is the only recurring purchase and can be made at home.
Who Should Buy It
- Households that want to compost all food waste, including meat and dairy.
- Apartment and small-garden dwellers who need an indoor system.
- Gardeners wanting fast soil improvement from fermented waste.
Common Owner Complaints
The need to bury or compost the fermented output, the bran cost and the initial price against single-bin copies. The first is the method; the others are the price of quality.
Alternatives to Consider
Single bokashi bins are cheaper but leave a gap during fermentation. Electric countertop composters dry and grind waste at higher cost and energy use. A worm bin handles vegetable scraps but not meat.
Verdict
For a household that wants to stop throwing away food, bokashi is the method that takes everything, and this two-bin kit is the right way to start it. The bins are built to seal for years and the guide gets you fermenting on day one.
Full specifications
Bokashi Living Premium Bokashi Composting Starter Kit with 2 Bins and 4.4 lb Bran FAQs
Bokashi ferments waste anaerobically with microbes on bran, like pickling, rather than rotting it with air. It takes all food, has no smell beyond a sour pickle note and works indoors. The fermented result then breaks down fast in soil.
A bin takes a week or two to fill and then needs two weeks sealed to ferment. With two, you fill one while the other ferments, so no waste waits.
Bokashi tea, drained every few days. Dilute it heavily as plant feed or pour it down drains to help clear them.
Bury it in a trench or pot of soil, or add it to a compost pile. It becomes soil in two to four weeks.
