Bokashi composting - my Reencle is coming today

With all of the projects I have planned for the property this year, I was looking at composting solutions and saw this ad for the S. Korean Kickstarter product, the Reencle (pronounced like wrinkle). It is a kitchen composter that uses the anaerobic bokashi fermentation method of composting and had great reviews. I ordered one and it is coming today. I wanted to start this thread to post my experiences with it, discuss bokashi composting in all it's forms, and answer questions from the curious. From what I've read, bokashi fermentation composting is true composting, unlike other kitchen appliances that claim to make compost but only produce... dirty dehydrated food.

I'll do an unboxing later this week.

j

well allright Jim! Hope you enjoy your bokashi composter! I love my bokashi, it is great for small spaces. Lately I've not been capturing the leachate, but fall is just around the corner and I'll be burying the next barrel of bokashi to make fluffier soil for my winter daikon radishes (instead of putting it into a worm barrel like I usually do) and will get to refit the barrel to drain out the liquid on demand (right now it's just running off into a garden bed). I do like to use it as a compost tea/foliar feed type thing, although it does stink something awful.

Let us know how your bokashi adventures go!

Nice. I have had very good luck with bokashi. I just use a homemade setup of 2 5gal buckets with a tight lid. I set a few rocks in the bottom bucket to keep it lifted a bit so the buckets separate easy.

One tip if it’s your first time. It won’t look finished. After two weeks fermenting go ahead and bury it and in another 2 weeks you can dig in that spot and it will be pretty much finished by then and look like dirt.

The liquid is excellent fertilizer just make sure to water it down.

The bokashi flakes have got pretty expensive so I ordered stuff to make my own. Should have everything here this week will let everyone know how that goes.

Good luck!

This is quite different than I’ve ever seen.

This system incorporates the tea back into the fermenting compost, and as long as you keep adding new scraps, the bugs stay alive and continue to work. The only thing I dislike is that the machine is always on. It regulates temperature and keeps churning the contents so that it breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces and ferments even quicker.

I'm still going to bury it for a couple of weeks before using it as finished compost, but it looks to be so much quicker than anything else I've researched. Not that speed is always a virtue, but the most exciting parts are that a) we should go down to one bag or less of garbage to the landfill and b) endless supply of lazy man's mulch.

j

Joe Hallmark wrote:Nice. I have had very good luck with bokashi. I just use a homemade setup of 2 5gal buckets with a tight lid. I set a few rocks in the bottom bucket to keep it lifted a bit so the buckets separate easy.

One tip if it’s your first time. It won’t look finished. After two weeks fermenting go ahead and bury it and in another 2 weeks you can dig in that spot and it will be pretty much finished by then and look like dirt.

The liquid is excellent fertilizer just make sure to water it down.

The bokashi flakes have got pretty expensive so I ordered stuff to make my own. Should have everything here this week will let everyone know how that goes.

Good luck!

This is quite different than I’ve ever seen.

Oh my goodness I'm so jealous!  I want a Bokashi system so bad.  My poor husband has to hear about it all the time.  How much did this one cost?  Also curious about how much the stuff costs to keep it going along?  I love the idea of being able to toss bones and meat and citris peals and everything in there!  Squeeee!

This unit is pretty unique, as it is a indoor unit with a triple charcoal filter that keeps it from stinking up the house. The microorganisms come in pellet form and self-perpetuate. So ideally you never have to buy new ones. It takes a lot to kill them, but if you do, you can buy a new pack from them. A pack comes with the unit.  You can buy these for $499 or rent them from the company for $35 per month. If you rent, they fix it if it breaks and supply you with the filters that have to be changed out every several months.

Reencle also doesn't produce compost tea. It keeps it incorporated with the composting contents and keeps the moisture level in an optimal range for what the unit accomplishes. You also can't throw big chunks of meat or bones, although smaller bones are said to be okay. It's because of the paddles it uses to keep the contents moving constantly. Big chunks can bind them up. They recommend cutting up bigger pieces things like banana peels. I also have a Blendtec blender, so I plan on using that, straining the water out, and adding it to the Reencle.

I do still plan to treat the compost as "half done" when putting it outside. I'll bury and cover it for at least a couple of weeks before using it as true compost.

Riona Abhainn wrote:Oh my goodness I'm so jealous!  I want a Bokashi system so bad.  My poor husband has to hear about it all the time.  How much did this one cost?  Also curious about how much the stuff costs to keep it going along?  I love the idea of being able to toss bones and meat and citrus peals and everything in there!  Squeeee!

You don‘t have to buy anything for making bokashi. You also don‘t have to build anything special. Just take an old bucket with an airtight lid (e.g., a paint bucket), feed it a reasonable starter „meal“, add some unpasteurized Sauerkraut juice (or EMA if you want to be fancier), and learn how to tend to the microbial culture. Use a part of the established fementation juice to inoculate new fillings of the bucket (like backslopping joghurt). Its self-sustaining and free, and very easy once you have figured out what the microbes need.

Very true. And it must be done outdoors, and smells really bad, so it has to be done away from P zone 1. I may eventually learn how to do this method, too. but the Reencle unit is a non-smelly, kitchen appliance that makes it convenient for users to add their scraps right there in the kitchen, and then occasionally take the finished mulch outside.

The price can be offputting for this unit, but for me it was somewhat of a vanity purchase. I liked the features, I wanted it, I got it. Once you buy it, there are no further purchases beyond the annual filter change, but even that can be "hacked" by simply breaking into the unit and replacing the charcoal yourself.  

Appreciate your feedback and I'll repost if I do get into the traditional bokashi method of fermentation composting.

j

Guzzmania Van den Alps wrote:You don‘t have to buy anything for making bokashi. You also don‘t have to build anything special. Just take an old bucket with an airtight lid (e.g., a paint bucket), feed it a reasonable starter „meal“, add some unpasteurized Sauerkraut juice (or EMA if you want to be fancier), and learn how to tend to the microbial culture. Use a part of the established fementation juice to inoculate new fillings of the bucket (like backslopping joghurt). Its self-sustaining and free, and very easy once you have figured out what the microbes need.

Sounds neat!

I look forward to the unboxing, might be worth adding the product and review on the Permies Gear Review Grid when it is all said and done!

I haven't utilized Bokashi before/yet but now you have given me a rabbit hole to dive into. I'll let you know when I find my way back.

I look forward to it. The unit came yesterday, so I'll probably post something this evening. Not an unboxing, I'm past that, but the bugs have been put in the growing medium and should be ready to start eating scraps tonight or tomorrow. Definitely by the weekend.  

j

Timothy Norton wrote:Sounds neat!

I look forward to the unboxing, might be worth adding the product and review on the Permies Gear Review Grid when it is all said and done!

I haven't utilized Bokashi before/yet but now you have given me a rabbit hole to dive into. I'll let you know when I find my way back.

Jim Garlits wrote:it must be done outdoors, and smells really bad, so it has to be done away from P zone 1.

I do it right in front of my door in the warm season, an in the cellar during winter (so that the microbes don‘t freeze). It smells rustic, but not bad. Like Sauerkraut and silage. Also the smell is only there when I open the bucket. I fement wild things in that bucket, from moldy bread to fried chicken skins! (And veggie peels and greens too, of course, to keep it balanced.)

Not an unboxing, but a quick look at the composter in action, after a day of veggie scraps. They're gone.

Observations:

1. It's warm in there! It provides a "hot composting" environment.
2. The paddles are always churning, continuously breaking down the new additions.
3. It is relatively quiet.
4. I wonder...if the compost right out of the unit would be eligible for the Ruth Stout method.

j

Jim Garlits wrote:

Not an unboxing, but a quick look at the composter in action, after a day of veggie scraps. They're gone.

Observations:

1. It's warm in there! It provides a "hot composting" environment.
2. The paddles are always churning, continuously breaking down the new additions.
3. It is relatively quiet.
4. I wonder...if the compost right out of the unit would be eligible for the Ruth Stout method.

j

Thanks for sharing your experiences with this product. I'm curious if you have any new thoughts on it after using it for a couple of months.



When you say the paddles are "always" churning... Do you mean literally always? Or do you like tell it to run a cycle and then they start churning?  Or just periodically turn on for a while?

Also, are these paddles at all sharp or are they really just kind of mixing everything up as it gets digested by the fermentation process?



Regarding #4, my intuition regarding what I think is going on in this machine and what I know about bokashi makes me think you'd be a bit better off mixing it into the soil or burying it, but I don't think you're going to actually harm anything just using it as a mulch either (I think that is what you meant?).  I also don't really know either of those things to be factual, just my gut.








I've been trying to get my household onboard with just about any kind of composting system for years now and it's been incredibly hot and miss. Partially due to various life circumstances making it hard to manage or keep up with in certain cases, partially due to my own health issues making it hard for me to always be there helping build the habits by participating and encouraging, and partially due to some past life traumas/emotional abuse from my wife's side of the family causing some irrational struggles and stress to crop up surrounding cooking, kitchen cleanliness, waste, etc...

Recently, as I've been trying to find a solution that would avoid those trauma triggers/responses, overcome the issue of my inability to guarantee always being involved due to health, etc, I've started getting hammered with ads for 3-4 different little appliances which helps dispose of kitchen waste for you.

Mostly, they dehydrate and grind them up, but this one seems to be unique in the bokashi type composting element.


For how much these units cost, part of me has been wondering if I could bang something together which would use a heating element and small fan to remove moisture until a sensor detected that the humidity level is the chamber was below a certain level. It could also have either blades or paddles to cut/mash it around.


Earlier, I was planning to say that these machines remind me a lot of bread makers - but just now, I had the thought: Could the kids actual mechanical parts of a bread maker do what the Reencle is doing if you slapped a charcoal filter on it and changed the programming? (And threw in some bokashi starter and your dinner scraps instead of your favorite sourdough recipe...)



Part of me wants to try to make one, but I also don't know how long it would take me to get around to doing and actually finishing it... and I've got a ton of other things I could do instead, so... I dunno. Would be fun. The ready made product is ready made though. Lol

Update: Chronic arthritis pain says I don't get to sleep tonight.

It is 5 am.

I'm in the kitchen staring at a coffee pot, a hand mixer, some activated carbon, a couple of spare PC fans, and some rtv silicone for making a gasket in case, you know, one wanted to create a better seal on a lid perhaps...

The rational part of my brain knows I would regret a rash decision, but I genuinely am curious how functional of an "appliance" I could hack together with that type of stuff lol.

*IF* it worked with those things, I could definitely make a better one - maybe still not as "smart" as the commercial one, but I wonder how hard it would be to actually make one that functions well enough to be usable and received well by the family...

Reencle suggests aging it for a while before using. From what I've read, most people just dump it in a bucket outside for a couple of weeks to stop the bokashi breakdown process. Since it is early in the growing season, I've just been adding it to my keyhole beds that I haven't planted yet. You're right, it doesn't just dehydrate the food scraps, it composts them. They consider it "hot compost" that might burn plants if you don't cure it first. I'm accomplishing that with my current method.

The paddles are always slowly churning and the heater is always on. They've dialed in the ideal environment for the microorganisms to work at their peak. It also has a drying cycle if you get it too wet. It also has a small screen covering the airflow port in the top back of the unit's container that you have to clean off periodically, but it's super easy to take out and clean.

I can't comment on how well a homemade version would work. Too many variables to consider in my case and I'm only slightly mechanically inclined. A person with an engineering mind could probably create something that works, but I'm not that person.  

I've been using it daily since I got it, and haven't had any problems with it. I've probably got close to 5 gallons of compost from it in that time. It has all gone on top of the keyhole beds.

Probably the biggest obstacle would be getting the airflow through the charcoal filter correct to keep it from making your kitchen smell like vinegar, which is the "top note" you get when the lid opens for adding scraps. It isn't an unpleasant smell to me, but it is earthy and noticeable for a few seconds.

I'm very happy with it.

PSA: I'm renting mine, as they were offering a rental program when I got mine. Not sure if they still are. But as part of the rental agreement, if anything goes wrong they fix or replace it. As long as I keep renting it, they will send new carbon filters for life, and send me new starter if I somehow wind up killing the microorganisms. I can return it at any time and the rental agreement will be terminated. Of course, one has to keep the box to return it if that's ever the case. As a renter, I don't have to go through hoops if anything goes wrong, I just contact them, box it up, schedule a UPS or USPS pickup and they take care of the rest.

j

The heat is always on too? That is interesting...

On the one hand, it makes sense, because I saw that they had patented the particularly strain of microbes they sell you with it so surely they would have a good idea of the environment it likes to live in, and warmth pretty much always helps speed those processes along.

But I have been wondering how they keep it from drying out.

Maybe they just aren't concerned with that though since it probably just goes dormant when there is not enough moisture and the majority of kitchen scraps are high in moisture content to wake it back up.

Have you noticed whether the contents have a tendency to get fairly dry in-between your additions of scraps even without you using the special drying function? (Which is maybe only needed if particularly moist waste is added or large quantities of waste in a short time? Even then, I'm curious how necessary it truly is vs being a feature to keep people from worrying that the system isn't working properly, but I don't know... Seems like the moisture would *eventually* dissipate if there is a low heat on constantly.)


As far as it potentially burning plants, I guess I have heard people say that about stuff you dump directly out of your bokashi bins too - I haven't experimented with it enough to experience that personally.  One thing they specifically say that about is the liquid that drains out of the bokashi bin, which in the case of something like the Reencle, would still actually be in the final contents just with the moisture evaporated out.  So it does make sense you might want to finish aging it a little bit so it doesn't risk burning any of your plants...

Yes, the microorganisms go dormant if the environment is too dry. I’ve never even come close to killing them. Whenever I put in fresh scraps, they break it down in almost no time to be honest, I’m not sure if the airflow is always on. It’s so light you can’t even hear it when the lid is closed.

j

John Warren wrote:The heat is always on too? That is interesting...

On the one hand, it makes sense, because I saw that they had patented the particularly strain of microbes they sell you with it so surely they would have a good idea of the environment it likes to live in, and warmth pretty much always helps speed those processes along.

But I have been wondering how they keep it from drying out.

Maybe they just aren't concerned with that though since it probably just goes dormant when there is not enough moisture and the majority of kitchen scraps are high in moisture content to wake it back up.

Have you noticed whether the contents have a tendency to get fairly dry in-between your additions of scraps even without you using the special drying function? (Which is maybe only needed if particularly moist waste is added or large quantities of waste in a short time? Even then, I'm curious how necessary it truly is vs being a feature to keep people from worrying that the system isn't working properly, but I don't know... Seems like the moisture would *eventually* dissipate if there is a low heat on constantly.)


As far as it potentially burning plants, I guess I have heard people say that about stuff you dump directly out of your bokashi bins too - I haven't experimented with it enough to experience that personally.  One thing they specifically say that about is the liquid that drains out of the bokashi bin, which in the case of something like the Reencle, would still actually be in the final contents just with the moisture evaporated out.  So it does make sense you might want to finish aging it a little bit so it doesn't risk burning any of your plants...

Do you need to by the inoculant or make your own? How high does the temperature get at the bottom for dehydration? I am wondering if the final product still can still be reused for inoculation.

May Lotito wrote:Do you need to by the inoculant or make your own? How high does the temperature get at the bottom for dehydration? I am wondering if the final product still can still be reused for inoculation.

I don't have the Reencle, but I know that it comes with a batch of their own inoculant and then they recommend that you simply leave part of the final product in the bin so that in theory you should never need to buy more of the microbes from them unless something goes wrong.  

They have their own patented microbes/mixture of microbes that they are using which I guess are apparently not only specifically suited to the specific temperatures and such which they are using, but also good at handling the excessive salts and whatnot that tend to be in our modern diet. (That statement is based purely on the text I read from their website not on any scientific study or anything like that obviously.)


I am curious if any of the other bacteria typically used for the process - whether from a DIY home batch or purchased commercially - would handle the frequent warming, drying, and mixing cycles any differently or if it would look about the same.

 

Last night, I was actively trying to pull the motor out of an old unused blender someone had been giving away a while back to see if I could consider looking into gearing it down to a much slower speed to slowly churn (rather than blend) the mixture inside a bin periodically.


I have also been wondering for the charcoal filters how critical it is for the air to actually pass through them vs more of a passive [s]absorption[/s] adsorption of whatever is causing the odors. Like, if I placed a batch of activated carbon inside the lid of the bin would it be absorbing the odors while the lid was closed without having to have the air passing through which seems like it would actually be counter productive to the anaerobic process to have too much airflow?

Also, I see no reason I couldn't use homemade activated carbon and swap it out periodically? 🤔