Bokashi

[Effect]

From here

Bokashi is a Japanese term that means fermented organic matter. EM Bokashi is a pleasant smelling product made using a combination of sawdust and bran that has been infused with Effective Micro-organisms (EM). EM Bokashi has traditionally been used to increase the microbial diversity and activity in soils and to supply nutrients to plants.

Place your kitchen waste into the bucket, then sprinkle a hand full of EM Bokashi over the waste.
Repeat this layering process until the Bokashi Bucket is full.
Drain off liquid (Bokashi juice) as necessary.
Once the bucket is full to capacity, the waste can be buried. If you have two Bokashi Buckets, begin the process again in your second bucket. Let the waste from the first Bokashi Bucket continue to ferment for 10-14 days or for any additional length of time. Then, bury the waste and wash out Bokashi Bucket ready to use when your second Bokashi Bucket is full. If you have only one Bokashi Bucket the waste can be buried as soon as it is full, obviously the waste on the top has not had much or any chance to ferment, even so, the waste will still break down quickly because of the micro-organisms mixed in.

With two Bokashi Buckets the waste gets extra time to ferment, you will get more of the valuable Bokashi Juice and it is more convenient, however, this wonderful composting system will still work with just one Bokashi Bucket.

Bokashi Compost will look different to other compost that has decayed. As the food waste does not breakdown or decompose while it is in the bucket, much of its original physical property will remain and it will have a pickled appearance. Breakdown of waste will occur after it has been transferred to the soil.

I must add, kitchen waste doesn't mean just vegetables. It means EVERYTHING (barring plastic etc). That means, bones, prawns, bacon off cuts, onions, potatoes and citrus.

Has anyone had any experience with this composting system? The $85 Bokashi Bucket appears to be a fermenter with a false bottom. Something some of us could put together with old equipment lying around the place. However, the key to Bokashi is the 'Effective Micro-organisms' - most of which, as brewers, we are familiar with.

From here.

A. Photosynthetic Bacteria
The photosynthetic or phototropic bacteria are a group of independent, self supporting microbes. These bacteria synthesise useful substances from secretions of roots, organic matter and/or harmful gases (eg. hydrogen sulphide), by using sunlight and the heat of soil as sources of energy. Useful substances developed by these microbes include amino acids, nucleic acids, bioactive substances and sugars, all of which promote plant growth and development. The metabolites developed by these microorganisms are absorbed directly into plants and act as substrates for increasing beneficial populations.
B. Lactic acid bacteria
Lactic acid bacteria produce lactic acid from sugars and other carbohydrates, developed by photosynthetic bacteria and yeast. Therefore, some foods and drinks such as yogurt and pickles have been made with lactic acid bacteria for decades. However, lactic acid is a strong sterilizing compound, and suppresses harmful microorganisms and enhances decomposition of organic matter. Moreover, lactic acid bacteria promote the decomposition of material such as lignin and cellulose and ferments these materials, thereby removing undesirable effects of undecomposed organic matter. Lactic acid bacteria have the ability to suppress disease-inducing microorganisms such as Fusarium, which occur in continuous cropping programs. Under normal circumstances, species such as Fusarium weaken crop plants, thereby exposing plants to diseases and increased pest populations such as root-feeding nematodes. The use of lactic acid bacteria reduces root-feeding nematode populations and controls propagation and spread of Fusarium, thereby inducing a better environment for crop growth.
C. Yeast
Yeasts synthesise antimicrobial and other useful substances required for plant growth from amino acids and sugars secreted by photosynthetic bacteria, organic matter and plant roots. The bioactive substances such as hormones and enzymes produced by yeasts promote active cell and root division. These secretions are also useful substrates for effective microbes such as lactic acid bacteria and actinomycetes.

There are DIY guides on how to make your own Bokashi EM. is a Youtube video, which basically show mixing molasses, rice hulls (or bran) with a small amount of store bought EM. This forum has a guide on how to make Bokashi EM as well, but more in depth than the video, with methods on how to culture up Lactic acid bacteria.

My thoughts were that there would be sufficient lactic acid producing bacteria in my spent grain and depending on the OG of the batch I am brewing, sufficient left over sugar as well. Yeast could be harvested from a yeast cake, which would be more than sufficient. With a good kilo or two of spent grain dried out and yeast always ready in the fridge, would this be sufficient as a DIY EM?

If so, it would be great to get one of these going to process all the kitchen waste that I produce. I am thinking of getting a barrel of this size.

A false bottom could be a simple 2nd hand colander or something similar.

Any thoughts or experience would be great.

Cheers
Phil

 

[super_simian]

I've been considering it too, my worms refuse to eat my spent grain until it has gone totally rancid and smells almost exactly like s**t. So I was thinking of Bokashi-ing all my brewing waste (and meat scraps most likely.) If anyone has experience, I'd love to hear from them...

 

[felten]

Those buckets they come in are pretty small, it might only hold ~5kg of spent grain at a time. I guess you could use the bacteria mix in a larger container, but IIRC they suggest you press the material down and seal it up so it ferments anaerobically.

My mum has one and it can smell like death. Though if you follow the instructions it shouldn't.

 

[Bada Bing Brewery]

:icon_offtopic: Phil maybe get some chooks? I've got em and do they get excited on brew days ..... affirmative.
Cheers
BBB

 

[drsmurto]

I won a bokashi bucket plus a bag of the magic oformula a few years back and ended up selling it.

Nice idea if you live in a shoebox but nothing a compost bin/chooks/worm farm can't do at a fraction of the cost and naturally without the need for introduced bacteria.

EDIT - spent grain is like chocolate for chooks. Mine see me walking down to them from 25m away and get very excited. 6 chooks clean up double batches in less than an hour.

 

[Doubleplugga]

+1 for not giving spent grain to the worms. I did it once and the smell was putrid, the worms would not touch it for at least a week! now all my spent grain just goes in the compost bin with other garden waste and the liquid runnings from the worm bins. this i have discovered is the best option for me and the resulting compost will be helping to grow my hops and the rest of the vegetable garden. plants love it!!!

 

[going down a hill]

Worms are dirty drunks.

 

[Doubleplugga]

without a doubt mate

 

[CONNOR BREWARE]

I think now we are getting to the crux of the issue

 

[Shed101]

The missus and I have been using three of these for the past ~3 years. Don't add grain to them just kitchen waste.

We rotate them, allowing a few weeks 'pickling' time before adding them with manure to the compost.

They seem pretty expensive and we only bought them 'cos we were living in city apartments. Now we live in the bush we find they help break down the compost much quicker.

We never smell them at all until you open them up, and they're not too bad then.

 

[Fents]

we use one and its great as my backyard is small, bin gets full and we just bury it in the veggie garden.

 

[Effect]

I wasn't really considering putting all the spent grain in the bokashi style bins, but using some of the spent grain (dried out) mixed with some yeast instead of the 'bokashi EM mix'. Do you guys think it would be just as effective? Lactic Acid Bacteria present in the grain...yeast from a yeast cake...

Just don't really want to be forever buying the bokashi mix...

 

[Shed101]

I wasn't really considering putting all the spent grain in the bokashi style bins, but using some of the spent grain (dried out) mixed with some yeast instead of the 'bokashi EM mix'. Do you guys think it would be just as effective? Lactic Acid Bacteria present in the grain...yeast from a yeast cake...

Just don't really want to be forever buying the bokashi mix...

Ah, I see. Well in that case, based on my qualifications of having absolutely no ******* idea I will say this.

I have no ******* idea.

But if it works let me know and I'll try it too. Might even convince 'er indoors that brewing is actually saving money.

 

[super_simian]

Well, on the food for chooks front, if anyone has some chooks in the Brunswick area and would like spent grain from time to time, PM and it's yours - I rent a hovel and my back and front yards are entirely Grollo grass, so keeping chooks isn't really an option...

 

[Effect]

:icon_offtopic: Phil maybe get some chooks? I've got em and do they get excited on brew days ..... affirmative.
Cheers
BBB

Chooks will definitely be my first choice in spent grain recycling. I haven't seen any system that is as efficient (time wise) in turning spent grain into a nitrogen rich fertilizer like a chicken coop with 2-3 chickens. However, I am renting and am unable to commit myself to looking after chickens at the moment, but is a definite once I buy a place of my own.

I have 4 worm towers that I have in small wicked garden pots where most of my kitchen scraps go. They chomp through them, but quite slowly. Again, once I have a large enough space to have 6 larger worm towers going, maybe I won't need Bokashi...but I like the speed of Bokashi and the rich hummus it makes in 2 months after burying it...

Would be nice to tie up a brewing waste into a composting system though...just another reason that would make brewing at home awesome.

 

[Phoney]

Chooks can be a lot of work, cleaning out their coops, feeding them everyday. Then you need to find someone to feed them every time you go on holidays. And they attract mice & rats. We had them before years ago and ended up giving them away as they were too much hassle. Was good having fresh eggs every morning though, if you dont mind having to walk through chicken shit to get to them.

 

[drsmurto]

Chooks can be a lot of work, cleaning out their coops, feeding them everyday. Then you need to find someone to feed them every time you go on holidays. And they attract mice & rats. We had them before years ago and ended up giving them away as they were too much hassle. Was good having fresh eggs every morning though, if you dont mind having to walk through chicken shit to get to them.

Buy a container that holds enough food for several days and suspend it off the ground so as not to provide free food for mice/rats (my chooks eat mice). Connect their water to a tap using a float system. Easy.

I'm surprised with that attitude you have the required motivation to brew given it takes a lot more effort than chooks.

My chooks are also my mobile composting rotary hoes. Over winter they have access to my vegie patch weeding it and fertilising it ready to be planted out in spring.

 

[Phoney]

I'm surprised with that attitude you have the required motivation to brew given it takes a lot more effort than chooks.

I had chooks before I started brewing, when I was much younger, lazier & cynical. I reckon i'll definitely give it another shot one day if and when I sell up and move to a place with a big enough backyard.

 

[felten]

Our last chook took to nesting outside of the coop, and unfortunately (I assumed) a local neighbourhood cat got it's claws into it and had to be put down... which is probably weird because you'd normally just eat them.

Anyway is it illegal to set up cat traps?

 

[notung]

I wasn't really considering putting all the spent grain in the bokashi style bins, but using some of the spent grain (dried out) mixed with some yeast instead of the 'bokashi EM mix'. Do you guys think it would be just as effective? Lactic Acid Bacteria present in the grain...yeast from a yeast cake...

Just don't really want to be forever buying the bokashi mix...

I haven't looked through the link above which detailed making your own dried 'EM' for bokashi composting, pretty much because I have chooks and have a good composting system at home. Still I was thinking:

What about old sourdough starter? Typical starter composition would include balanced cultures of candida, sacchromyces and lactobacillus bacteria. I discard a small cup of this every night. I wonder if it would be comparable to the Bokashi EM?