i'm going to start my bokashi system... what is the larger blue drum used for?

Bokashi composting is an anaerobic process that converts food wastes into an amazing soil amendment.
TomF
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troy wrote: Wed 12-Jan-2022, 06:24 i finally got my bokashi system started and today is the first day of experimenting with this type of composting method. Image
I have been using the same home built system and I will give you some findings. Depending on the pail, you may not get a good seal between the two and your family will complain about that rank smell.
PROBLEM #1
I used some weather stripping seal between the two that was placed on the top filling bucket in the lip that rests on the lower one. The family is again happy and mud room scent free. I did not add a drain as you can just pull the top bucket up.
PROBLEM #2
When the bucket gets full and used a few times, they are REALLY hard to separate to drain the Bokashi Leachate into another vessel. It creates a bit of a vacuum and not at all easy to break, especially when you pour out the leachate and put the pail into a wet lower pail.
Potential fix in testing. I had to make another Bokashi pail system last night and this time I did not place the weather stripping into the rolled lip on the upper pail but wrapped a wider weather strip piece I had about 1/2 inch lower so the upper bucket would sit on that and not fully seat so the vacuum would be easier to break. I also cut down a yogurt tub to ba a spacer in the bottom to prevent total weight of a loaded pail sitting on the pressure sensitive weather stripping seal. Time will tell.

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Andrew wrote: Mon 03-Jan-2022, 17:15
troy wrote: Mon 03-Jan-2022, 14:45 that's exactly what i was thinking. the contents of the blue drum appeared to be fresh...
We dumped the contents of making a bokashi system into there in between takes so it looks a little fresh on the top. The drum would normally look like the other smaller bucket shown in the video.
So now I have four systems on the go and remembered Andrews blue barrel. I need one of those! But do I need to wait until I have let it all ferment in the 5 gallon pail or can I just dump in into the blue barrel once full, pack it and cover with a plastic bag to keep it anaerobic below until next load? or would you recommend doing a two pail system where when both are full and the first one has moved along, it goes into the barrel and cycle through that way where at least it has a couple of weeks to brew before going into the blue barrel? if I don't get a big storage device, I will have a garage full of 5 galloon pails?
troy
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tom, thx for your insight. so far, smell hasn't been an issue. i keep the stacked buckets inside an unused wooden chest and so far, separating the buckets has been easy. fingers crossed that this process will yield fermented food scraps and not rot away....

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troy
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i'm pleased to report that i have produced three 5 gallon buckets of bokashi since i started about mid jan 2022! this system really works :)

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troy
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my second bucket of bokashi went into the garden today!

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troy
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something must be really hungry to go after the bokashi i buried. at first i thought it was worms it was after, but i've noticed that it only digs out fresh bokashi, rather than bokashi that has been buried for a few weeks.

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TomF
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Currently in the hunt for a storage drum. Hard to find smaller ones that have a sealing lid. I found some 45 gallon ones on FB marketplace that I hope to use. I know it will get heavy though. Seems like there are a lot of 55 gallon but the smaller ones I see are either a closed lid with small opening or just too small. Where are the 35 gallon barrels used that we may find a used source for?
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