My bokashi bin leaked onto my kitchen floor and I almost gave up composting forever

I live in a 3rd floor walkup in Portland and thought I had everything dialed in with my 5 gallon bokashi bin. Last month I went away for a weekend and came back to a PUDDLE of nasty liquid seeping out from under the counter. The smell was HORRIBLE, like fermented trash mixed with old gym socks. Turns out I forgot to drain the spigot every few days and the pressure built up so bad it popped the seal. Now I set a phone alarm for every 3 days to drain it into a jar and dump it down the toilet. Has anyone else had their bin go rogue on them like that?

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1 Comment

ross.angela3h ago

Hear me out, because I actually think the leak was kind of a blessing in disguise. Yeah it was gross and I totally get wanting to quit right then and there. But that massive pressure blowout probably saved you from a way worse problem down the line like a full-on anaerobic disaster that would have smelled even worse and possibly attracted fruit flies or maggots. I've had my bin get clogged at the spout before and the liquid basically turned into a solid sludge that I had to scrape out with a spatula. So your alarm system is smart, but honestly I just keep my bin slightly tilted on a cookie sheet and drain it whenever I think about it, which works fine for me.