Bokashi, compost, or vermicompost: which method should you choose for your food scraps?

Print

Bokashi, backyard compost bin, or worm composter: all three methods recycle food scraps, and they're often presented as interchangeable. They aren't. They don't work the same way, don't accept the same leftovers, and don't produce the same thing.

This guide compares them from a bokashi perspective: what it does better than the others, what it can't do on its own, and how to combine it wisely. For an overview of all the options, including effective microorganisms, also see our guide Compost, vermicompost, bokashi, or EM: which method to choose.

Three processes, three approaches

• Composting is decomposition in the presence of air. Bacteria, fungi, and small creatures consume the material as they breathe. The pile heats up to a greater or lesser degree, loses a lot of water and carbon as gas, and turns into finished compost after several months.
• Vermicomposting is also decomposition in the presence of air, but most of the work is done by composting worms, along with the microorganisms in their digestive tract. The result, vermicompost, is a fine, ready-to-use soil amendment.
• Bokashi is fermentation without air. In a sealed bucket, lactic acid bacteria acidify the scraps, which are preserved rather than decomposed. The result is a pre-compost that must then go into the soil. Our guide What is bokashi? explains this process in detail.

That's the key difference: compost and worms transform food scraps, while bokashi prepares them. It covers the first half of the journey, quickly and in very little space, but it always leaves the rest of the work to the soil.

The comparison, point by point

Space

• Bokashi: a 2.6–5.3 gallon (10–20 liter) bucket in the kitchen, ideally two.
• Worm composter: several trays stacked on top of one another, or a bin holding several gallons (a few dozen liters), indoors or in a sheltered spot.
• Compost bin: a bin or pile in the yard, sitting directly on the soil.

Accepted scraps

• Bokashi: almost all solid food leftovers, raw or cooked, including meat, fish, cheese, citrus, and onions. No yard waste.
• Worm composter: mainly raw peels, in moderate amounts. Worms don't like meat, citrus, or anything from the onion family.
• Compost bin: peels and yard waste in large volumes. Meat, fish, and dairy are not recommended or should be limited, mainly because of odors and rodents.

Time

• Bokashi: the time it takes to fill the bucket, then at least two weeks of fermentation, then two to four weeks in the soil before planting. It can sometimes take up to two months for everything to be absorbed.
• Worm composter: three to six months for the first harvest, then roughly one harvest a month.
• Compost bin: four to nine months in a bin, often longer in a pile.

Odors

• Bokashi: faint with the lid closed, sour and vinegary when opened. It isn't "odor-free," but good fermentation never smells rotten.
• Worm composter and compost bin: a pleasant forest-floor smell when well balanced, unpleasant odors when too wet or poorly fed.

Upkeep

• Bokashi: sprinkle, press down, close, drain the liquid every two or three days, then bury. Never stir.
• Worm composter: feed regularly, keep an eye on moisture, harvest.
• Compost bin: balance green and brown materials, aerate from time to time, water in summer.

Long-term cost

• Bokashi: buying the bucket, then an ongoing supply of activator, store-bought or homemade.
• Worm composter: buying the bin and the worms, then next to nothing, since the worms reproduce.
• Compost bin: a bin, or nothing at all for a pile.

What you get

• Bokashi: an acidic pre-compost that must never be used as is, and a liquid that must be heavily diluted.
• Worm composter: ready-to-use vermicompost and a liquid to dilute.
• Compost bin: finished compost to spread in the vegetable garden or mix into potting soil.

Did you know?

In a large-scale trial on roadside grass clippings, carried out with an EM product manufacturer, fermentation under a tarp lost only 2 to 5% of its organic matter in six to eight weeks, compared with almost half for windrow composting. Nitrogen, meanwhile, was almost entirely retained, with losses of 0 to 2%, whereas the compost lost 10 to 16%.

Meat, fish, dairy: bokashi's strong suit

This is the reason people choose bokashi. Leftover meat, fish, and cheese, saucy plate scrapings, or small bones attract rodents and flies in an open compost bin, and worms won't touch them. In the airtight bucket, they ferment like everything else, safely out of reach of animals.

A few precautions still apply: cut pieces small, sprinkle a little extra bran over protein-rich leftovers, and avoid liquids and large bones. And don't assume fermentation makes these leftovers unappealing to animals: once in the yard, they must be buried well.

What bokashi can't do on its own

The pre-compost that comes out of the bucket looks like slightly softened food scraps, and it's acidic. Left on the surface or used as mulch, it attracts animals and can damage roots. So it always needs a finishing stage:

• garden soil: bury it 8–12 in (20–30 cm) deep, mixed with the soil, away from roots, and wait at least two weeks before planting;
• a soil container, on a balcony for example, if you don't have a yard: see our guide No yard? What to do with your bokashi;
• a compost bin, where it mixes with brown materials;
• worms, in small amounts.

As for the end result for your plants, don't expect miracles. In a pot trial comparing bokashi and compost made from the same scraps, only one comparison out of sixteen clearly favored bokashi. Both methods feed the soil in a similar way: the difference lies mainly in the kinds of scraps accepted and the space required.

Key takeaways

Bokashi doesn't replace the compost bin or the worms: it complements them. Its real strength is accepting all kitchen leftovers in very little space; its limitation is that it must always end up in the soil.

Combining methods

Bokashi and compost bin

This is the simplest combination in the yard. The bucket takes meal leftovers, meat, fish, and citrus; the compost bin takes raw peels, grass clippings, and leaves. Once fermented, the contents of the bucket go into the compost bin, spread in a layer and covered with brown materials. You'll find all the details in our guide Bokashi and backyard compost.

Bokashi and worm composter

In an apartment, the worm composter takes raw peels, and the bokashi takes the leftovers the worms refuse. The pre-compost can then be fed to the worms, but in small amounts and in one corner of the bin, because it's acidic. Results vary from one household to another: we explain how to go about it in our guide Bokashi and worm composter.

Our advice for your type of home

Apartment with no outdoor space

A worm composter, such as our WORMbox Worm Composter, remains the most self-sufficient option, since it produces something ready to use. Bokashi only makes sense if you have a regular place to take it: a community garden, a friend's or relative's yard, or a neighborhood compost site that accepts it.

Apartment with a balcony

Both work. Bokashi can be finished in a large soil container or deep planters, as long as you're patient before planting. If you're unsure, our guide Worm composter or traditional compost bin will help you pin down your needs.

House with a yard

The compost bin remains the foundation, because it also handles yard waste. A bokashi bucket such as the Comfort Bokashi Composter complements it perfectly for all the tricky kitchen leftovers, which you can bury directly in your vegetable beds.

Emy's tip

Before choosing, spend a week writing down what you actually throw away. If your trash is mostly raw peels, worms or a compost bin will be enough; if it contains lots of meal leftovers, meat, or cheese, bokashi will earn its place.

In summary

Compost and vermicompost transform food scraps in the presence of air and deliver a finished product within a few months; bokashi ferments them in a sealed container in about two weeks, but delivers a pre-compost that still has to go into the soil. Its main advantage is that it accepts almost all food leftovers, including meat, fish, and dairy, in a simple kitchen bucket. In the yard, it's the ideal companion to a compost bin; in an apartment, it really comes into its own alongside a worm composter or a soil container. Choose based on your food scraps and on where your bokashi can finish its journey.

Related products

Best Seller

Bokashi EM compost activator | 1 kg bag

Sold individually or in sets of 2 or 3 bags

$8.02 €7.18

Skaza Essential Bokashi Composter

4-gallon (15.3-liter) capacity, set of 2 buckets

$71.65 €64.17

Urbalive Bokashi Composter

2.8-gallon (10.6-liter) capacity, sold individually or as a set of 2

$73.50 €65.83

Bokashi Composter Skaza Organko 2

2.5-gallon (9.6 L) capacity, sold individually or as a set of 2

$75.35 €67.49

Other topics in the guide

Vermicomposting30 fact sheets →Composting25 fact sheets →EM microorganisms26 fact sheets →