I put my bokashi bin on a heating pad for a week and it turned into a science project

Everyone says bokashi needs to be warm, so I set my bucket on a low heating pad to speed things up in my chilly Chicago kitchen. The result was a foamy, fizzy mess that smelled way worse than normal, and I think I basically pickled it instead of fermenting it. Has anyone else had a 'good idea' for speeding up a process that just made a bigger problem?

3 comments

3 Comments

joseph_hart2mo ago

Oh wow, that sounds like a real mess. What temperature setting did you have the heating pad on, and was it directly on the plastic? I'm wondering if the heat killed the good microbes and let something else take over.

wyatt7711mo ago

Yeah, I had that exact slimy thing happen once. I moved my bucket to a cooler spot in the basement, away from any vents. After that, I made sure to press each layer down really firm to get the air out, and that seemed to fix it. The next batch came out perfect, no weird smells at all.

rivera.nathan2mo ago

Chicago winters are rough, but bokashi works best at normal room temp, not heated.

-1