When you buy through our links, Insider may earn an affiliate commission. Learn more. Isabel Fernandez/InsiderComposting is a great way to reduce what ends up in landfills while also nourishing your garden.
Yet it can be a messy process. When done poorly, it invites pests into your home and creates an imbalanced heap of noxious liquids and gases that are tough to neutralize. Putting a compost bin in the kitchen is a great start, but it’s important to have a system in place for disposing of the contents.
Even an old paint bucket with a lid will do the trick inside, but the real chore starts when you empty it. For urban settings, many community gardens will regularly collect compost, and some cities are employing citywide composting initiatives. The urban composter doesn’t need much more than an indoor bin and a larger, sealed outdoor bucket.
Below are some options that don’t require too much do-it-yourself work, contain the associated sights and smells, and work within most budgets. Read more about how Insider Reviews tests kitchen products here. The 3 best compost bins of 2022Best compost bin overall: SCD Probiotics All Season Indoor Composter, $68.
95, available at AmazonFit for composting just about anything, the SCD Probiotics fits under your sink and jump starts compost anaerobically, meaning you can seal it and it won’t smell. Best budget compost bin: OXO Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin, $32. 95, available at AmazonOXO’s Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin seals tightly and keeps smells in better than most we’ve tried, and the 1.
75-gallon model is perfect for a medium household. Best discreet compost bin: Bamboozle Portable Compost Bin, $50, available at Food52With its matte finish and natural bamboo handle, guests will be none the wiser that Bamboozle’s Compost Bin contains your food scraps. Best compost bin overallIsabel Fernandez/InsiderFor composting just about anything, the SCD Probiotics fits under your sink and works anaerobically, meaning you can seal it and it won’t smell.
Pros: Composts almost anything, fairly odor-free, drain for “compost tea”Cons: Bokashi replenishment isn’t free, “tea” requires draining every few daysIf you want a compost bin that you won’t have to take out and empty every day, won’t stink to high heaven and will get compost tea going for your precious garden within a few days, we haven’t found a more practical solution than the SCD Probiotics Compost Bin. You’ll still need something called bokashi bran to help initiate the process (it also comes included). The bin works on the principle of bokashi composting, which uses anaerobic bacteria to jump start the composting process without the use of oxygen (and the invitation to fruit flies), right under your kitchen sink.
Bokashi bran is a mixture of molasses, bran (any organic grain, dried grass, leaves, or sawdust), and EM-1 (a microbial inoculant). You can culture the active bacteria, Lactobacillus, at home, but that’s too involved for most of us (this reporter included). The beauty of this method is that you can put almost anything from your kitchen into the bin, save for larger bones, moldy or rotten matter, liquids, and crustacean shells.
The key is layering a healthy handful of bokashi bran on top and tamping it down. (There’s an included perforated lid for doing just this. )You will have to drain the “compost tea,” or the liquid that filters down into the bottom of the bucket, every two or three days.
Diluted with water (the brand calls for one tablespoon of tea to one gallon of water), pour the tea directly into your garden and potted plants. Best budget compost binIsabel Fernandez/InsiderOXO’s Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin seals tightly and keeps smells in better than most, and the 1. 75-gallon model is the perfect size for a medium household.
Pros: Seals well, removable liner, two sizesCons: No charcoal filter (though it’s debatable how well those work)If you’re looking for something you can easily and conveniently place on your kitchen counter without mess or fuss, we like OXO’s Good Grips Easy-Clean Compost Bin. It has a tight-sealing lid that keeps smells in and critters out as well as any bin we tested, save for SCD’s Probiotics’. Whether you’re storing compost for the garden or city- or town-wide collection, this is the most practical choice.
We considered charcoal-filtered models against it but found that those started to reek first, and the snug lid of the OXO does the best job of containing smells. There’s not to worry about with a basic compost bin like this. Just about any bucket with a sealing lid will do just as well, but the OXO is nondescript and easy to clean.
As with any bin, you’ll want to avoid adding moldy items, liquid, animal products, and bones. This will keep smells at a minimum, but it will also allow the stuff to turn into usable compost, rather than something bordering on putrid, acidic sludge. Keeping sawdust or lime (the mineral) on hand will also help keep smells at bay.
This bin comes in two sizes, 0. 75-gallon and 1. 75-gallons.
For compost storage, you’ll probably still want to keep a larger bin (the experts we spoke with recommend five- or 10-gallon sealable buckets). Another thing that will help keep transportation tidy is a roll of compostable bags for containing the mess and keeping cleanup at a minimum. Best discreet compost binIsabel Fernandez/InsiderWith its matte finish and natural bamboo handle, guests will be none the wiser that Bamboozle’s Compost Bin contains your food scraps.
Pros: Inconspicuous, stylish, lid comes with replaceable charcoal filterCons: Fruit flies can still get through, smells within two days if you don’t empty itWe can appreciate that some people might not want to have an obvious bucket of decomposing food sitting beside or beneath their kitchen sink, especially when guests come over. The Bamboozle Portable Compost Bin cleverly disguises its internal contents with a nice design. While the SCD Probiotics’ bin is probably the most scent-concealing option and OXO’s is right behind it, they both are easily identifiable as compost bins.
This one will start to smell sooner, but remember that you want to be emptying your aerobic compost bins daily anyways. This is also the most durable compost bin we’ve tested. Plastic buckets are fine, but they do wear and degrade and may eventually crack.
We can’t see that happening with this one and are confident in saying it will last the longest. Bamboozle’s Compost Bin is made entirely from bamboo, so it’s also almost biodegradable itself, save for the paint and screws. What else we testedIsabel Fernandez/InsiderApart from various DIY bins, we also tried two other models, both of which we recommend.
Chef’n EcoCrock: The Chef’n bin was perfectly fine and fairly cute with a little plant leaf adorning the top, but the steel pail is a little on the thin side. While there is a plastic insert to help support it and keep things clean, we were able to dent it easily. Still, it works, and there’s a charcoal filter in the perforated lid.
If you like the aesthetic, just keep in mind that it may not look great forever. Simplehuman Compost Caddy: We love Simplehuman’s trash bins, which are often the preferred trash bins in busy commercial spaces, doctors’ offices, and hospitals for good reason. We feel the same way about the brand’s Compost Caddy, which clips onto the side of the brand’s freestanding bins.
If you already own a Simplehuman free-standing trash bin and want a space-saving solution, this is the ticket. Our compost bin testing methodologyIsabel Fernandez/InsiderWe spoke with Rick Carr, Farm Director at Rodale Institute in Kutztown, PA, and Dr. Paul Voroney, Professor of Environmental Sciences at the University of Guelph, in order to learn the finer points of composting.
In suburban and rural settings, a composting station is often a more realistic option. You’ll still want a small kitchen bin (up to a couple of gallons) and a larger five- or 10-gallon bucket just outside, but a production station becomes necessary for processing and generating fertile soil. There are several ways of doing this, from a hole in the ground to a worm bin.
It also depends on what you’re going to be composting. Some of us don’t have the space reasonable for composting raw animal products, bones, and other things that get a little too gross for comfort. It can be done, though.
“In my house, we compost anything that can be composted,” says Carr. We tested five bins in our home and measured their effectiveness based upon various criteria. We have recommendations depending upon how much compost you want to store within your kitchen and how involved you want to get within the process.
Michelle Ullman contributed to an earlier version of this guide. When it came time to do our testing, we gathered five compost bins and filled each with a mixture of plant, meat, and fish scraps, separating layers with shredded paper and leaving them in the kitchen for a few days to see how bad the smell got. Within two days, all of the bins began to emit a rotten fish smell, and fruit flies were rampant throughout the kitchen.
This was more or less expected. We then kept meat and fish out of the equation and took note of which bins seemed to gather fruit flies. We were only able to isolate two that didn’t: the Oxo Good Grips Easy-Clean and the SCD Probiotics.
While bins with compost filters might have helped keep odors at bay, there was no shortage of fruit flies finding their way in and out. While we still recommend a charcoal-filter option, keep in mind that there’s a good chance you’ll still end up with fruit flies. We found that the best way to eliminate fruit flies was through anaerobic composting with bokashi, which is the process of using anaerobic bacteria to jump start the composting process.
What we considered along the way:Smell: We put everything that is compostable into each bin to see if any of the bins managed to conceal the most putrid smells, but as expected things got utterly foul by day two. When we conducted a second round of tests without any animal byproducts (save for eggshells), the smells were much less effusive, but the bins that did best were the ones without vents. Size: For a compost bin to do its job within a kitchen, it has to fit on the counter or underneath the kitchen sink.
For this reason, we didn’t test anything too small (less than one-half of a gallon) or too large (larger than five gallons). Whether you’re looking for something for your countertop or beneath your sink, all of our picks will fit the bill in that regard. Cleanliness: Because no one wants to find themselves elbow-deep in rot, a compost bin needs to be easy to clean.
All of the bins we tested were relatively easy to clean, but some were easier than others. Many come with removable liners, and while that makes cleaning a little more convenient, it didn’t end up being a deal breaker. If you use compostable paper bags as liners, they’ll be nearly as effective.
Compost-bin FAQsCan I DIY my compost bin?A DIY compost bin is extremely easy, and you can build any kind of bin you’d like. The main question is whether or not you want to put in the time and keep your kitchen looking sleek. There are plenty of ways to make one that involve everything from a simple plastic bucket to building in a drain for the bokashi method.
(Planet Natural has a great guide to the latter. )How do I keep pests away?The best way to keep pests away from your compost bin (and your home) is to keep things immaculately clean. The best and most important thing is to take your compost out daily.
An anaerobic composting bin is completely self-contained, so as long as you keep it tightly sealed, you won’t have any problems with pests. If you’re using a bin with vents (for aerobic composting), consider keeping it in the freezer if you have room. To keep his compost from getting too offensive, Rick Carr of the Rodale Institute uses what he calls lasagna layering.
Each time he puts in a new layer of food, he also adds leaves, straw, sawdust, or wood chips. “Keep food from showing [on the top layer],” he said, and you’ll “avoid odors, flies, rodents, and other pests. “How do I maintain my compost bin and make good compost?Maintaining good compost is all about balancing wet and dry material with acidic and alkaline material.
This becomes much more important in your outdoor compost heap, but if you’re keeping a bokashi bin, you’ll want to keep an eye on things If your compost gets too wet, put some dried leaves or organic paper into the mix. If it dries out, some wetter stuff, or even liquid bokashi bran, will help. Likewise, if you find it starts smelling like a volatile organic compound, like vinegar, that means it’s getting too acidic, and you want to add something basic, like dried leaves, to neutralize it.
What can I put in my compost bin?Unless you’re producing anaerobic compost using the bokashi method, you’ll want to keep things like animal byproducts, liquids (dairy especially), bones and shells, fats, and oils out. Almost everything else that comes from your kitchen is fair game. Just remember, balance (between wet and dry and acidic and basic) is key if you’re doing the composting yourself and not transporting the waste to a community garden or city composting site.
What’s the difference between composting and bokashi?Bokashi is a method of creating pre-compost via anaerobic bacteria. It requires its own unique materials. You can read more about bokashi and how to do it in our guide to bokashi composting.
GlossaryAerobic composting: Composting using oxygen to allow for decomposition. Anaerobic composting: Composting without oxygen using bacteria that don’t require oxygen. Biodegradability: The degree to which an organic compound can be broken down.
Bokashi: A Japanese method of pre-composting using bran (anything from sawdust to dried leaves or wheat) soaked in molasses and microbes that encourage anaerobic bacteria. This process is anaerobic, so it can be performed in a sealed environment and does not effuse smell. Compost tea: Leachate or liquid from compost that can be used as fertilizer (when diluted).
Contaminant: Anything that doesn’t belong in compost and will compromise it. Check out more gardening guidesConnie Chen/InsiderThe best plants for your first gardenThe best gardening toolsThe best gardening glovesThe best garden hosesThe best garden hose nozzlesThe best lawn mowersRead the original article on Insider.
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