Kitchen Composter

A kitchen composter can be a great alternative for the apartment dweller or those with a postage stamp sized yard. Or perhaps you just wish to no longer have to run through the rain to the compost bin with your overflowing bowl of vegetable and fruit scraps. Either way, these composters can be a great investment.

A kitchen composter is either aerobic or anaerobic; meaning they either do or do not use oxygen to break down the materials into compost. The aerobic composter uses bacteria that need oxygen. Aerobic bacteria will break down the materials faster and generate compost more quickly, as long as they have enough oxygen. Aerobic composters require an air pump and a mixer in order to keep fresh air circulating through the materials. They use a filtering system in order to keep smells to a minimum, though some work better than others.
An anaerobic kitchen composter does not use oxygen and can be airtight. This means odor is never a concern for these composters. They rely on added bacteria which must be layered on each time new waste is added to the bin. After the material is broken down at a microscopic level, it does require aerobic bacteria to complete the process. So, the partially complete compost must be buried outside in or in a pot of healthy soil for 3 days to 2 weeks.

Both aerobic and anaerobic kitchen composters are great additions to the home. Which you choose will depend on how fast you want the results, sensitivity to smells and noise, and cost.