Bokashi Bins

My Bokashi bins arrived yesterday (30/10/13) and I'm so excited. I've decided to write a blog about the whole thing because I'm a complete novice at this so documenting the whole experience will hopefully be an interesting read.
I personally really, really resent having to throw food away and I'm not overly fond of the idea of it going into landfill. I have a friend who is much more environmentally aware than I am and she's had a set for a few months now and she hasn't thrown any food away since. Needless to say I liked this idea so I bought some. Leeds City Council currently have offers on various composting bin/systems and I bought it via this link: http://www.leeds.getcomposting.com/

What you get:
As you can tell by the photo's; there are two bins so that while the first is fermenting the second can be filled up. The bits that come with are:
A grille on which the food sits on to allow the liquid feed to collect underneath.
A tap to drain the liquid feed
A bag of bran to cover the waste after each deposit
A measuring scoop to deposit the bran and also to scoop out the fermented food
Something to push the food down to remove the air - the handle type thing
Lids - tightly fitting
Instructions

What can go in it:
Dairy products
Cooked food
Meat/fish

What cannot go in it:
Metal/Plastic/Tinfoil
Pet waste including litter
Teabags
Plant materials - Grass cuttings etc

What Happens:
Basically the bran added to the food encourages the food to ferment rather than rot, so there is no smell and no flies.
The bin is filled by putting waste in and then covering with the bran until the contents reach the top.
The bin is then put somewhere with the lid tightly closed to ferment for 2 weeks - (14 days)
When the first bin is full start the same process over again with the other bin.
When the contents of the bin are fermenting it will be covered by a white mould. The food itself will not really look that different.
*If the food is covered in blue or green mould then the contents have not fermented and the contents should be disposed of in the normal bin.*

Emptying the bin:
The liquid feed can be drained at any point in time, the colour varies depending on the food in the bin. Once drained it needs to be used within 24 hours, to use as plant food dilute 1 teaspoon into 5 litres of water. The liquid feed can be added to the garden but the instructions warn not to pour it directly on or next to plants or tree roots as the liquid is acidic to start with. Undiluted liquid feed can also be put down drains and toilets if the drains smell.
The solid matter can either be put into an existing compost bin or wormery or put straight into the ground. It is suggested that the matter be spread about 1 inch thick and be covered by about 4 inches of soil.

And that currently is all I know. They've been put together but not used yet. I will post photo's as the process goes on as well as updates..................

09/11/2013 - 1st Update
Well as you can see by the peas I've started using the bin. The brown material is the bran mix which containing the bacteria etc. for the fermentation process. Not really much to report as nothing visible is happening yet. I have noticed that it is quite hard to make sure that the lid is shut entirely because the seal is quite tight. Since taking this photo I have noticed a little bit of mould so I'll just have to wait to see if it is white or blue.
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Well it has been slightly longer than two weeks (erm, more like two months) since the bokashi bin was set to ferment and here is what it looks like:
I think it is ok so I buried it in the garden. Now I just need to wash it all out again in preparation for the next lot. I will leave the next lot only two weeks and see what I get.
I have noticed though; it takes a long time to fill, for us anyway as there is only really the two of us and we don't have that much food leftover as I'm pretty good at judging portion sizes.
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