Full Circle Kitchen Composter: Review and Giveaway!

Ever since we started composting garden waste several years ago, I have not looked at the garbage from our kitchen the same either. I started saving that and running it out to the compost bin, too. It's located at the very back of our acre, and that was all fine and dandy in the summer, but come winter, I would drag my feet at taking it all the way out there.

I tried saving it in a mini metal garbage can, but soon, the fruit flies appeared and made that an undesirable option. I put it right outside the back door, but then I'd forget and I'd end up sending scraps down the garbage disposal. The other problem was that the metal can got frozen to the back deck step and I couldn't take it out to the compost bin when I needed to.

So I stopped saving my kitchen scraps in the winter. It was just too much hassle.

Part of my food waste issue was taken care of earlier this summer, when I got a Worm Factory 360 and I started feeding some of the scraps from my kitchen to my worms. They're pretty efficient at eating stuff, but they can't keep up with all of it, all of the time.

Then along came the Full Circle Fresh Air Kitchen Composter!

I was sent one of these free of charge to review and I was anxious to try it, because I was really impressed with all the good things I'd read from others who had used it. No smell, no gnats, they all seemed to say.

The composter is made of plastic and measures 11.4 x 8.5 x 9 inches.  It uses
special biodegradable bags for collecting the waste so you can throw bag and all
into your larger compost bin.

I kept the composter on my kitchen counter, right by the sink, so it was handy for me to add kitchen waste to it. But after about a week, I noticed a bad smell and an abundance of fruit flies around the composter. None of the reviews I'd read mentioned this being a problem, in fact, they were singing the praises of the Full Circle composter because those two things weren't an issue. Why did I have a problem?

It turns out that I didn't follow the rules - the basic rules for composting. And I knew better! There are certain foods that you just don't put in compost. Like meat. I knew that and I hadn't put meat in there. Or anything greasy. I knew that too and I hadn't added anything greasy. Eggs.

Oops.

Egg shells are allowed, but not the eggs themselves, and I'd added a couple of hard-boiled eggs that had been left in the fridge too long. Do not do this. Trust me. Ick. Ugh. Yuck.

So I started over, reviewed the list of things you can compost, and after about a week with no smell and no fruit flies, I declared the Full Circle Fresh Air Kitchen Composter a success.  The bags they use are fairly tough bags of this kind, but you should be careful when handling them and not be too rough with them. They "breathe," which allows any heat build-up to escape, as well as excess gases which may form as scraps begin to decompose. When it's full (or sooner), you just take the bag out and throw it in the compost bin, bag and all.

I discovered why they recommend disposing of the filled bags in about five days. The biodegradable bags are designed to begin breaking down when they come into contact with organic materials. Because there was no smell and no fruit flies, and because I was still feeding some table scraps to the worms, I didn't fill my Full Circle composter very quickly. After about four weeks, I began to notice a few fruit flies. Hmmmm...

The bag doesn't take long before it
starts to decompose!

I decided to remove the bag even though it wasn't full and discovered that indeed the bag does decompose! It had a hole in it and the fruit flies had found it. So I learned what not to do and that you really should follow instructions!

I have found the Full Circle Fresh Air Kitchen Composter to be very easy to use, and that it does everything it claims to do, if you follow their recommendations for use.  I've been using it for about two months now and can highly recommend it for kitchen composting.


The people at Full Circle were kind enough to offer to give a composter to one of my readers, so here's how you can be entered to win it:

• Leave a comment to this blog post, telling me if you compost your kitchen scraps or not. If you don't, what is the reason you don't? Even if it's just that you don't want to, feel free to tell me that. It's okay!
  
  
  AND
  
  
• Enter your contact information on the Rafflecopter form. I'll be using this to choose a winner via Random.org and will contact the winner using the information entered there. (But don't forget to also leave a comment to this blog post!)

a Rafflecopter giveaway

You can read more about the Full Circle Kitchen Composter and other products the company makes, as well as where to purchase them, on the Full Circle website.

UPDATE:  Congratulations to Carolee, winner of a Full Circle Kitchen Composter of her very own! Thank you to everyone who entered and to Full Circle for providing the composter both to me and to the winner of the giveaway!
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*Full Circle provided me with a kitchen composter free of charge. My experience and opinions stated here are my own.