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[Suze58]

Hi everyone I’m a newbie to this site ,I joined as I’m a little worried about what I can and cannot hot bin compost I don’t want to put cooked food or meat or dog poo in it until I am really sure I can, and what cooked food can I put in there left over dinners with gravy and things like that chicken bones and carcasses that have been cooked I’m really not sure I’m hoping someone can steer me in the right direction 😁

[HotBinDjinn]

Hi,

Once your composter is sustaining temperatures of 50 degrees C or higher, dinner left overs will quickly and easily break down (gravy and all). You can probably put them in at lower temperatures, but I like to make sure nothing going anaerobic before I add food scraps. Smelly grass and hedge clippings is one thing, but a smelly chicken dinner is a different experience altogether. Chicken carcases break down very quickly. Bones that survive the composting process normally just crumble with a good squeeze or they can be put back in as bulking agent and they will eventually vanish altogether. I've composted deer bones and while it took a few passes through the bin, they eventually crumbled. Just don't add excessive amounts of liquid food, for example if I've got veg soup, I strain off the liquid first. Yogurt can be composted, but add a little extra shredded paper or cardboard.

I only ever compost poo when the temp is in the 60-70C range, just to be sure. Some folks regularly compost poo, but I would wait until you happy composting chicken and gravy before getting to the poo