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Kitchen gadget converts food scraps to compost in a claimed 48 hours

Kitchen gadget converts food scraps to compost in a claimed 48 hours
Kalea is currently on Kickstarter
Kalea is currently on Kickstarter
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The finished Kalea compost
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The finished Kalea compost
Kalea is currently on Kickstarter
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Kalea is currently on Kickstarter
Kalea takes its name from the Hawaiian word for "filled with joy" ... as opposed to "filled with kitchen scraps"
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Kalea takes its name from the Hawaiian word for "filled with joy" ... as opposed to "filled with kitchen scraps"
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Using a compost heap is a great way of putting food waste to use, but that waste can take several weeks or longer to become compost – in the meantime, it may stink or attract pests. The indoor Kalea device, on the other hand, is claimed to produce compost in just two days.

Created by a German team of "material scientists, engineers, and hobby gardeners," Kalea is about the size of a kitchen garbage can and it sits (appropriately enough) in the kitchen. As users generate food waste – including meat, fish or dairy products – they deposit those items in a lidded bin on top of the device.

Once activated via the press of a button, Kalea starts by dropping the waste from the bin into a chamber where it's shredded and dried. Once that process is complete, the organic material is dropped into a second chamber where it's tumbled.

According to the designers, the temperature, humidity and aeration in that chamber are optimized to accelerate the metabolism of microorganisms already present in the waste. This reportedly causes those microbes to break the material down much quicker than they would in a regular compost heap.

The resulting compost is dropped into a removable bin in the bottom of the device, which users pull out and empty into their garden or planters. Although there's apparently not much of a smell involved in Kalea's composting process, replaceable air filters are used to catch what odor there is.

Kalea takes its name from the Hawaiian word for "filled with joy" ... as opposed to "filled with kitchen scraps"
Kalea takes its name from the Hawaiian word for "filled with joy" ... as opposed to "filled with kitchen scraps"

Some readers may recall a similar product that we covered in 2017, known as the Zera Food Recycler. It isn't related to Kalea, which is presently the subject of a Kickstarter campaign. A pledge of €549 (about US$645) will get you one, when and if it reaches production. The planned retail price is €899 ($1,056).

Sources: Kickstarter, Kalea

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5 comments
5 comments
PassingBy2
Interesting.

A remarkable fast process against my current slow, sealed, anaerobic process in repurposed tightly sealed coffee jars. This procedure takes a year or more, and needs a lot of handling when 'cooked'. The end product is a potent liquid fertiliser, which is diluted to use. Good fertiliser, no smell, but oh so much work and clutter.

This tool would be excellent, but the cost puts it in the luxury bracket for me.
Copycat10
Is there any word on how much power it consumers to get the job done so quickly?
Baker Steve
I can't see this selling very well when you can do the same thing using a worm composter for one-tenth of the cost - although admittedly rather more slowly. But slower is sometimes better.
pmshah
I have seen plenty of composting plants which re like pits in the ground and use earthworms to complete the process. After all you are going to be using it in a garden if you have one. So why not build one right there in the garden ?
HDaigneault
Why not this instead? https://teroproducts.com/pages/appareil-tero. I am no rep. Not related to any of those two lads in any fashion. Just thinking it's better design, and better output.