Tell me about your food waste caddy

[QuimReaper]

I absolutely detest and despise my mum's, it seems really grim, but MIL is getting us a fancy garden composter so it looks like I'm going the way of the food waste caddy.

I'd like something that looks reasonably attractive, that the cats can't break into, and which doesn't stink.

Any recommendations?

Oh and I just use newspaper to line the caddy. Luckily that is fine with our council.

We get ours and biodegradable liners from our local authority. My little caddy lives under the sink in the drawer and gets emptied into the bigger lockable caddy that lives outside.

I never notice it smelling really. Our drawer under the sink is really cold though.

Plastic one lined with allegedly bio degradable plastic. Emptied about weekly or more. Teabags,.eggshells, coffee grounds, veg peelings. We mostly cook from scratch and eat any leftovers.

No smell,not enough in it. Goes in compost bin, no council collection.

I just use the one the council provided - always with a liner. Not exactly beautiful but does the job. Once full the liner goes to the bigger outside bin.
Washed once a week, never smelly, but then I put anything like scraps of meat or fish in a bag in the freezer until the night before the bin men come. We chuck hardly any food - our waste is nearly all veg peelings, eggshells, etc.
I've seen Lakeland ones and liked them, but didn't feel like spending whatever it was.

We leave the bigger food waste bin near to the back door and don't bother with the caddy. We just put food out when we need to.

We use a small stainless steel peddle bin which has a plastic insert with a handle you can lift out. It is kept on the floor (not the worktop like some caddies). Peelings are put onto a plate to take to the bin after finished chopping. Simple.

Our Brabantia twin bin is amazing! www.amazon.co.uk/Brabantia-Recycling-Touch-Plastic-Buckets/dp/B01N0DOKMH
Not cheap but use the big side for rubbish and small side for food - the brabantia compostable liners are strong and it lasts about a week which is perfect for our weekly collection. Just don't put hot things in (teabag dish required by kettle for cooling) and keep big things in fridge/freezer if it's going to be a few days sitting there

Council issued and they supply biodegradable bags for it.

I think there is a massive difference between a 'waste food caddy' which some LAs supply to collect all food waste, and a composter though.
If you are making compost, then you don't put any meats or processed stuff or fats or sweetend stuff in there. You put fruit + veg peelings (not too much citrus, it doesn't rot down), teabags, coffee dregs, human and pet hair, and the odd bit of shredded paper so it isn't too soggy.

I use a plastic tub which I think some toy came in years ago, then stick it through the dishwasher every couple of weeks.

Food waste. I used to have a bin lined with biodegradable bags near the kitchen sink. I got fed up with the smell in the summer....and the cat used to raid it. So now I have moved the bin into the freezer. I put all food waste in it, freeze it, then take out to the bigger food waste bin on dustbin collection day. Being frozen it doesn't smell.
Veg waste. I have a Lakeland caddy into which I put peelings etc. I empty this onto one of my compost heaps every other day.

Run away from the caddy! They bloody stink, get tiny horrible fruit flies in summer and you WILL forget and have to pour out the vile smelling juice.

I've had a compost food caddy for years. It has a filter inside the lid and I use the liners inside it. It needs emptying about twice a week.
It's similar to this
Never have any smells or flies. The lid seals well.

I have this one

www.amazon.co.uk/gp/aw/d/B003ZFW0YQ/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ref=plSrch&keywords=oxo+compost+caddy&dpPl=1&dpID=31FuExUV69L&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&tag=mumsnetforum-21&ie=UTF8&qid=1519340552&sr=8-1

I think the real truck is to.empty it frequently....

Backfor that''s the ticket, it's a fancy huge machine which is going in the garden to make special compost. So meat etc. will still go in the main bin? Sounds like that'll cut down on smells.

How about those compostable liners? Do they go in fancy composters?

didi I really like that one and it's a better price than Lakeland!

I would avoid putting the plastic bags in the caddy OP. I think it's different if a LA are collecting your compost waste as it will be mixed with woody garden waste on a much bigger scale whereas home compost will take a lot longer to break down.

I've had a go at a few different home composting in the past (lived in a flat and no LA collection), such as the Bokashi bin. When I moved to a home with a garden I used a traditional black dalek composter and this was by far most preferable although as @backforgood pointed out you are limited as to what you should put in these (I.e. No Cooked food or meat scraps).

Now I have a paved garden so nowhere for a dalek, so thank goodness the council take it! We collect stuff in the kitchen in a smart square brabantia bin (easy to clean, never smells as emptied every 2 to 3 days) and then it goes out for kerbside collection every week in a large caddy that locks.

Simple little plastic bucket on the kitchen counter. No liner. We're mostly veggie so no meat to make it stinky (meat always goes in the general bin). It has no lid, so the contents can air and dry out - the bad smell comes when it's poorly ventilated and everything starts to ferment in its juices. Emptied every 2-3 days. Having had every other type of caddy, swear by this approach now. Our cat is never interested in it as it's all veg and coffee grounds anyway!

To be fair, as I pointed out to DH over the weekend, this talk of meat scraps / bones is largely academic anyway, as I almost never cook whole animals, I just buy fillets! I do think it'll be mostly veg bits, eggshells and teabags.

I think I'm going to go for a small bin and keep it outside the back door, and just see what happens with the fox situation. We're lucky to have french doors from the kitchen opening out into the garden, so I'll see how I go with that.

Little this composter is a hot one, do you think that makes a difference wrt compostable liners? I think having the caddy outside (if that works out) will mean I won't be too bothered by it, but I know I'm going to detest washing it out!

I think they need quite a specific environment and take a long time to break down, longer than natural degradable waste so I would avoid if I were you.

I've had loads and this one is my favourite www.johnlewis.com/oxo-compost-caddy-grey/p2455061?sku=234823086&s_kwcid=2dx92700027729456710&tmad=c&tmcampid=2&gclid=CjwKCAiArOnUBRBJEiwAX0rG_QKPV4OWh1gjqApYs92TOFG_F6FNdIoH_7VrzNilXd8XX_JHXVQkbxoCJt0QAvD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds as it is so easy to clean. So much easier than the cooler enamel ones.