How to Make Homemade Bokashi Spray

Last week, I shared how we use bokashi composting in our home, and today I want to take you one step further by showing you how to make your own homemade bokashi spray! 

It’s super simple, inexpensive, and once you try it you’ll never want to be without it.

This spray is made with something called JADAM LAB (lactic acid bacteria). Don’t let the name scare you off! It’s a recipe created to naturally catch and multiply the good microbes that already live all around us (exactly like starting your own sourdough starter!) 

These microbes are the secret to bokashi working so well.

A fresh batch of bokashi spray, ready for use around the homestead.

What You’ll Need

1 cup uncooked white rice

2 cups filtered / non-chlorinated water

24 ounces or 710 ml animal based milk 

(raw, pasteurized, homogenized, 3 or 2% are all fine. I purchase whatever is on sale)

1/2 tablespoon Blackstrap molasses

A jar with a cloth cover

Strainer

Spray bottle

Step 1: Rinse Your Rice. 

This is the step where the collection of all the wild microbes in our environment begins. 

I usually start this process when I’m making rice for a meal, so it’s not an extra task, all while saving water that would have normally just been poured down the drain. 

Rice water that’s been fermented. The starting point for bokashi spray.

When rinsing the rice, save the cloudy rinse water instead of pouring it down the sink!  

Here’s what to do:

Rinse your rice in the water until it’s nice and cloudy.

Strain the cloudy water into a jar.

Cover with a breathable cloth and let it sit at room temperature for 2–3 days. 

When it smells a little sour and has a film on top, you’re ready for step two.

This cloudy rice water is important because it contains starch, which acts like bait to attract and feed naturally occurring microbes from our air!

Step 2: Multiply with Milk

We use animal milk for this because it’s full of lactose, which gives the lactic acid bacteria plenty of food to multiply quickly.

The milk naturally separates into curds and whey, an important step in collecting beneficial bacteria.

Here’s what to do:

Strain the rice water and mix 70ml of it with 710ml of milk.

Cover again with cloth.

Let it sit for 5–7 days. 

(Can take less time in warm environments, so check on it daily!)

You’ll notice it will separate; the top turns into a curd, and the bottom becomes a yellow liquid know as whey.

The day it separates, it's complete. Strain as soon as possible or mould can begin to grow on the curds. 

The yellow whey liquid is what we’re saving for bokashi, but don't throw away the curds just yet! Keep reading!

The whey strained off. This is the liquid gold used to make bokashi spray.

Don’t Toss the Curds!

When you set aside the yellow whey liquid, you’ll be left with a thick layer of curds. 

Most people throw these away or give them to animals, but you can actually turn them into a simple farmer’s cheese! 

Farmers cheese is said to be beneficial due to the gut healthy bacteria it contains and it's minimal salt content. 

We don't consume dairy here on our homestead, so we put the curds directly into our bokashi composting bucket to be turned into soil. 

**If you waited too long to strain the curds from the whey and mould has formed, do not consume!!**

Here’s how:

Scoop the curds into a clean cloth or cheesecloth.

Tie it up and hang it to let the extra liquid drain for a few hours.

Once it firms up, you’ll have a soft, spreadable cheese that can be seasoned with herbs or salt.

Don’t toss the curds! They can be turned into a simple, fresh farmer’s cheese.

This is one of those fun homestead extras; you get a bokashi spray for your compost and a little homemade cheese for your kitchen, all from the same process!

Step 3: Turn It Into Bokashi Spray

Add 1 tablespoon of the yellow whey liquid to a spray bottle.

Swirl in 1/2 tablespoon of blackstrap molasses to keep the microbes fed and multiplying.

Store spray bottle in the fridge. 

That’s it! You have just made your own bokashi spray!

**Since the microbes will continue to multiply at a very fast rate due to the addition of the molasses, you risk your spray bottle leaking if stored at room temperature (no need to ask me how I know this.... lol, oops!). The cold of your refrigerator will avoid this risk as it helps to slow down bacterial growth.

The strained bokashi liquid can be stored in a jar and used to refill spray bottles as needed.

How to Use Bokashi Spray

Each time you add food scraps to your bokashi bucket, give them a moderate misting with your homemade spray. 

The goal isn’t to soak the scraps, just to coat them enough for the microbes to get to work. 

This helps your food waste ferment quickly, keeps odours down, and makes sure your compost is perfectly fermented before adding to your outdoor compost pile or burying it directly into your garden bed(s). 

A Few Tips

The yellow whey liquid will keep for months and months in the fridge. When your spray bottle is empty, simply refill with the solution you have stored. 

Do not place any mouldy foods within your bokashi composting bucket. The bacteria present on these are said to out compete the lactic acid bacteria within your bokashi spray, leading to rot vs. fermentation. Put these directly in your outdoor compost system or your municipal green bin. 

If you don’t want to make cheese, the curds can be composted or used as animal feed.

The whey liquid can be used in so many other ways around the homestead. You can pour it down stinky drains or spray it into a smelly garbage can to act as a deodorizer, you can dilute it as use a foliar spray on your plants (helps stop powdery mildew!), as well as as a soil inoculant to help boost beneficial bacteria within your soil.  

Bokashi spray works beautifully as a foliar feed, said to boost soil and plant health.

Making your own bokashi spray is one of those little homestead wins; it saves money, uses what you already have in your kitchen, and keeps your compost system thriving. 

Give it a try yourself! I think you'll be amazed by how truly simple and beneficial this can be! 

Until next time, 

Sarah & The Sunnyhill Homestead Family