Lord, what a waste of bleach. All you need is to bury the stuff in a timely manner.

Agreed. Maggots will not be able to dig themselves out of more than an inch or two of soil, so burying it in the ground or center of the compost will take care of it.

In summer your kitchen bucket should be emptied every 2 days max. House flies and fruit flies take about 48 hrs. to lay eggs and have them hatch, so if you empty it often enough it cuts off the cycle.

I do bleach my kitchen bucket now and then, but more for stains and odors than fly eggs, which can be washed out with hot water and soap if necessary.

Don't give up, you just have to modify your habits depending on the season!

I'm wondering why the filter?
I just use a bowl and empty it every day, two days max as written above. It's not such a long walk to the out door bin, and a nice feeling to start over with an empty bowl, so it's actually a pleasurable "chore". All I do is rinse it out with water once in a while. I've never had a bug problem.

I'm wondering if a bigger container, with a filter for smells, is what has enticed you into the habit of leaving it longer. Oh -- and I see that you're burying it each time rather than having an outdoor compost pile, so that's extra work.

What about starting an outdoor pile, that can get as many bugs as it wants to, and then the emptying chore will be very simple? Then you'll throw your garden scraps, weeds, grass clippings, leaves, etc, in there as well.

Well I appreciate the supportive comments. I deserve the other ones as well.

Now I know... yes the bin gave me false sense of security. Last summer I didn't have one and was bringing it out nearly everyday.

I live facing a forest and didn't want to attract animals into an outdoor pile but now I see its better to attract them outside then inside.

If you have critters, you can get a black plastic bin with a locking lid that they will have a hard time getting into. At my office, we have 3 composters for food waste and coffee grounds, 50 ft. from woods teeming with critters. We've been doing this 15 years with hardly any trouble from varmints. The Earth Machine, Home Composter and others will work, especially with a piece of chicken wire on the ground underneath to prevent tunneling.

Apologies for anyone here who wasn't tactful and diplomatic. :-] Actually compost and food waste are never disgusting, they're just black gold waiting to happen!

Curiosity killed the cat and all that. I had to look and see which compost collector your talking about. Looks like the problem is it's too big for how you are currently using it, so it seems understandable that this could have happened.

I agree if you were to get a better setup outside, then this bin will work well as you can add not only the coffee grounds, veggie scraps type stuff, but it has room for bits and bobs of other household waste that composts. Paper towels, torn cardboard / junk mail, hair from your brush, dryer lint and so much more.

Or one of the reviews said they used this outside for some garden tools next to their garden. Bet it was too big for them too. ;) The one our city issued to all of us ( we include kitchen waste with our yard debris... dairy, bones and grease and all ) looks about 1 1/2 gallons. Apparently a committee somewhere decided this was the most useful size for the 'average' family.

Probably a good thing too since I get a case of the lazy myself at times regarding the bin, since I'm at work so much of the time and tired when I get home. I'm forced outside with the smaller bin. A somewhat smaller bin would take less space on the counter, always a plus.

Here is a link that might be useful: Exaco Trading ECO-2000 2.4 Gallon Kitchen Compost Waste Collector

I take the stuff out twice a day. Granted only the evening is needed, the morning is not needed, but I leave a plate of peels on the counter, with a bowl on top slightly ajar, overnight. In the morning all fruit flies in the house have congregated in there (specially if I put in a few drops of of wine or vinegar), a little bowl shift locks them in, and they can be taken out.

They must get in through the mosquito screens or cracks in the basement, because we are fairly good at keeping screens shut. Just a few mangoes or apricots sitting in the fruit cart are enough to lure them in. We buy about 30 lbs of fruits a week in early summer.

So I was out doing my dishes and not taking my compost out ;) when it occurred to me a great next step in composting for you.

You say digging small holes and burying the kitchen scraps is working with whatever critters are around. So that tells me simple, old fashioned trench composting should work too. I had a place years ago way out next to the Mt Hood National forest, far enough there was no garbage service. I was taught the system used for that house, which was trench composting. There was a garden space with existing rows, so I just followed along. Dig the trench, pile the soil next to the trench, dump in the pail contents, pull enough soil over to cover. Repeat the next trip out.

The trick and challenge was to guess how many feet of trench I would need for the whole winter season, the part of the year when digging a trench was not nice at all ... with just enough space between trenchs to tip toe through and keep my shoes half way walkable. Not sinking in over the tops of the shoes being preferable By the third year I pretty much had my trench length figured out.

Good luck and here's to no more maggots. :)

This post was edited by plaidbird on Thu, Jun 20, 13 at 0:27

glib's trick for the fruit flies is great. I do the same thing only my kitchen bucket is a 1-gal ice cream bucket with a snap lid. I leave it ajar overnight and trap them in the morning and then empty it. I think some of them come in with the fruit - bananas and such. It only takes two, or one pregnant one, and 48 hrs. of time.

It occurred to me too that the container must be pretty big if the OP can leave it 2 weeks to empty. Mine is about 1 US gallon and gets emptied every day or every other day depending on how much kitchen waste we have generated. It also has a lid so flies can't get into it to lay eggs. The bleach is not really necessary. Hot water and washing up liquid will do the job fine. After years of ice cream tubs, plastic boxes, bowls, etc, I've finally treated myself to a fancy compost collector. It's right next to the cooker in full view so I wanted smart one.

I don't have a compost bin for the kitchen so I keep my scraps in a tupperware container or big ziplock bag IN THE FRIG. It's worth giving up refrigerator space to avoid fruit flies & other unwanted visitors! I'm like you & don't have time to take it out every day. It's great you compost! :)

nuggetandnibbles... that is actually what I am doing till I get my compost bin... I am storing them in the fridge. I just can't stop composting its truly a waste to throw it in the garbage.

Thanks for the support everyone!

I don't use a fancy bin at all. In fact, I use an extra large Snapware bin and cheap plastic bags. I easily keep an eye on the "science project" in my bin with food scraps. The bin is large enough to fit into my fridge or freeze if I need to go out for any length of time.

Maybe consider using a container that will fit into the fridge/freezer if you need to build up volume before using in compost pile.

Can't help but chuckle, because I never have a cubic inch of space leftover in my freezer for that! Stuff falls out when I open the door. LOL

I use an old plastic coffee can. Uh, don't ask me when I last emptied it....but I promise it is way longer than 2 days. The people who save me their compost stuff keep them in the same type of containers for at least a week.

Bananas and fruit seem to be particularly bad about attracting fruit flies, which is what I have trouble with in my worm bins.

I have maggots in my collection pail on deck which I take to compost bin. out of town forgot to empty. I'm wondering if pouring some citric acid will kill them and then i can pour into compost bin

Just put it all in your compost bin. No need to kill the maggots. All that stuff happens in nature and we usually don’t see it. Trying to kill the maggots can cause more problem...

Lots of mouthy answers. I got tired of the criticism and judgmental remarks and stopped reading. Many of us dont have time to go out to the compost pile everyday, or, smh, twice a day.

Here are a few remedies or solutions. I apologize if others gave these answers, as I said, I got tired of the rudeness.

1...maggits cannot survive boiling water. Put in your kitchen bucket, wait a min. for them to die, then pour all into your outdoor bin. You use water outside in your compost, so this will work fine...just be sure its not hot when you pour it out so that you dont kill your compost bins worms. If you use bleach, the scraps then must go in the trash, which defeats the goal.

2...clean compost bin in the kitchen thoroughly, then without drying, pour lime into your kitchen bin. Lime is great for your cimpost, but flies will not lay eggs there anymore. A dusting of lime is all that is needed.

Niw, yiu have a way to compost kitchen scraps maggit free.

This thread has far more good helpful information than snark, IMO. And most of it is 7 years old so some of the posters probably aren't even here anymore.

Thanks for your additions.

Whatever snark there was is well-aged by now, leaving behind only the knowledge amendments.