Am I the only one who had a BAD week with bokashi bran?

Last Tuesday I tried bokashi composting for the first time in my Chicago studio and by Friday my whole bin had this weird sour smell and mold on top. I followed the directions exactly, layering scraps and sprinkling bran every time, but it just went south fast. Did anyone else's first bokashi attempt fail, or did I mess up somewhere obvious?

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the_alex16h ago

Yeah that sour smell is pretty common for a first batch. It usually means the bin got too wet or didn't have enough bran mixed in. I'd bet you were layering the bran on top but not mixing it into the scraps enough, so the good bacteria couldn't get to everything. The mold on top is also normal if you opened it too much and let air in. Next time try crushing the scraps smaller and adding a bit more bran than the directions say, especially for wet stuff like fruit. It balances out once you get the hang of it.