Jora JK125 Composter - 4.5 Cubic Feet

This small unit was pretty easy to assemble (but definitely is helpful with two people), easy to add kitchen scraps to, and very easy to aerate. More importantly, it takes all of the yuck factor out of composting for a city girl who has just started container gardening on the deck. There was a brief period when I was greeted by some fruit flies, but adding torn up egg carton took care of that. After 6 weeks, it finally started to feel warm inside and is looking like a lot more dirt than the one pot I originally put in to get things started.

Love it! Our old plastic compost spinner fell apart after about 5 years, hoping this one lasts much longer. I was a little disappointed that there are quite a few plastic parts, and that the white insulation pieces are just foam. But once all together it does feel sturdy. Assembly was easy with 2 people, there's a great video on YouTube.

This is one of the best looking composters we’ve seen online and uses very little plastic! It took about 90mins to assemble with a second pair of hands at times. Unfortunately, we had to wait 6weeks for it to arrive and started the compost process in the dead of CT winter. It’s hard to keep the temperature up without placing a hot water bottle inside a few times a day even though it’s advertised as a 4season piece of equipment. Some leakage has occurred and the lids have also frozen shut on occasion. Fingers crossed this was worth the money when winter passes.

Seems like we got the right size and the two chambers is a great idea. We have yet to finish filling the first bin. The handles around the unit make it simple to spin. No critters are going to get in. Excited to see how first batch comes out.

The directions say to use 2 people to assemble and I think that's sound advice. I did 99% of it on my own. There was some sweat equity at times. The foam used on the inside is sturdy. When putting on the panels, an extra hand is a big help to hold it down as the foam against foam makes it hard to hold when you try to put screws on the side (this will make sense when you are assembling)

I was a little surprised the inside was not lined with anything but the insulation, so I almost returned it. But I kept researching in expensive and healthy ways to line it and I found coconut coir is a great way to line compost bins. I bought a roll and cut it the width of each bin and lined it. I did not line the sides "yet" as I will need to cut the round ones to the exact size of the octagon shape. I wish I had of made a template of them before I assembled it. . . . Speaking of assembly, it is kind of hard to do by yourself. I did it, but I have a MacGyver mentality. When adding each panel I lined up the wholes by pushing down and inserting a small individual hex key/ allen wrench to each to hold it on while screwing in the screws one at a time. (I used a smaller hex key than the screw that needed to go in it). Also, lay it on a tarp on the ground so you can use your weight to push down. It took me over an hour to do it by myself. If you are not good with assembly get help or get someone else to do it. It takes a lot of ingenuity and patience. I will try to let you know in the spring how my first bin turned out.

Follow the video, not the printed instructions. But even the video is wrong, it shows the handles being installed incorrectly. Mine showed up with multiple scratches, bent metal corners and edges, deep scrapes through the coating. The protective powder coating is. . . well, super cheap. Hoping Rustoleum (clear/matte) can protect it. The drum works well. Yes, you have to sit on it to assemble it. Wish it had a latch mechanism to prevent it from tumbling.

Still much better than similar plastic tumblers, which are terrible.

I have to say that I was a bit disappointed in that there is a whole lot of plastic involved in this composter. I was trying to get away from the plastic by buying a metal one. I put it together myself and it wasn’t too difficult - I definitely recommend using a screw gun instead of a hand screwdriver or you’ll never get it together. I had to shave plastic off of the insulation edges to get the panels to fit together. All holes matched up and the look of it is nice. If you’re thinking it’s a bit pricey, you’re right. It is.

I don't think this composter is worth the price at 10x the price of other composters; there is a significant amount of styrofoam used, which is disappointing for something I thought was supposed to be "greener", and it might just be this size in particular, but the hatch to add more material in for composting is small and awkward, which often leads me to miss the opening when I am trying to add material. Additionally, there is no pin to anchor the composter in position when you are trying to add material, so you have to try to hold it in place while fumbling with the hatch and trying to get all your material in. I would not recommend this product and wish I could return mine for a refund.