"It breaks down nicely though."
Goes to show, "compost happens". There really are no absolutes.
My understanding is the best way is to feed it a bunch, all at once, add needed moisture. Monitor temp, it should heat in a day or two if you have a good C:N ratio and proper moisture. Keep monitoring temp, once it cools, flip the whole thing and feed it again, let it heat (should stay hot for about a week), flip when it cools. Feed again and repeat. After it has heated for several cycles, let that batch sit to mature and finish, and start a fresh batch.
I used that process last year when I was getting large amounts of coffee grounds from a coffee shop. It always heated to 140° to 150° within 2 days. It usually stayed hot for a week. Now that coffee shop is gone so sometimes I add grass clippings to get it cooking.
I use two Biostack bins. Each is comprised of 3 bottomless tiers which stack to form a bin. Instead of 2 stacks of 3 tiers, I use them according to my needs at the time. Currently I have it arranged like this: one stack of two tiers which is holding finishing compost. The other is a stack of 4 tiers which is full of actively composting stuff.
Karen
