Hot compost dreams

I have tried many times, but fail to make hot compost every time.
I have said more than once I'm done trying to make hot compost. Then I watched a hot compost video by the permaculture consultant, and he made it seem full proof.  https://youtu.be/BE8GQBT0onE?si=kz89RUezEgQLCmvN
I have a compost bin full of dry kitchen and garden waist. Most places it would be a slimy stinky mess because it's all green, or was, but now it's a lot of dry crispy stuff.
In a perfect world I would have followed the very simple instructions exactly. Unfortunately it's not a perfect world. I'm using my pallet/wood box compost bin. I didn't think I had any fencing that would work. (I did find some when I was done, so I may use it when I flip it.  I don't have 10 5 gallon buckets. I just don't have to money to buy a bunch of buckets. To compensate I used the 5 gallon buckets I had to measure out the browns and greens, putting the measured stuff in what ever containers I had. I don't have a source for manure.
I cut up the greens into small pieces, and used lots of different greens, so I would have a diverse compost. For browns I used 6 buckets of wood chips, and 12 buckets of shredded cardboard.  Everything was soaked in water overnight (this broke a couple of my bins, bummer 😞). I couldn't find my tarp, so I mixed the browns and greens on the ground in front of the pile.  I hope it will heat up. I worry it doesn't look like a large enough pile. I may do one more 10 bucket layer.
I did find a dollar tree tarp that is thin, but just the right size to cover the top.
I didn't use weeds. I trust the recipe and process, but not the execution. I think I did it right except for the manure, but it did get confusing. I may start keeping my eyes out for cheep buckets. It would be a lot easier if I had 10.  Any way with luck in about 4 days I will be turning my pile. The great thing about this system is not only does he make it very simple to get the browns and greens ratio right, he says you only have to turn it 3 to 5 times. Which is great because that's the hard part for me.  If you struggle with hot compost check out this guy's video, he really makes it simple. Wish me luck.

What are your ratios for green vs brown?

Sympathy here - I must admit I never do hot composting, although the idea of weed and pathogen free compost is appealing! Let us know how it progresses.
I think tumbler compost processes would probably make turning most easy.

His recipe is 3 buckets of greens, 6 buckets of browns, and 1 bucket of manure, times at least 3 layers. I used 4 buckets of greens (1 was all comfy) because I don't have a source for manure.  I do have chickens, but didn't want to scoop up thousands of little piles of chicken poop. I wouldn't have filled 3 buckets anyway. I thought about buying a couple of bags of composted steer manure, but I was trying not to buy anything for the compost. Also I don't know if that would work considering it's already been composed.
If it doesn't work I'm not going to lie, I will be very disappointed, but eventually I should still have useable compost. Time will tell.

If it gets going well I might try to incorporate the crispy pile.  I watered it well, and we are expecting rain tomorrow, so hopefully it won't be crispy. I may use the cultivator to chop it up. There's a lot of large stuff in there.
The other reason I would like this to work is I have enough tomato plants that need to come out to fill at least 9 buckets, even if I cut them up like I did for this pile. I didn't have that much cardboard left, but I have a new pile of wood chips. Also with fall coming I'm about to have a ton of English walnut leaves, and I would feel safer if they hot composed.
One way or the other I will have to make another compost pile.

Do you have any idea what part of the country he is in?

If his method works for you that is great.

I think he's in Texas

One place to check for free buckets is at Swimming Pool Maintenance companies.   Their chlorine tablets come in 6 gallon plastic buckets with screw down lids ...super nice buckets and some companies will save them for you.

A dollar tree kiddie swimming pool might make a nice bottom for you if things are getting too dry.  

Finally, you can't go wrong going big.   When you get it right, you will want more and more and more of that compost ...and your friends and family will want it too.   Those buckets would be handy to give all your friends and neighbors to collect food scraps for you ...the screw down sealed lids make it not gross.

I must be crazy 🤣 I'm so excited. My compost pile is 157 degrees. I can't believe it, it's  working.  155 to 165 I'm supposed to wait 24 hours, and turn it. I work tomorrow, so I hope I have enough time to do it.
I did cover the pile with a tarp, but it doesn't touch the pile. I also put some black pots in front of the pile, I thought they might add a little extra heat.

I've made lots of hot compost, and am no stranger to 75-degree piles, but I think it's overrated. The more a pile heats up, the more C and N you're losing to fast exothermic reactions, and more bad stuff is going into the atmosphere. I'm a fan of just throwing stuff in the bin and letting time, bacteria and fungi, insects and worms all do their thing.

I know some people like the autoclave effect and are big on cooking weeds, but even my best hot piles still had plenty of viable seeds at the end.

I get what you are saying Phil. If cold composting worked well for me, I probably wouldn't bother. It's so hot and dry where I live, it takes forever to break down.  I thought I found the perfect solution a few years ago. I had an old garbage can that had a hole in it. I added a bunch more holes, and dumped kitchen scraps and some garden stuff. After 2 years, I finally dumped it in the compost pile. Everything was still recognizable.
I'll just be happy to have usable compost.

I went out after work to turn the pile, and the temperature was 140 to 145, so I decided to wait. At that temperature I'm supposed to give it 3 days. So I plan to turn it on Thursday unless the temp goes way up. I think it cool down because it's quiet a bit cooler today, and we had a nice little rain this evening. The tarp blew back, so the pile got rained on.
Even with the cool down, it's still hotter than I have ever managed before.

First turn. My pile was at least 140 degrees for 3 days.  Now I turn my pile. each level goes down one. so the top goes to the middle the middle goes to the bottom, and the bottom goes on top.
Now I wait for it to heat up again. Just like before.  If it's 135 to 145 wait 3 days then turn. If it's 145 to 155 wait 2 days then turn. 165 wait 24 hours, and 171 or more turn immediately. At least if I remember correctly this is what I'm supposed to do. This way if I do it right every part of the pile gets a turn heating up.

I noticed except a couple of larger chunks of pumpkin, and of course the leaves that recently fell into the pile you can't see or identify any greens. Less than a week, and things are already changing.

I did add a small layer in the center from the bottom of my old compost pile (I have been watering it, and it rained today) plus a little kitchen scraps. I hope this doesn't mess it up. I will make sure I turn it at least one extra time to accommodate the new stuff.

I think the  reason it's working for me (so far) is the combination of the right ratio of browns and greens, everything that went into the pile was soaked in water overnight, and air. The way he shows how to mix it is to use a hay fork and scoop the materials up and move it up and down above the pile. Its surprisingly good at mixing it up, and aerates the materials.  I don't have a hay fork, but I have a garden fork(I'm not sure that's the name. It's short, and has thicker heavy duty tines, and is a lot less expensive) anyway it does the job.

I hope it heats up. Here we go again.

The pile shot up to 160 for a day and a half, then it went down to 140/145, so I waited 3 days.
Turned the pile today 10/6/25. Same as last time top goes to the middle, middle goes to the bottom, and bottom goes to the top. I can still see shredded cardboard, and some of the large veggies stems from my old pile (I cut some of the large stuff into smaller chunks) It's definitely doesn't look like good compost yet, but you can tell things are starting to break down.  The only bad smell was where I put a bunch of eggs. (I've been bad about gathering eggs, and also had a broody hen give up about 10 days in. I made a hold in the top center and put the eggs in it and broke them then covered them up. I didn't smell them until I turned the pile) I soaked a little cardboard and mixed it with the stinky eggs, and put them in the center of the pile. I also watered the top of the pile because it was drying out.
I don't love turning the pile, but it's not that big of a deal.  I figure I will turn it 2 or 3 more time, I have to watch the video again so I know when this part is done, and I can go to the letting it sit and cure phase.
I always worry it won't heat back up, but so far so good.
I didn't take pictures this time, because it's pretty much the same as last time.

10/10/25 turn #3 if I hadn't added anything along the way this might have been my last turn. As is I plan to turn it at least 2 more times, and I'm not adding anything new. Let's be honest, I don't like turning the pile. This is the most times I have turned a compost pile. Always before it wouldn't heat up and I would kind of give up on it.
I did water it because it wasn't dry, but no way damp enough to squeeze a drop of water from it. With any luck I will be done fussing with this pile in a week or so. The I just let it sit and cool down, and let the compost critters finish it up for a month or two.
The permaculture consultant guy who made the video & recipe I have been using put out a new video for cool weather composting.
https://youtu.be/STRqfk1VGwA?si=y4N4O2_V1M-5xZCy

Congrats on finally getting it hot! If you haven't come across Permapastures on yt yet, they have great tutorials on composting.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-R--vITA8Bc&list=PLaAkONMPbRReo4b_EBUazHHFd_BnzBaUY
One thing they don't touch on is using spent mushroom substrate. I've been using it in the chicken tractor on steroids for a couple years and it's amazing, very low maintenance if you don't have chickens, as it is 50% sawdust/50% soy hull, with a few oats in there. I have let piles sit for literally months without turning or watering, and it makes the loamiest soil. Of course, you can always add scraps to it for extra heat, you just may need to turn it more frequently. if you have a mushroom farm in your area, definitely reach out to them and offer to pick up their spent blocks, just soak the hell of them as you're breaking them up, and you may even get a few bonus mushrooms in the process. Hope this helps, mush <3!

-bryce

Well done, Jen. As for pile turning, lifting and flipping can be very laborious because of all the weight. I usually re-pile instead of turning. I use a garden fork to remove the outer and bottom parts onto a tarp, fluff up the center portion and move onto another tarp. Then I establish the pile by reversing the positions. In doing so, the entire pile will be decomposed evenly in the end. Here is a graph from Cornell on the heat distribution inside a compost pile. compost heat

Bryce is so funny you recommended that post because it's the same guy. Maybe he changed his YouTube channel, or has more than one.  
I'm pretty sure the main difference is time, and effort. The 18 day compost is done faster, but a lot more flips, so more labor intensive. The method I'm doing makes sure the entire pile goes through the thermophilic process, then let's the pile cool and the worms, microbes, and all the other compost critters finish the process for you. It almost feels like a hybrid of hot and cold compost???
Thanks to everyone for all the great comments, they have been helpful and encouraging.

I watched the video Bryce recommended. I'm so glad I did because it always feels rude to refer to that guy, and now I know his name is William.
I think the video Bryce suggested is great for people who want extra support for compost. It's your typical compost video that leaves a lot of guess work for the viewer. The video I suggested is more for those of us who fail at compost. Though it's a pain to get 10 buckets (I didn't, but used the buckets I had to measure, and used what I had to hold the measured ingredients) It takes the guess work out of the browns and greens ratio. It's not unreasonably ridgid. I didn't have access to manure except chicken manure, and didn't want to try to get thousands of tiny piles of chicken poop, so I just added an extra bucket of greens to compensate for the missing manure. It seems to have worked fine.
Both are valuable videos. I would suggest if you totally suck at getting compost to heat, or can't get the carbon to nitrogen ratio correct, the compost video's William made as the permaculture consultant are a lot easier. He takes the guess work out of it.

DERP! I didn't actually watch the initial link you shared till now, but thanks for pointing that out. I've been off social media for over a year and missed William's new channel. He's blowing up, and for good reason! His dad Billy started the Permapastures channel and has been instrumental in Helene relief in the Asheville area, particularly in promoting the use of composting methods to neutralize toxins from the disaster. They are an awesome family, can't say enough good things about them. Glad you found him. Rot on!

A happy byproduct of this post is I've been pretty busy, and forgot when I turned my pile. Now I can see it was the 10th. Is been 135 to 145, so I guess I will turn it today after work.
Maybe for future piles I will make a flip chart, so if life gets busy I can keep track.