When the internal temperature matched the outside air, Elias unclasped the latch.
: Controlled heat (typically using steam pipes or furnace systems) increases the rate of evaporation from the wood's surface.
But Elias saw the victory. He had taken something that was rotting, wet, and transient, and he had fossilized it. He had baked the life out of it to give it an afterlife.
He began the cool-down. He killed the heat but left the fans running. He waited. For two days, the kiln slowly surrendered its fever.
