Question about Cooking the Super Soil

read subcools 2009 high times article about Super Soil and was confused about the cooking part. Is this done by covering the soil? or leaving it exposed to the air?

I assume that i leave it covered that more bad bacteria will be produced than beneficial right?

How do you guys bake/cook your soil? I use a compost bin that gives me the option of aerating by opening little slats with holes in them. Should i leave them open or closed for these 30 days of cooking?

thanks,

Subcool has a sticky on his supersoil recipe in his organic section, happy reading.

https://www.rollitup.org/subcools-old-school-organics/338384-2010-revised-super-soil-recipe.html

this doesn't answer my question. i know the recipe. his directions say cook in the sunshine but that doesn't tell me if i need to cover it or not.

I have some cooking now in a barrel.. It has the lid on. 1 hole in the lid about 3 inches in diameter. Been 4 days sitting & I see a web of white stuff on the top.

I am going to allow mine to sit for 5-6wks. It gets around 40 degrees @ night here.

Covered or not it needs air.

The cans I use all have holes in them. No air=bad bacteria.

Wet

The longer the soil cooks and stay moist the better not wet but moist. keepem green dirrtyd

I cook it with the lid on but i open it every once in a while and turn it. I prefer the lid to reduce fungus gnats or whatever else might want to crawl in there.

I keep mine with the lids on, not air tight by any means, just loosely on top.

cooking it just means letting it sit and having the microbes breaking down the organic matter. They say cooking because the microbial activity actually creates heat within the pile. You know a compost/soil is done cooking when it stops producing heat, but to even get this heat going you'll need at least 3 cubic feet of matter to get the critical mass big enough to get it started.
It is highly recommended to stir the pile every other week to get fresh air in... You can let it sit covered but you definitely want to turn it. The microbes in the soil need little moisture to stay alive so be sure not to get it too wet which would prevent airflow and creating a good environment for bad microbes "anaerobic".
I like wetting down my piles with an organic tea and a little bit of blackstrap molasses to get everything going real good.
A white layer of fungi on the surface is a great sign.

So yes, you can cook it covered but be sure to turn it often to keep fresh air throughout the pile.
With your bin having slates I guess Id open a few but turning the pile is important in making sure the pile is evenly decomposed.

ps: Id go ahead and use his revised recipe if you can get all of the ingredients.