Stop turning it so much would be my best guess about why it doesn't seem hot. The really hot stage of compost often doesn't last very long so you might be just missing it the day or two after you add food scraps. A gallon of food scraps can heat up if mixed with some carbon materials and allowed some air (I found this out in my worm bin.)

Since you are saying it doesn't smell and seems to be breaking down, I'm guessing you probably have more high carbon material than you think.

We have a continous compost bin, which means we dig a hole in the hot top center, add new high nitrogen materials and cover over with high carbon materials like leaves. I have a compost Thermometer and we will start getting warm with far less than the cubic yard of material you are tallking about, our pile when still small is usually around 130 degrees F in the hot top center when new materials get added. Our pile gets minimal stirring as we don't turn it.

Here is a link that might be useful: Backyard Compost Thermometers

You can compost without heat. I wouldn't worry about it.

OF course, I don't turn my pile. If I turned my pile, and it wasn't heating up, I probably would add more greens.

I am too lazy to turn... and too lazy to worry about how hot it gets... and too cheap to buy a compost thermometer.

Is it moist? Rotting stops when the materials dry.

Karen

The dryness thing is key, so if I were worried about the heat of my pile I'd add greens and moisture.

If it's rotting and "looks great" I'd say it's probably not moisture. Add greens if you want.

I am an extremely lazy composter and consider a hot pile a delightful bonus. I get compost with or without it. Anybody would.

If it seems to be working and you aren't really worried about seeds/pathogens in your compost then it is fine, don't worry. If you are wanting hot compost to kill weed seeds or kill pathogens (say from composting things that the regular composting officials say you shouldn't,) then you want to heat it up and should get yourself a compost thermometer. If you are wanting "HOT" compost check out the following link.
http://www.weblife.org/humanure/default.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Humanure handbook

27 cubic feet of material is the bare minumum needed to generate any heat at all and in my experience that size seldom really does, however digestion will still occur just at a slower pace. To get the bacteria working and generating heat you really need everything in the most optimal state, the material just the right size for easy digestion, the most optimal C:N (30:1) ratio, and just enough but not too much moisture. There are stages and at each stage a different set of thermophilic bacteria are at work.
Most often I find people have their compost too wet for proper digestion, too dry is seldom what I see, because they have been told to really wet the material. compst material needs to be as wet as a well wrung sponge, almost dry to the touch and not really wet.

I keep reading that a cubic yard is the bare minimum to be able to generate heat. Fortunately, my 11 cu ft bin doesn't read this forum and nearly always gets above 150 and sometimes around 160 at least once in each composting cycle. Sometimes it stays hot enough that I get a batch of finished compost in about 3 weeks.

I have far more problems with the compost getting too dry than getting too wet, but I'm in the desert, so it's tough to keep things damp for long.

I'm with you, bpgreen. My little bin (13 cu.ft.) can be half full and get up to 150. It doesn't read this forum either.

I took this a few days ago.
{{gwi:288988}}

gratefulgardener: You might be getting more heat than you think. Only a thermometer will tell for sure.

Karen

bpgreen,
I too can get hot compost from much smaller volumes than a cu yard.

I do hope you are not using compost after only three weeks, at lest not around sensative plants. There are phytotoxins (something like that. Basically the byproducts of the microbes that cause the really hot composting.) that take time to cure and disapate from good compost before it should be thought "done" . The amount of time required after cooling may vary depending on the environment but I'd be suprised if compost that was 160 degrees is going to be cool after only 3 weeks let alone cured.

Hey all!
Thanks for all the replies and the info. I will keep at it and maybe relax a bit on my turning. I don't think I am going to get a thermometer since I'm getting some good looking soil (I will stay as low-tech as possible). I hope good humus is in everyone's future.