Logging a burn test
How to record a burn test, what each measurement means, and how Ellie reads your notes to tell you whether the wick passed or needs sizing up or down.
A burn test is how you find out whether a candle actually works — the right wick reaches a full melt pool, throws its scent, and burns clean. Hi Ellie gives you a place to record each burn and turns your notes into a clear verdict on the wick.
You reach the burn test from a completed candle batch — once a batch is finished, open it and choose Burn test. Cure the candle first: a fresh soy or coconut candle almost always smells weak, so give it one to two weeks before you judge it.
Pick the wick candidates
Start by choosing which wick (or wicks) you're testing. Because dialing in a candle is a process of sizing up or down, you'll often test two side by side. Only wicks in your pantry appear here, so keep a couple of sizes on the shelf.
Record each burn
Light the candle and, for each burn session, record what you see:
- Burn duration — how long it burned this session.
- Melt pool diameter — how wide the pool reached, at the wall.
- Flame height — a rough measure of how the flame is behaving.
- Mushrooming, tunneling, soot — the three warning signs, noted as you see them.
The guide to aim for: a candle should reach a full, even melt pool — all the way to the glass — on the first burn, roughly one hour per inch of vessel diameter. A partial first burn is what starts tunneling, and it compounds on every burn after.
The session read
Alongside the per-burn notes, record the overall read:
- Hot throw — how strongly it scents the room while lit.
- Cold throw — how it smells unlit.
- Burn rate — grams of wax consumed per hour (weigh before and after).
- Full-melt time and melt-pool depth — how long to a full pool, and how deep.
Your verdict, and Ellie's
Two judgments live side by side, and they're deliberately separate:
- Your outcome — Pass, Needs adjustment, or Fail — is what you concluded at the bench.
- Ellie's recommendation — passed, size up, size down, or change series — is worked out from the numbers you recorded (melt pool, mushrooming, tunneling, soot), not guessed. Tap "Ellie, what does this say?" to get it.
The two usually agree; when they don't, trust your eyes on the candle and treat Ellie's read as a second opinion grounded in the measurements.
Tip: trim the wick to about 1/4 inch before every burn — a long or curled wick will mushroom and soot no matter how well-sized it is, and it'll skew the test.
Print a blank sheet
If you'd rather record at the bench on paper, use Print sheet to get a blank recording sheet for the batch, then enter the numbers afterward.
Once a wick passes, mark it as the recipe's wick so the next batch starts from what worked.