Golly Gosh. Finally something here I know something about and could comment on and I've been gone all day to Portland.
I have an electric kiln with a computer controller I use to fire pottery at 1220C. I can set the controller to raise the temperature at a certain rate, say 300C per hour, hold at a certain temperature for a certain length of time then go higher or cool at a certain rate per hour.
At the higher temperatures the kiln can cool pretty quickly 1000C per hour and at lower temperature if it isn't cooling quickly enough I could pull out the peep plugs to let a little cool air circulate through. If you want a crash cool though you would have to pull whatever you're treating from the kiln.
Steve, are you getting any shelves and posts with your kiln? Kilns heat more uniformly if you have a shelf raised up at least above the lowest heating element and below the top element. Also leave at least a two element space between shelves if that is where you are going to put your part to be treated.
Kilns go through two distinct phases of heating. At lower temperatures most of the heating occurs by convection but once you get into the glowing object regime then most of the heating occurs by radiation. This means that if you are operating at the higher temperatures shadow effects can come into play and prevent a part from heating evenly. If you hold at a certain temperature the object will eventually obtain a uniform temperature though.
A word of caution, the Kanthal elements in electric kilns get very brittle after being heated to a high temperature so don't go poking them or trying to move them around. If when you get the kiln any elements seem out of place gently try to put them back where they belong before running the kiln. Also, the elements are dependent on an oxide coating for protection. You can create a reducing atmosphere in the kiln by including some wood or charcoal but you will be reducing their life span. If you do a reduction treatment it is best to next run the kiln in oxidation mode to let the coating reestablish itself.
If you have any problem with your Paragon kiln you can contact Arnold Howard who is Manager of Manufacturing (or something like that) and I'm sure he will do his best to help you out or answer any questions. He routinely writes on the ClayArt pottery e-mail list ( do a google).
Oh, BTW: Best way to cook turkey and bake bread is in a kiln due to the elements surrounding what you are baking. Hmmm, Hmmm, good. Nicely browned all the way around.
earl...