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I recently bought a kiln with a downdraft venting system, with the intention of using it to facilitate the drying of plaster/silica molds. I've noticed that I seem to have more mold cracking and I'm wondering if the vent system is drying the mold out too fast. I have been making lost wax castings and pre-firing to burn out excess wax, with hold times at 200, 350 and 1100. Would it help to reduce my hold times at these points to compensate for the venting airflow?

Any advice would be appreciated. Thanks!

If you've been to Linda's studio you should know how to dry molds.
Speed kills but another factor may be your mixing of the materials.
If you can find an Odjob mixer that is used and clean, it could assist in mixing the dry materials perfectly.
The odjobs seem to no longer be available for sale so you need to find the equivalent.
The perfect mixing of the dry raw materials was a consistent requirement to obtain good molds in Angela Thwaite's mixing study for mold making.
You may think it is evenly mixed but it often will not be.

Thank you for your reply.