[Mr. Deeds]

I have never had to bake-out a hearing mantle before as I have only ever worked with used ones and hot plates.  I purchased a new one and the instructions are not very great (they are in a different language because I went the cheap route for the heating mantle).

The instructions say to turn it on until white smoke from the grease coating the mantle appears and then to turn off and repeat until the grease is burned off.

Is there a reason for the continuous heating  and cooling of the mantle? I read that it is standard practice to just keep it on until it is burned off while keeping an RBF containing water in it to prevent overheating of the coils.

What is the general consensus in regards to baking out a new mantle?