A carbon baking furnace has at least one vertical baking shaft with a system and method for positioning green carbon bodies to be baked at the top of the vertical baking path and ringing the green carbon bodies with a sacrificial medium such as packing coke. The disclosure provides a system and method for controlling the delivery and removal of the sacrificial medium used to surround the carbon bodies within the baking paths. A volatile extraction system and method are provided. A system and method for unloading baked carbon bodies is disclosed.