To provide a lime baking furnace and its operation method capable of performing more homogeneous baking, lowering specific heat consumption and reducing equipment cost and operation cost of exhaust gas dust collecting equipment.

This packed bed type single cylinder lime baking furnace provided with a plurality of heating burners 9 on an outer peripheral part of a furnace body 1 in which lime stone is charged, comprises a core part exhaust gas duct 2 for sucking a gas flowing in a core part, a furnace inner peripheral part exhaust gas duct 3 for sucking a gas flowing in a furnace inner peripheral part, a thermometer T3 for measuring a temperature of a mixed gas of the gas sucked by the core part exhaust gas duct and the gas sucked by the furnace inner peripheral part exhaust gas duct, and exhaust gas dampers V1, V2 as flow rate adjusting means for controlling a flow rate of the gas sucked by the core part exhaust gas duct and the gas sucked by the furnace inner peripheral part exhaust gas duct to minimize the temperature of the mixed gas measured by the thermometer T3.