An apparatus for cooling a continuous casting machine during the preliminary stages of casting molten metal, in which coolant is sprayed at a relatively low velocity onto the external surfaces of the flexible band and casting wheel which form the mold into which the molten metal is poured. The coolant is applied at the relatively low velocity prior to and during the initial pouring of the molten metal, and when the operator of the casting machine has established a proper constant level of molten metal in the mold and the hazard of splashing and explosion of the molten metal has been reduced, the coolant is applied at increased velocities and volumes and the rate of casting the molten metal is increased.