How does the kiln drying process work?
Kiln drying is a better alternative to the standard practice of seasoning (i.e., air drying) firewood. If you’ve ever chopped your own firewood, you’re familiar with this process. It works by stacking freshly split wood and leaving it out until it’s dry enough to burn. This usually takes at least six months.
Our kiln drying process is a speedier and more effective way to remove moisture from wood. Once we split the wood, we place the pieces inside a large kiln. We then heat the kiln to 265°F and leave the wood in it for 36 hours. That super-hot enclosed environment removes most of the moisture from the wood so that it comes out of the kiln with a moisture content of below 20%. We always inspect the wood with a moisture meter to ensure each batch is below that 20% threshold.
So, as you can see, the kiln drying process makes it much quicker to dry wood. But more importantly, it also ensures a more consistent quality of firewood than seasoning. Seasoning will rarely get the wood down below that 20% threshold. Plus, the kiln drying process purifies the wood of all insects, mold and fungus. In contrast, seasoning only puts the wood at risk of infestation.