When asked how to dry wood in an oven, the most straightforward solution is to place the lumber in a dry environment. Yes, you are correct.
But another question arises, for how long? Now you see that’s the problem. This process is very slow. It can take weeks.
This is where your home kitchen oven can play a vital role. And why not? Even if you don’t have a kiln of your own, you can enhance the quality of the timber by drying it in your kitchen oven.
The Perks of Drying Wood in A Kitchen Oven
- This technique excludes any kind of drying effects that may be seen in other techniques.
- It enables you to save a significant amount of time.
- This approach eliminates the environment that allows mold to grow.
- Moisture imbalances between the borders and the center are much reduced.
- The heat from the oven destroys pests and larvae found in the wood
If you are looking to use dry lumbers for a certain job. You may want to use sample woods to ensure the intended result.
How to Dry Wood in An Oven
Step 1: Prepare your Oven
Prepare your oven racks in a way that after fitting the pieces of wood there are spaces for air to move.
Preheat the oven to 200 to 225 degrees F before beginning (95 to 110 degrees Celsius). 218 degrees Fahrenheit is the ideal temperature in this scenario.
Turn your conviction fan on if you have one.
Measure the moisture level of your wood. In this case, your target moisture content should be between 15-20%
Step 2: Add woods
Arrange the wood on the tray in a way that there are minimal gaps between the pieces. For burning purposes, you may need to portion big pieces into small ones (if necessary).
For drying firewood, minimal touching should occur.
Place pieces of wood perpendicular to the rack. You must be careful not to let little pieces slip through the spaces in the rack.
Bake your wood for at least one hour. Don’t leave the oven unsupervised for too much time. Wood ignition is a possibility.
Step 3: Drying Mechanism
Specifications:
- Item Weight: 5.6 ounces
- Product Dimensions: 5.55 x 9.5 x 1.4 inches
- Color: Grays
- Style: Digital Pin Type, Visual & Audible Alerts
- Voltage: 9 Volts
- Batteries Required: Yes
- Battery Cell Type: Zinc Carbon
- Warranty: 1 Year
Check the wood after an hour. Take a moisture meter reading to determine the moisture content.
If the moisture content is found, continue heating your wood for more than 15 minutes and recheck it.
Step 4: Preparing the Wood for Cooling and Drying
Remove pieces of wood from the oven and put them on the wire cooling racks to let it cool.
To remove the wood from the oven, get thick oven mitts. Thongs can be useful too.
Use a secure spot to cool the wood so that it does not cause a fire.
After the lumber has cooled down, please check the moisture content of the wood. If the moisture content is found, you may need to repeat the previous steps.
That’s how to dry wood quickly with a household oven. The kitchen oven is a useful tool to dry wood. It saves time while delivering excellent results.
But bear in mind that there are some limitations to this approach.
An example would be in the case of a large wood you may need to find an alternative solution. So, buying a kiln is not a bad idea after all.
At this moment maybe you are asking the question: How much time do I need? Well, the more wood you have, the more time you need to dry those woods. An efficient approach would be to collect an industrial kiln.
Is Your Wood Dry?
At this stage, you have followed all my guidelines. So, after that, you can easily tell if your wood is dried or not. The simplest method to know whether your wood is dried or not is to take the weight of the wood.
Dry wood is much lighter. Another option is to use color. The coloring of the wood will be lighter.
In some cases, you may notice cracks at the end of the wood after the heat.
Another simple way is clapping them together. This is exactly what it sounds like. You take two pieces of wood and clap them together. If it is dry, you will hear a hollow sound. Otherwise, it will be a dull sound.
Why Drying Wood is So Important
Too many people consider firewood the best tool to heat their homes. I think this is the greatest reason to dry wood. Because if you want to burn timber to heat your house, you’ll want to do it correctly with the right wood that is dry.
Dry wood produces a lot of heat compared to smoke. And it can burn much longer than wet timber.
Wet timber produces a lot of smoke but does not produce enough heat. Which is the main reason for burning wood.
Safety Measures:
As Drying wood involves heat and fire, we all have to be careful doing it. Here are a few points to bear in mind:
Specifications:
- Item Dimensions: 13 x 7 x 4 inches
- Fabric Type: 100% Polyester
- Size: Small
- Brand: Carhartt
- Color: Black
When removing the wood from the oven, use extreme caution. Use oven mitts or tongs that are thick. Work gloves with a lot of grips are recommended.
If you sense smoke, switch off the oven right away and keep the oven door shut. Initial smoke may lead to flames. So you should be careful about that.
Do not leave home when you are conducting the process.
In case of an emergency, a fire extinguisher can be a lot of help. But surely you must know the usage of it.
[IMPORTANT] If the oven catches fire, switch it off right away and let it burn out naturally. Call 911 and get out of the house if anything else happens. Don’t take any risks.
Conclusion:
The most common type of firewood used to heat their homes is dry wood. I discussed the importance, benefits, and mechanism of drying wood throughout this article.
I hope my guide helped you. Also, keep the safety measures in your mind while drying the wood.
There are numerous other techniques for drying wood. But I think this process will make your life easier. So, why not try that?
