Drying wood

[Passepartout]

We always see kiln-dried timbers in shops. Just wondering as it is currently quite cold outside if anyone has ever tried to develop a method for freeze-drying timber

 

[ajstoneservices]

Given some of the food on sale I guess it's been done.

 

[joinerjohn]

Don't think it could be done. The water in the wood would freeze, but when it thawed out the water would still be in the timber.
Nice idea though

Edit, just had a look how the process works... You could be on to a winner, Passepartout.
Better get some copyright on that, before someone else.

 

[RigidRaider]

The idea of freeze drying is that it's done under vacuum, lowering the boiling point of the water so that it evaporates off without the need for heat to drive it off. I imagine the need for a deep vacuum would make it a costly operation.

The firm I work for does freeze-dried flavours for tea; the liquid flavour is put in a vacuum chamber and the water dries out without the need for heat, which would drive off the volatile topnotes of the flavour. The resulting cake looks just like the inside of a crunchy bar; it is then broken up into granules, which is exactly how your coffee granules are made. The stability of the flavour in storage is excellent when it's done this way.