# Furnace vs blast furnace vs smoker in Minecraft

Canonical: https://crafting.recipes/guides/smelting

Use a **furnace for general smelting**, a **blast furnace for ores and smeltable metal gear**, and a **smoker for food**. When the recipe fits, a blast furnace or smoker finishes it twice as fast. Keep a normal furnace for materials such as glass and smooth stone.

## Which station should you use?

| Station | Works with | Won’t work with | Typical recipe time |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| [Furnace](/items/furnace.md) | Raw iron, raw beef, sand, stone | — | 10 seconds |
| [Blast Furnace](/items/blast-furnace.md) | Raw iron, iron tools, gold armor | Raw beef, sand, stone | 5 seconds |
| [Smoker](/items/smoker.md) | Raw beef, potatoes, kelp | Raw iron, sand, stone | 5 seconds |

A furnace can make everything a blast furnace or smoker can, but takes twice as long. A blast furnace or smoker saves time, but uses fuel twice as fast, so one piece of coal still cooks the same number of items. The [smelting](/recipes/smelting.md), [blasting](/recipes/blasting.md), and [smoking](/recipes/smoking.md) lists show what each station can make.

## Make the stations

Place eight cobblestone around an empty center to make a furnace. The recipe below also lists the other stone blocks you can use.

## Craft [Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/furnace.md)

Use: [Crafting Table](https://crafting.recipes/items/crafting-table.md).

**Output:** 1 × [Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/furnace.md)

### Crafting grid (3 × 3)

```text
+---+---+---+
| A | A | A |
+---+---+---+
| A |   | A |
+---+---+---+
| A | A | A |
+---+---+---+
```

### Ingredients

- **A** — 8 × any of ([Blackstone](https://crafting.recipes/items/blackstone.md), [Cobbled Deepslate](https://crafting.recipes/items/cobbled-deepslate.md), [Cobblestone](https://crafting.recipes/items/cobblestone.md)).

A blast furnace needs one furnace, five iron ingots, and three smooth stone blocks. Use smooth stone blocks, not slabs.

## Craft [Blast Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/blast-furnace.md)

Use: [Crafting Table](https://crafting.recipes/items/crafting-table.md).

**Output:** 1 × [Blast Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/blast-furnace.md)

### Crafting grid (3 × 3)

```text
+---+---+---+
| A | A | A |
+---+---+---+
| A | B | A |
+---+---+---+
| C | C | C |
+---+---+---+
```

### Ingredients

- **A** — 5 × [Iron Ingot](https://crafting.recipes/items/iron-ingot.md)
- **B** — 1 × [Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/furnace.md)
- **C** — 3 × [Smooth Stone](https://crafting.recipes/items/smooth-stone.md)

Surround a furnace with four logs to make a smoker. Bark-covered wood blocks, stripped logs, and Nether stems or hyphae also work; planks don’t.

## Craft [Smoker](https://crafting.recipes/items/smoker.md)

Use: [Crafting Table](https://crafting.recipes/items/crafting-table.md).

**Output:** 1 × [Smoker](https://crafting.recipes/items/smoker.md)

### Crafting grid (3 × 3)

```text
+---+---+---+
|   | A |   |
+---+---+---+
| A | B | A |
+---+---+---+
|   | A |   |
+---+---+---+
```

### Ingredients

- **A** — 4 × any of ([Acacia Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/acacia-log.md), [Acacia Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/acacia-wood.md), [Birch Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/birch-log.md), [Birch Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/birch-wood.md), [Cherry Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/cherry-log.md), [Cherry Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/cherry-wood.md), [Crimson Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/crimson-hyphae.md), [Crimson Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/crimson-stem.md), [Dark Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/dark-oak-log.md), [Dark Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/dark-oak-wood.md), [Jungle Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/jungle-log.md), [Jungle Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/jungle-wood.md), [Mangrove Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/mangrove-log.md), [Mangrove Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/mangrove-wood.md), [Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/oak-log.md), [Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/oak-wood.md), [Pale Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/pale-oak-log.md), [Pale Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/pale-oak-wood.md), [Spruce Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/spruce-log.md), [Spruce Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/spruce-wood.md), [Stripped Acacia Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-acacia-log.md), [Stripped Acacia Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-acacia-wood.md), [Stripped Birch Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-birch-log.md), [Stripped Birch Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-birch-wood.md), [Stripped Cherry Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-cherry-log.md), [Stripped Cherry Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-cherry-wood.md), [Stripped Crimson Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-crimson-hyphae.md), [Stripped Crimson Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-crimson-stem.md), [Stripped Dark Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-dark-oak-log.md), [Stripped Dark Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-dark-oak-wood.md), [Stripped Jungle Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-jungle-log.md), [Stripped Jungle Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-jungle-wood.md), [Stripped Mangrove Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-mangrove-log.md), [Stripped Mangrove Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-mangrove-wood.md), [Stripped Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-oak-log.md), [Stripped Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-oak-wood.md), [Stripped Pale Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-pale-oak-log.md), [Stripped Pale Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-pale-oak-wood.md), [Stripped Spruce Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-spruce-log.md), [Stripped Spruce Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-spruce-wood.md), [Stripped Warped Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-warped-hyphae.md), [Stripped Warped Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-warped-stem.md), [Warped Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/warped-hyphae.md), [Warped Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/warped-stem.md)).
- **B** — 1 × [Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/furnace.md)

## How to make smooth stone

1. Put [Cobblestone](/items/cobblestone.md) in a normal furnace’s upper input slot.
2. Put fuel, such as [Coal](/items/coal.md), in the lower slot. Collect the resulting [Stone](/items/stone.md).
3. Put the stone back into the upper slot and smelt it again to make [Smooth Stone](/items/smooth-stone.md).

Already have stone? Smelt it once. You’ll need three smooth stone blocks for a blast furnace, plus the furnace itself. Keep using the normal furnace until those blocks are ready.

## Why won’t my furnace start?

Check the station first: raw food will not cook in a blast furnace, and ore will not smelt in a smoker. Place the ingredient above the fuel, use a supported fuel, and make space in the output slot. A full output slot or an incompatible item already in it can stop processing.

An empty fuel slot is fine while the furnace is still burning. Add more fuel when that runs out.

Use your first iron ingots for a new tool with the [pickaxe guide](/guides/pickaxe.md), or prepare scraps for a [netherite upgrade](/guides/netherite-upgrade.md).