# Furnace vs blast furnace vs smoker in Minecraft

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

Minecraft 26.3.

Updated September 15, 2026

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.

For the update’s fuel values, bucket automation and data pack changes, see [Minecraft 26.3 furnace changes](/guides/minecraft-26-3-furnace-changes.md).

## Fuel in Minecraft 26.3

In blast furnaces and smokers, the fuels below burn twice as fast and cook twice as fast. Each cooks the same number of items in all three stations.

| Fuel | Items cooked per fuel |
| - | - |
| [Coal](/items/coal.md) | 8 |
| [Blaze Rod](/items/blaze-rod.md) | 12 |
| [Block of Coal](/items/coal-block.md) | 80 |
| [Lava Bucket](/items/lava-bucket.md) | 100 |

These totals assume continuous cooking with enough input and room for the output. Fuel keeps burning during a pause, so feed large batches with hoppers to avoid wasting it.

### Lava buckets and automatic furnaces

A lava bucket leaves an [empty Bucket](/items/bucket.md) in the fuel slot when its fuel is consumed. It does not normally throw the bucket onto the ground. A [Hopper](/items/hopper.md) underneath can collect the empty bucket as well as cooked items; a hopper at the side supplies more fuel. Make sure the output hopper and its storage have space for both.

## 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)
>
> #### Crafting
>
> Use: [Crafting Table](https://crafting.recipes/items/crafting-table.md).
>
> **Output:** 1 × [Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/furnace.md)
>
> **Arrangement:** Shaped
>
> Crafting grid (3 × 3)
>
> ```text
> +---+---+---+
> | A | A | A |
> +---+---+---+
> | A |   | A |
> +---+---+---+
> | A | A | A |
> +---+---+---+
> ```
>
> ##### Ingredients
>
> - **A** — 8 × any of ([Cobblestone](https://crafting.recipes/items/cobblestone.md), [Cobbled Deepslate](https://crafting.recipes/items/cobbled-deepslate.md), [Blackstone](https://crafting.recipes/items/blackstone.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)
>
> #### Crafting
>
> Use: [Crafting Table](https://crafting.recipes/items/crafting-table.md).
>
> **Output:** 1 × [Blast Furnace](https://crafting.recipes/items/blast-furnace.md)
>
> **Arrangement:** Shaped
>
> 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)
>
> #### Crafting
>
> Use: [Crafting Table](https://crafting.recipes/items/crafting-table.md).
>
> **Output:** 1 × [Smoker](https://crafting.recipes/items/smoker.md)
>
> **Arrangement:** Shaped
>
> Crafting grid (3 × 3)
>
> ```text
> +---+---+---+
> |   | A |   |
> +---+---+---+
> | A | B | A |
> +---+---+---+
> |   | A |   |
> +---+---+---+
> ```
>
> ##### Ingredients
>
> - **A** — 4 × any of ([Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/oak-log.md), [Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/oak-wood.md), [Stripped Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-oak-log.md), [Stripped Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-oak-wood.md), [Spruce Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/spruce-log.md), [Spruce Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/spruce-wood.md), [Stripped Spruce Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-spruce-log.md), [Stripped Spruce Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-spruce-wood.md), [Birch Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/birch-log.md), [Birch Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/birch-wood.md), [Stripped Birch Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-birch-log.md), [Stripped Birch Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-birch-wood.md), [Jungle Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/jungle-log.md), [Jungle Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/jungle-wood.md), [Stripped Jungle Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-jungle-log.md), [Stripped Jungle Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-jungle-wood.md), [Acacia Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/acacia-log.md), [Acacia Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/acacia-wood.md), [Stripped Acacia Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-acacia-log.md), [Stripped Acacia Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-acacia-wood.md), [Dark Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/dark-oak-log.md), [Dark Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/dark-oak-wood.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), [Mangrove Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/mangrove-log.md), [Mangrove Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/mangrove-wood.md), [Stripped Mangrove Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-mangrove-log.md), [Stripped Mangrove Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-mangrove-wood.md), [Cherry Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/cherry-log.md), [Cherry Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/cherry-wood.md), [Stripped Cherry Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-cherry-log.md), [Stripped Cherry Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-cherry-wood.md), [Pale Oak Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/pale-oak-log.md), [Pale Oak Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/pale-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), [Poplar Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/poplar-log.md), [Poplar Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/poplar-wood.md), [Stripped Poplar Log](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-poplar-log.md), [Stripped Poplar Wood](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-poplar-wood.md), [Crimson Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/crimson-stem.md), [Crimson Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/crimson-hyphae.md), [Stripped Crimson Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-crimson-stem.md), [Stripped Crimson Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-crimson-hyphae.md), [Warped Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/warped-stem.md), [Warped Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/warped-hyphae.md), [Stripped Warped Stem](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-warped-stem.md), [Stripped Warped Hyphae](https://crafting.recipes/items/stripped-warped-hyphae.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.

## 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.