How to Craft, Find, and Use a Blast Furnace in Minecraft

Smelting in Minecraft is like smelting in real life — efficiency is key to getting plenty of the end product. To get enough ingots from ore quickly, you must use a fast-processing station (a workstation block in-game) to convert all your resources on the spot. If the smithing table is the workstation for instantly turning basic gear into their strongest versions, the blast furnace in Minecraft is the block for quickly smelting resources into useable materials.

In this article, we are putting the spotlight on the latter workstation. Read on so you can be a pro smelter in-game who knows how to make or find and utilize the blast furnace to your advantage.

How Does a Blast Furnace Work?

If you have spent a few hours already in the sandbox game, you’re probably asking “I have a furnace so why do I need a blast furnace?” We are going to answer this by discussing how the two blocks work.

Let’s first tackle the basic furnace (stone block with fireplace-like opening). The furnace is a block that smelts gold, iron, copper, diamond, emerald, and other raw materials and ores into ingots. It also processes some unconventional crafting resources: ancient debris into Netherite scraps, lapiz lazuli ore into lapiz lazuli, or tools and armor into other items, to mention a few. It can also cook some consumable ingredients. These can be achieved provided you supply the workstation with coal, charcoal, lava buckets, blaze rods, kelp blocks, or even nontraditional fuel sources. For every furnace smelting attempt, your Minecraft character accumulates experience (XP).

Meanwhile, the blast furnace (stone block with front grills) does the same job as the furnace. But if the furnace can churn out one product in 10 seconds, the blast furnace can do so in five. There are tradeoffs, though. You consume fuel fast and get less experience than what you get from a furnace.

Also, it is the only block that can make your jobless villagers armorers. All you need to do is place the blast furnace near a villager, and wait for it to be claimed by the character. After that, you will be able to do Minecraft villager trades with the armorer to get his or her exclusive offers.

Making a Blast Furnace in Minecraft from Scratch

Like the Minecraft grindstone and other utility or workstation blocks in the game, a blast furnace has a recipe. If you are playing on survival mode, that means it will take some time and effort to make yourself one. Let’s get you prepared, shall we? Here’s everything you need to have and do to craft a blast furnace in Minecraft’s Bedrock Edition.

Get or Create a Furnace First

The blast furnace in Minecraft is the better version of the furnace, so it is no surprise that the latter is one of the ingredients. You can steal a furnace from weaponsmith houses in the plains, or desert, savanna, or snowy tundra biomes. Once found, hit the block with a pickaxe and you are good to go.

But because the said houses might be a chore to find, we suggest just creating the furnace from scratch. For that, gather eight cobblestones, cobbled deepslates, or blackstones (they’re common) in the game’s world, then place all of those on your 3×3 crafting grid. Leave the center slot empty. You should be able to drag the crafted furnace from the output slot to your inventory afterward.

Gather 5 Iron Ingots and 3 Smooth Stones

Got the basic furnace already? It is time to prepare the other materials. Up next on the task list is to dig for iron ores. Furthermore, smelt those ores into five iron ingots by putting them in a fueled furnace. You should also mine from stone blocks some cobblestones. The cobblestones need to be smelted into three smooth stones using the same workstation.

If you are short on materials, gather more of the said resources and repeat the processing methods you did. You can also try looting chests if you have the time. You might be lucky to find some of the materials already.

Craft the Blast Furnace

Are all the blast furnace ingredients in your Minecraft checklist ticked? If you indeed have everything needed, let us now try making the workstation.

Here is the exact procedure for your reference:
1. Access your character’s 3×3 crafting grid.
2. Drag from your inventory three smooth stones into all three bottom slots of the grid.
3. Place the basic furnace at the center slot of the crafting grid.
4. Put the five iron ingots in the remaining empty slots of the interface.
*Your 3×3 grid should look like the one in this photo.

5. Wait for the blast furnace to appear on the output slot to the right of the grid.
6. From the interface, drag the said workstation to your storage.
7. Set the block on the ground or in any place you want to use it.

How to Find a Blast Furnace in Minecraft

If the basic furnace can be found in the Minecraft world, does it mean the blast furnace is hidden in some villager houses, too? Yes, that is correct. If you visit armorer homes, there is likely a blast furnace in some of those. To sneak the said block out of a house, hit it with your pickaxe.

Make sure you do so out of the owner’s line of sight or when no one is using the block. If you steal the blast furnace and accidentally hit the villager, the character can get upset with you. Remember, villagers will make you pay skyrocketing prices during trades when they are still mad. So, be careful not to trigger their anger if you think you still need their services. Just in case you need to calm them down, staying away from them for a while should work.

How to Smelt Using a Blast Furnace in Minecraft

Got or made a blast furnace in Minecraft already? You’re ready for our next tutorial. This time, you are going to learn how to smelt things using the block.

As mentioned, a Minecraft blast furnace can process ores and gear into something more useful for you. Note that when it comes to the latter, it is only armor and tools made of iron, chainmail, or gold that is accepted by the workstation’s interface, though.

Here is how to smelt using a blast furnace in Minecraft:
1. Approach the blast furnace you set on the ground and access its interface.
2. Place some fuel on the slot below the smoke icon.
3. Put the resource or raw material on the slot above the smoke icon.
*Your blast furnace interface in Minecraft should be filled like the one in this image.

4. Wait for the smoke icon to light up, which means the blast furnace is already working.
5. Drag the output item from the rightmost slot to your storage slots.

Congratulations! You have now smelted your first ingot or special material using a Minecraft blast furnace. If the know-how about the blast furnace is the last one you need when it comes to utilizing in-game workstations, then you are a crafting expert now. Pat yourself on the back! If not, there are still reasons to rejoice, like getting one step closer to becoming a pro and having a new way to have fun in the game.

Unconventional Uses of a Minecraft Blast Furnace

The fun in Minecraft does not stop with crafting your workstations. That is why players have gone creative, finding new applications for all blocks. Here, we share some of the most unconventional uses of a blast furnace in Minecraft, which you can try yourself.

1. Substitute for Stone Flooring

You know you are free to use anything to your imagination when crafting in Minecraft, right? So, there should be nothing stopping you from getting a bit more creative than usual, too. Try using the blast furnace to change your boring stone floor pattern. It is great for customized dungeons, castles, forts, and any other stone structures you might have in mind.

2. Lighting That Induces a Real Workshop Ambiance

The burning fire peeking through the Minecraft blast furnace’s grills is great as a warm light source. So, why not induce an underground workshop or mining site ambiance using one or more blast furnaces? Feel like a real smelter working up a sweat by having the blocks as the centerpiece of the themed room. You can even pair those with the smithing table, anvil, and other blocks for the ultimate workshop or mining site setup.

3. Instrument for Hitting the Low Notes

Music becomes more immersive when there are bass or drum sounds, agree? If yes, you will love that your blast furnace can let you hit those low notes when a note block is placed on top of it. A note block is a block that produces a distinct sound when hit and another block is underneath it. It is made by placing nine planks around Redstone Dust on your 3×3 crafting grid.

Are Blast Furnaces Worth it in Minecraft?

Not yet sure whether you will be pushing through or not with making the blast furnace in Minecraft? Let us grab this opportunity to encourage you to do it. Maybe you are not a heavy smelter in-game, so you are good with your basic furnace. However, having a blast furnace is worth it. It lets you maximize your sandbox experience.

With the blast furnace, you can quickly get materials for the best types of gear that could slay or defend against Minecraft mobs. You also won’t miss the rare items offered by an armorer, who you can approach easily if you let him or her take on the role via the block. Moreover, the blast furnace might be the best-textured block for your stone structure or the right note to complete your greatest music ensemble in Minecraft. So, give it a try. Who knows? You might unexpectedly enjoy it.

Have a Blast Smelting!

The blast furnace in Minecraft has been useful in various ways for many players of the sandbox game. We think it should be among your must-have utility blocks. Having the blast furnace with the other workstations has a perk – a smooth and fast crafting experience that lets you be an expert in the core mechanic of the game. Moreover, using it in new ways makes your gameplay more fun and immersive.

Now going back to your blocky world to craft the blast furnace? Have a blast smelting and share with us your experience!