Players of Minecraft who haven’t been keeping up with the latest updates may be unaware of some recent features introduced in the patches. For instance, campfires serve as an excellent method for cooking food during the early stages of the game and are also a handy signaling tool. Additionally, scaffolding aids in constructing various complex structures more efficiently while in survival mode.
Today, we will discuss the blast furnace, which has been upgraded to a more powerful and faster version in a recent update. While it isn’t suitable for all materials, after a long and exhausting session mining iron ore, you can easily smelt it into iron ingots using the blast furnace.
Blast furnaces were introduced in the Minecraft update titled “Village and Pillage” at the beginning of 2019. They smelt ores, tools, and armor almost similarly to regular furnaces. The key feature of blast furnaces is that the smelting process takes half the time. They convert large quantities of iron and gold ore into perfect ingots at a speed that feels like tomorrow will never come.
Smelting furnaces consume fuel at twice the rate, but since their melting speed also doubles, the overall consumption matches that of regular furnaces. Additionally, you can still use a hopper to extract and insert items. Perhaps the most significant drawback of smelting furnaces is that they yield about half the experience compared to standard ones.
You can acquire smelting furnaces in two ways. The first method involves visiting a village and locating the blacksmith’s house that contains this furnace. Sneak up on it, strike with your pickaxe, and return home knowing you’ve just robbed an innocent person.
If you’re feeling guilty about stealing from kind, defenseless villagers, you can take some time to craft a smelting furnace yourself. To do this, find three smooth stones and place them in the bottom row of the crafting grid. In the center, there should be a regular furnace, and the remaining five slots should contain iron ingots. Gather, place, and craft! A smelting furnace is quick, inexpensive, and most importantly—honest! 
In the real world, smelting furnaces are also utilized. In English, they are referred to as “blast furnaces“, derived from the word “blast” meaning to blow air. The concept is that these furnaces forcefully inject air into the firebox, significantly increasing the internal temperature. The primary development phase for these furnaces occurred during the Industrial Revolution (18th-19th centuries). However, earlier versions have been found; in China, smelting furnaces dating back to the first century AD were powered by horses, humans, and water wheels.
In the West, blast furnaces began to be extensively utilized during the Middle Ages. This was largely due to the fact that iron cannons became an essential component of warfare. The advent of the steam engine in the 18th century allowed Britain to smelt vast quantities of iron in its foundries, which subsequently contributed to the expansion of railway networks throughout the British Empire. Furthermore, many of these facilities are still in operation today.
Blast furnaces continue to play a crucial role in iron production. The largest one currently exists in South Korea, boasting a volume of 6,000 cubic meters and an output exceeding 5,000,000 tons of iron annually.
