Industrial steaming of sawn wood is a process in which wood is exposed to saturated water vapor, with the most common goal being color change. However, mating targets may also include reducing the hygroscopicity of the wood, equalizing the moisture content of the material before artificial drying, softening the wood for later processing or bending and sterilization. The results in terms of these goals are crucially influenced by the duration of steaming, the applied temperature, as well as the steam pressure. Color change, as the most common goal, is usually attributed to the hydrolysis of extracts and polyphenolic compounds that occur during mating.
