A method for defining effective schedules for kiln drying of wood is presented. The method is designed in such a way that it proposes an optimized variation of temperature and humidity which yields the minimum total drying time, with the condition that the moisture content and the deformation not exceed specified limits after the drying and that the stress not exceeds a specified level at any time during the drying process in order to avoid crack development. To demonstrate the capability of the optimization method numerical results are presented. It should be noted that ill this first approach, drying starts from moisture content corresponding to the fibre-saturation point, i.e. approximate to 30%).