A method of kiln drying timber in a kiln chamber by directing a restricted jet of hot air or gas over timbers in the stack and cyclically varying the direction of the jet in order to play the heated air or gas over the whole of the stack. A kiln for performing the method comprises a generally cylindrical kiln chamber having an elongate nozzle along one wall parallel to the axis of the cylinder and pivotable about an axis parallel to the axis of the cylinder; a group of fans arranged in a row parallel to the axis of the chamber draws gas or air from within the chamber and directs it along conduits one surface of which is a heat exchange surface to the nozzle where it is directed back into the kiln chamber. The heat exchange surface of the conduits may be heated in any known way, by means of heaters or by forming it as one surface of a water jacket.