Abstract: An apparatus and method for drying organic and other waste materials such as industrial by products, agricultural and animal wastes, blood and manure. A round, flat bottom substantially closed pan with a double-wall bottom and side forming a jacket and having a paddle-type agitator receives the material to be dried. Heat is provided by a gas-fired incinerator which preheats air that is admitted to the pan and then drawn into and combusted in the incinerator together with gases and moisture evolved from the material being dried. The incinerator's combustion products are passed through the pan jacket to heat the material being dried and are then vented through a chimney.