Packrat,
I checked your location, you don't have the "advantage" that we Northerners do. I use the main trunk line from my furnace for drying blanks in the winter. Burls furthest away from the furnace, easy drying blanks right next to the furnace. It's a real gentle way to dry the blanks. Each time the furnace comes on the blanks warm up, then cool off. Almost never any degrade when drying. They're going to get a lot of drying this weekend, temps to go below zero Sunday morning[:0]
I suggest that you cut them more like 1" square when wet. Some burl will twist like a pretzel from internal drying stresses. Some of the blanks (if cut 3/4 square) might not square up to a big enough dimension when dry.