William R. Watt wrote:

Old dry wood has to soak up moisture before it can be heated to bend.

Not in my experience. I've seen no difference in bending between dry
stock and the same stock that's been soaked in water for days or even
weeks. It's the heat that makes the wood bend-able, not the moisture.
Steaming is simply a way of heating the wood rapidly to the correct
temperature for bending, which - luckily for us - happens to be around
the boiling point of water.