Purchase a good moisture meter, not the kind that you just pass over the wood, but with longer prongs that you jab or pound in. Some meters have a pounder set up in the handle.
If you want to dry wood quickly, turn it into slabs or lumber that has enough thickness to cover warp after it dries and you want to use it. If you want the most stable material, initially dry it in cants or very thick slabs, then resaw after losing some moisture, say after a year or so, depends on thickness, and time of year when cut, etc. Edges or not, I don't think it makes much difference, as long as the bark is removed to not attract bugs. Wood looses almost all it's moisture through the end grain.
One year per inch of thickness is a good rule of thumb, but it varies somewhat with species and location. Figure not to look at it for the year per thickness, then take it from there.
Some woods are easy to dry, like Black Walnut, dries rather quickly and free of warp. Other woods move around more, say like Sycamore or a lot of the fruit woods. Something to take into consideration when deciding thickness to mill.
