Lynn Smythe
How to Dry Fresh Herbs
November 11th 2008 19:05
My article, How To Dry Fresh Herbs; Using the Microwave, Air, Food Dehydrators and Ovens to Keep Herbs, first appeared on the Suite101 website on November 1st, 2007. Over one year has passed since the article was first published online. I am now free to submit the article to other sites.
Article Overview
Herbs such as Bay, Marjoram, Oregano, Rosemary, Sage and Thyme all work well when dried. Harvest and store summer herbs using these methods
Mid-morning is the best time of day to collect fresh herb leaves. If they are harvested too early in the morning, the leaves may still have dew covering them. When harvested later in the day, the heat may be too intense and cause the herbs to wilt before they are brought inside. After picking the herbs, brush off any speaks of dirt or debris and check for any stray insects.
Many of the soft-stem herbs such as chives, chervil, basil, borage, mint, parsley, salad burnet, summer savory and tarragon, lose most of their flavor when dried and should be used fresh whenever possible. However, many other herbs such as bay, marjoram, oregano, rosemary, sage and thyme, which have woody stems, can successfully be dried for longer term storage. To dry herb leaves there are a number of methods that can be employed.
Air Drying
Gather the stems of the herbs together into a bundle. Wrap the bottom of the bundle either with string or a rubber band. Hang the bundle of herbs upside down, indoors in a warm and dry room out of direct sunlight. A convenient method is to use a metal shower curtain hook to hang up the bundles of herbs and suspend the hooks on plastic coated wire closet shelving. The herbs are ready to be used when the leaves are crisp and crumble easily when crushed between fingers.
Remove large herb leaves from their stems and dry them individually. To make a drying screen, use a staple gun to attach a piece of window screening to a wooden picture frame. Inexpensive wooden picture frames can be purchased at most home supply stores. Mint, bay and basil are examples of some of the large leafed herbs which can be dried using this method.
Microwave Drying
Place a single layer of herbs onto a paper plate and place the plate inside the microwave. The herbs may take up to 2 minutes using this method. Check to see how they are drying at 30 second intervals. Ttry drying basil, mint, oregano, rosemary, tarragon and thyme in the microwave. Culinary herbs might not work too well with this method, as they may become too dry and lose most of their aromatic essential oils. Herbs being used for dried floral arrangements or decorative potpourri can be successfully dried using this method.
Food Dehydrator
Follow the instructions provided by the manufacturer of the food dehydrator that is being used. Fleshier items, such as roots, fruits and vegetables, can also be dried in a food dehydrator. Food dehydrators come with between 4 and 10 shelves so a large amount of material can be processed at once.
Oven Drying
Most herbs may be dried in the oven. Place the herbs onto a cookie sheet, then place the sheet in the oven on the lowest setting, around 185 degrees Fahrenheit, until the herbs are dried. The herbs will take anywhere from 15 minutes to a few hours to completely dry depending on the thickness of the material being processed. Periodically turn the herbs over to ensure that they dry evenly on all sides. Check the herbs often to make sure they don’t burn or become overly dry.
Refrigerator Drying
Place herb stems or large herb leaves into a lunch size brown paper bag. Fold the top of the bag over and close it with a staple. Place the bag on one of the shelves in the refrigerator, but not in the vegetable or fruit bins, as these may be too humid to allow the herbs to properly dry. This method of drying will take a few weeks, check the herbs after every week to see how the herbs are progressing. Herbs that dry well using this method include basil, dill, mint, rosemary and tarragon. After the herbs are thoroughly dried remove them from the paper bag and store them in an airtight container away from direct sunlight.
Dried herbs should be used within six months. After six months time dried herb leaves will have lost most of their aromatic properties and will be useless in recipes. Prior to using dried herbs, place them in a mortar and crush them with a pestle, or crumble them by hand. This helps to release their fragrant essential oils which is the element that is being incorporated into the recipes. Dried herbs and spices must be reconstituted in some kind of liquid such as oil, water, vinegar or broth before being added to recipes or as part of the cooking process.
See the article How to Store Dried Herbs and Spices for a variety of containers that can be used for the long term storage of dried herbs. How to Freeze Herbs Using Ice Cubes trays is another method that can be used for the long-term storage of fresh herbs.
Copyright Information
The copyright of the article How To Dry Fresh Herbs is owned by Lynn Smythe. Permission to republish How To Dry Fresh Herbs in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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Comment by Lilla
Enviro Warrior
An Extra Ordinary Life
Dream Herald
Esoteric Bookshop
I grow many of my own herbs and dry most of my own too. There are a couple great tips and practices here I was unaware of, thanks for sharing this article.
Lilla ...
Comment by Lynn Smythe
The Pagan Path
Freelance Online Work
I Love Herbs
Thanks for stopping by I Love Herbs. My favorite method for drying rosemary is to place it in a brown paper lunch bag and place it in the refrigerator. All the other ways I tried to dry rosemary didn't work out too well.
Take care,
Lynn