You don't need any fancy equipment either. Just thread to tie them together and a place to hang them. I do have a food dehydrator but herbs look so lovely hanging in the house I rarely use it for them. Plus I really love the smell of fresh herbs drying in the summer sun.
All you need to do is choose your herbs. Now this could take some planning and foresight to grow your own fresh herbs or you can simply buy them at the farmers market or from your food co-op. This year I discovered I forgot to grow some herbs, like oregano and thyme so I am buying them, but I do have plenty of rosemary, mint, spearmint, chives and chamomile growing happily. You grow some, you buy some, eh?
Now that you have chosen some herbs to dry say, rosemary, if it's growing in your garden or a pot simply trim off the plant. Not all the way to the soil, leave some to keep growing and give you more soon. Everywhere you cut back will sprout two new stems and soon leaves. If you bought a bag of fresh herbs read on!
Trim off any funky looking pieces or slimy leaves, wash them and then wrap in a towel and swing it around to dry. Or use a salad spinner. Just try to as much of the water off as possible.
Then using thread tie them into little bundles no bigger than an inch in diameter, so they dry completely. If they are bigger than an inch I have found that I have trouble(sometimes) with wet insides to my bundles.
Hang them some place to dry. I love to hang them throughout my kitchen and dining room. They smell so good in the main part of our house. Plus as a bonus I regularly look at them to see if they are done. Many herb drying directions say to hang them in dark place but I have a tendency to forget them until I crush them blundering around.
Once they are dry I slip them into recycled glass jars. I might remove them from their stems if I need to make room in the jar but usually they go right in with the stems. I even throw in thyme stems when I'm cooking and then pull it out, like a bay leaf, when the dish is done.
I like to dry mint, dill, oregano, thyme, chives, rosemary, cilantro, chamomile, chickweed, parsley, sage and pineapple weed. I don't dry basil even though I grow a lot of it for winter use. I make pesto instead, which is fantastic addition to any freezer pantry.
Peace and Love-
8 comments, thoughts, ideas, random words or haikus:
wow so that how you do it..
Have a great weekend..
Next Friday is Round Robin.. If you want to share..
For the last few years, I've been drying herbs that way or separating the leaves and laying them flat to dry for a days. However, I am surprised to see chives on your list. My understanding is that the store bought dried chives are lyophilized (freeze dried) because they don't air dry well. Are you happy with the flavor from your air dried chives? Is the structure well preserved?
I'm always so sad that I can't grow my own herbs ... but I have dried purchased herbs in the past. Both by hanging and in the oven on very low heat.
Lately, if I find I've chopped more parsley than I need, I've been leaving it in a shallow dish on the counter overnight and ... its nicely dried in the morning. Doesn't get much easier than that!
Happy weekend, Laura!
Oh I love it, it looks so "Victorian!" hehe
My parents' herb garden must be on crack b/c it thrives year round for them and gives way more than they need. They brought a bunch for me Xmas and my dad dried them in a pan in the oven on a low, low temp. I'm still using them up!
Thanks for sharing w/ Friday Firsts Laura! :)
Well that's easy. I was convinced I was going to have to do something more complicated, but those look dry enough to me. I just bought a couple of pots of thyme, too.
Tabitha I am happy with my chives. I guess because I throw them in soups for flavor they cook right down and still taste great. I like them fresh best but home dried is fine too.
Great post. I hope to do this with some of the herbs from my garden!
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