Herb Drying: How to Dry Herbs?

Read on to know more about how to dry herbs from your herb garden so that you can save them for future use

Herb drying is a very simple process. Once the herb has grown it is important to pick the herb and dry it. This way, you can store the herb for use at any future time when a recipe calls for it.

Herbs: Drying Herbs: Time

It is quite important to pick the herbs at the right time for the purpose of drying them.

It is best to pick the leaves of the herbs just before flowering time. This means you get the best flavors because these herbs contain the best of their inherent oils right before flowering time.

If you want to collect the seeds for cooking, or for planting the next round of herbs, you need to wait till the blooms die off from the herb. Carefully remove the seeds.

Let the morning dew dry off from the leaves before you cut them, but do that before the afternoon sun hits the leaves.

How to dry herbs: Process of drying herbs

You will need a pair of long, sharp scissors for cutting the herbs. Cut the stems or branches that are away from the plant. If it is a herb that grows all the year round, cut the stems near the base of the plant. If it is a herb which grows only once a year, pull out the entire plant – roots and all.

Now gently shake the leaves to remove any insects or dirt from the leaves.

If there is a lot of dirt (especially on the roots), wash them gently with water. If you have used any non-organic or chemical fertilizers, then you need to wash extra carefully so that you don’t get any pesticides in your herbs.

Wipe off the roots or stems which have become wet by using a soft cloth. Ensure that no water remains on the stems, leaves or the roots, otherwise you may be looking at mildew problems with your herbs. Remove any dead or dry leaves.

Remove any dead or dry leaves. Remove the leaves from the lower part of the stems. Tie the stems together in groups of 5 or 10 and hang them upside down, to dry.

You need to find a dry, warm and dark place to do this.

If there is no such spot in your house, then you can use paper bags. After tying the stems together, put them into a paper bag which has holes in it (for ventilation). Ensure that the bag is big enough so that the leaves do not touch the bag.

You can leave the herbs to dry for about 1 to 3 weeks. You can check them once in a while to see how they are drying. Just take a leaf and rub it between two fingers. Once they begin to crumble, they are dry. Ordinarily, the plants which have thicker stems take longer to dry.

Now take your herbs and carefully remove the leaves. Store them in airtight glass bottles. This will keep for about 8 – 12 months.

There are two ways that you can store these herbs – you can store them whole, or you can crumble them to make a fine powder. Both these processes have their uses.

The whole leaves can be used for several recipes like sauces and soups or even for garnishing purposes and can be stored for a longer period of time. The powders need to be used right away otherwise they tend to lose their flavor.

If you are storing the seeds, then you need to store them whole and then crush them only before cooking.

There is another process for drying the herbs which can prove to be useful in humid areas where drying the herbs is not a feasible prospect. You can dry the herbs in a microwave oven or a conventional oven.

In a conventional oven, place the herbs on a tray which is covered by baking paper. The recommended temperature is 100 Degrees C or 200 Degrees F. You need to keep watching the herbs and turn them over with tongs or mitts, ever so often. Sometimes, you may even leave the oven door open. Keep doing this till the herbs appear crisp.

In a microwave oven, wrap the herbs in a kitchen towel. Please ensure that you add a glass of water into the microwave while drying the herbs, as this prevents the dryness of the herbs from affecting the oven. Put the herbs in the microwave for 1 minute on ‘High’. Check for the crumbliness of the herbs.