Drying Herbs

[r4eboxer]

I am planning a decent sized raised herb garden, as well as herbs planted here and there in my larger land gardens. DH and I just bought a dehydrator. I have never dried and stored herbs. What should I know? How should I store them? and How do you all store your basil? (bags, glass or plastic) I have heard you cannot dry basil you have to freeze it. Is this true?

 

[momofdrew]

it always turns black if I try to dry it... but I have heard puttingit into a brown paper sack to dry is a better way...I have dried other herbs in the brown bag and i works well...

 

[HotPepperQueen]

I dried basil last year in a dehydrator. It took 4 days on the lowest setting to dry it but it was well worth it! A really important thing is to only have the leaves on every other rack. I then put the leaves in a bowl and crunch them gently with my fingers. I store mine in a plastic herb bottle. If you look online, you can find whole salers of plastic bottles that have all sizes and different colors- for a really good price. I would also recommend glass, too.

 

[HotPepperQueen]

In my experience, it only turns black if the heat is way too high.

it always turns black if I try to dry it... but I have heard puttingit into a brown paper sack to dry is a better way...I have dried other herbs in the brown bag and i works well...

 

[digitS']

This is an arid summer climate part of the world and I don't have any trouble rinsing the herbs; then hanging them under the deck roof to dry. An odd assortment of glass jars are where they end up.

Freezing them is becoming more and more the technique here. I bought DW a food dehydrator a couple years ago and despite her claim that apple chips are her favorite snack, she has yet to use it. Moving herbs straight out of the sink, into plastic bags and into the freezer has worked well with most everything. (I guess DW will just continue to buy those apple chips .)

The basil can go from the sink into spaghetti sauce and into the freezer or . . . . into blender with garlic, pine nuts, olive oil, and Parmesan cheese. You know, Pesto!

Then into the freezer .

Steve

 

[Ridgerunner]

Basil, oregano, and sage are the ones I dry with the dehydrator. They can take several days and yes, I use the lowest heat setting. Mine still turn pretty dark, but if I just hang them and let them dry, they get pretty dark anyway. Them turning dark does not bother me. I have not noticed that affecting the flavor and they are crumbled up to where they pretty much disappear anyway when I use them. Well, the oregano and basil crumble up. The sage is more rubbed than crumbled. I'm concerned if they get too warm, the oils can be released, thus lessening the potency of the herb.

I find it beneficial to switch the trays around in the dehydrator, moving the top to the botttom. They seem to dry more evenly that way. Stirring them up when they are partially dry helps too, both with more even drying and to help keep them from sticking to the trays.

When they are dry, I dump them into a large plastic bowl and crush them with my fingers, removing any stems or sharp things that stick me. I do wash my hands real well to try to get rid of most of the oil on them. I don't know if that is important or not, just something that sounds like a good thing to do to me. Then I put them in glass jars and store them in a dark place.

In season, I do prefer it fresh instead of dried, but it is not in season right now.

 

[Chickie'sMomaInNH]

i try not to crush the leaves before i go to use them. it helps to keep the oils from being lost from the drying/crushing process. i put them into dark colored bottles so the light does not break down those oils even more.

 

[MontyJ]

I dry some herbs in the dehydrator. I put basil into heavy freezer bags with a bit of olive oil, just enough to coat the leaves really, then into the freezer.

 

[Ridgerunner]

My dill usually makes those flower heads before I have cucumbers to make dill pickles. I cut them off so the dill will keep making more, rinse those heads and pat them dry, then put them on a sheet of waxed paper and roll that up. It goes in a zip-lock type bag and then the freezer. When I need the dill heads, I just unroll the waxed paper and pick off however many I need. This keeps them from freezing together in a clump.

 

[so lucky]

My dill usually makes those flower heads before I have cucumbers to make dill pickles. I cut them off so the dill will leep making more, rinse those heads and pat them dry, then put them on a sheet of waxed paper and roll that up. It goes in a zip-lock type bag and then the freezer. When I need the dill heads, I just unroll the waxed paper and pick off however many I need. This keeps them from freezing together in a clump.

Great idea!