Drying Herbs

[Ridgerunner]

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!

I do about the same thing with sweet peppers, grill them, peel them, then roll them up in wax paper to freeze. When I need them for a pizza topping, they are ready.

 

[April Manier]

LOw heat is good.

I'm doing some mint this year. It will be my first time. Any experience with this?

 

[thistlebloom]

I just dry my mint in my little pantry. My husband installed hooks in the ceiling and I hang them in small bunches from there. They dry a nice green.

 

[Mickey328]

In general, I prefer to freeze them rather than dry them...they seem to keep their color and flavor better. For things I'm going to cook with, I put the fresh herb in my food processor with a little water and wiz it into not quite a paste. Then I put it in ice cube trays to freeze. When done, I pop them out into freezer bags. I can add a cube or two or however many I need to whatever I'm cooking.

For the stuff I do dry, if it has stalks, like parsley, I cut a handful and wrap a rubber band around the stems. That way as they dry and shrink the band tightens and keeps the bunch together. I unfold a paper clip and slip one end through the band to make a hanger. I rig up strings in the spare bathroom over the tub and hang them from there.

Some items are more appropriate for the dehydrator...I dehydrate as many onions as I can get my hands on. I throw em in the food processor and pulse it till they're chopped but not pureed. Then I spread them on the racks. After looking at the price of the screens for those machines, brilliant DH went to WalMart and got some of that plastic "canvas" for doing embroidery on and cut them to fit...perfection! Wouldn't work for stuff that has to dehydrate for a longer period at a higher temp cuz the plastic could melt, but I've never had a bit of trouble with onions or herbs.

One thing I want to try this year for fodder type material for the rabbits and chickens is drying it outside. We're very arid and sunny here so I think it should work quite well. The local building supply recycle stores here have lots and lots of screens available for next to nothing. We can just stack them on pieces of 2 x 4's or whatever we have and let it go. I hope to have bunches of squash vines, clover, grass clippings and such for over the winter.

 

[ducks4you]

I just posted about drying herbs. I have a dehydrator that DH and I bought years ago, and somebody gave me one last year, works fine, but is missing some trays. I just HAD to dehydrate last fall. I read the instructions and they suggested that you cut your herbs with the stems, and dry them that way bc the tiny leaves will disintegrate too easily if you de-leaf the stems, first. After they were dry, it was easy to strip the leaves into a bowl, then pour into jars, using a canning funnel. I dehydrated oregano, thyme and basil, and I've cooked with them since this. Freezing is great, but after experiencing a power surge which fried my newest upright freezer, I've been going back to long term storage in canning jars. Just me.

 

[blondiebee181]

Hello, I am going to be growing lots of herbs this year and I really want to know how to store the surplus. I will be doing Mint, Oregano, Parsely, Sage, Thyme, Rosemary, Chamomile, Basil, and MAYBE Cilantro, but that one always gets used quicker fresh anyway. Alot of you have dehydraters, but I don't and probably won't be buying one so lay some old-time wisdom on me! Someone said brown paper bag drying, others hang them up or freeze them....does a particular herb lend itself better to one process or another? If I want to put them in a bag or hang them, how long do they have to sit before I can put them in sealed jars?

 

[ducks4you]

It probably takes several months to dry them in a paper bag. But, if you're busy at the end of the gardening season, why not.

 

[Mickey328]

You can put them in jars as soon as they're completely dry ie very crumbly. If you seal them up with any moisture they'll mold. If you have any sort of warm space with a bit of air circulation, you can hang them by the bunch to let them dry. In our arid air here, it takes less than a week for a good sized bunch to dry. Where it's humid, it takes longer. Just need to keep checking...I'll try rubbing the leaves from a stalk in the center of the bunch, if it crumbles cleanly, it's generally good to go.

 

[blondiebee181]

That helps, I live in Boise, ID so I don't think it should take too long to hang dry them...so if they just crunch easily, they are okay to put in jars?

 

[DebFred]

Hey All.

I have a dehydrator. Been using it a little. Dehydrate apples for our oatmeal in the mornings. Delicious! I am not a great cook. What I cook is good enough. But I am just not one to spend a lot of time cooking. Quick is best. Plus my boys are grown, the one left at home is gone a lot, and DH works night shift. I do love to "pot cook." You know, a pot of chili or thick soup or sloppy joes. That way DH can warn up a bowl of whatever when he gets home in the AM. Also great on weekends.

What all can you dehydrate spice wise? I know onions, and oregeno. What others? And tomatoes. You can dehydrate those and grind them up like powder for sauces, correct? Or bigger for like spaghetti and chili? I use a lot of onion powder and garlic powder. Not rosemary so much. I find that a tad too strong. What would be some others?

Can you store apples in jars vs the freezer? I want to not use the freezer much cause we only have the one with our fridge. And we are kinda rural so a power outage happens here on occasion.

Thanks!