Drying Herbs for Cooking
Here we are at Friday, and I’m just getting around to posting about last weekend. It’s been a crazy-busy week, with something happening almost every evening. But last weekend I busted out the dehydrator and harvested some of my culinary herbs.
Here you see Thai Basil, Rosemary, Marjoram, Opal Basil, Thyme and Greek Oregano. I’ll be freezing the bulk of my basil, some chopped and frozen in ice cube trays with olive oil, and some straight up in freezer bags. But I wanted to try a mix of these two basils, dried and crumbled together for soups.
In the past I’ve dried my herbs the way El does it, by tying them into small bundles and putting them in a brown paper bag tied around the stems, and hanging them in a dark, dry place, but I’m frankly sick and tired of the cobwebs that make their way into the bag. I found my dehydrator a couple of years ago at a thrift store for $3 and I’ve never looked back.
I also find the finished product has much better flavor when dried quickly this way.
And here’s where I let Angelina do the hard work of giving great information on how to harvest and dry herbs, because once again, I’ve used up my alloted morning 15 minutes and now have to hustle to get showered, lunches and brekkies made and the kids up and out the door. Check out her post, it’s most excellent.
Technorati Tags: herbs, drying herbs, dehydrator, garden, preserving food
"In summer we live out of doors, and have only impulses and feelings, which are all for action, and must wait commonly for the stillness and longer nights of autumn and winter before any thought will subside; we are sensible that behind the rustling leaves, and the stacks of grain, and the bare clusters of the grape, there is the field of a wholly new life, which no man has lived; that even this earth was made for more mysterious and nobler inhabitants than men and women. In the hues of October sunsets, we see the portals to other mansions than those which we occupy."
~Henry David Thoreau
September 14th, 2007 at 8:21 am
Are there any herbs that are not suitable for drying? I get asked all the time on my site about using fresh herbs or dried herbs.
September 14th, 2007 at 7:42 pm
A subject close to my heart! And a reminder that I have some gorgeous thyme out in my garden that will flower soon if I don’t trim it and dry it. I’m going to do it right now.
I personally don’t think tarragon, parsley, or cilantro dry very satisfactorily. I also never use dried rosemary because it is too tough in things even when reconstituted whereas fresh can always be chopped superfine and is more tender.
September 15th, 2007 at 10:34 am
Ayee I used to have a food dehydrator, but decided at the time that it took up too much space in my Chicago apartment. Thanks, Kelly, for reminding me of one of the two gadgets that I still need to junk up my house!!
I’ve checked the herbs and no spiders yet
And how is that purple basil? Does it taste similar to the regular old Genovese?
September 15th, 2007 at 11:17 am
I have a food dehydrator, but I don’t use it for herbs. The unit is quite old and it works great for fruit, but the temperature seems a bit too high for herbs.
September 18th, 2007 at 10:21 am
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September 28th, 2008 at 7:08 pm
[…] Drying Herbs photo from Straight From the Farm Drying Fresh Herbs: Straight from the Farm has good directions for drying herbs. More good instructions on Drying Herbs for the Winter from My Bay Area Garden. At Slashfood, Joanne Lutynec recommends drying the herbs inside paper bags. An Open Cupboard has step-by-step instruction for drying parsley, sage, rosemary, and thyme. Indian Spice Trail talks about drying mint in the microwave. The Purloined Letter shows how she uses a food dehydrator to dry herbs. Her Able Hands also used to use the paper bag method, but now she’s sold on the food dehydrator for drying herbs for cooking. […]