How do I make my own dried herbs?
Asked by
josie (
30934
)
August 13th, 2017
from iPhone
I like to cook so I decided to grow an herb garden.
I am over run by basil, rosemary, tarragon and thyme
I figure I might as well dry some and use it instead of buying a jar of it in the winter
How do do that?
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6 Answers
Do you live in a humid or dry environment? When I lived in Colorado, it was dry enough to pick them and hang them upside down til they dried, then I roughly ground/crumbled the leafy stuff and stored it in bottles or bags.
The cayennes stayed hanging somewhere, they were pretty.
Now I live on the East Coast and it’s too humid (I avoid AC) to hang dry them, so I either do a slow dry on a cookie sheet in a low heat oven, or (more likely) I rough chop stuff, wet it, and freeze it in ice cube trays, then store the cubes in bags in the freezer.
Yep, depends on your climate. Here in my my hot and dry part of California those herbs would be dried within 48 hours and ready to crumble into jars.
My wife suggests laying out the leaves on paper towels and placing them in the sun, in front of a window.
If too humid, place on parchment paper on a baking sheet in a 150° oven for about two hours.
In both cases, wash the herbs first and pat dry with paper towels. Also, space the leaves apart from one another.
Dehydrator or oven at 150* F.
^^ @cookieman is right about make it clean first.
Response moderated (Spam)
Keep out of sun as it can affect flavor and color. The oils evaporate. That’s why it is also best to pick them in the morning.
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