Drying Fresh Herbs

Drying fresh herbs can be done in one of three ways - air, oven or microwave.

You need to get the best and freshest herbs you can find - ideally from your own plants.

Harvest them just before they come into full flower and in the early morning - when the dew has dried off and before the sun gets hot.

Air Drying
Cut them with fairly long stems - rinse them in cool water and dry them thoroughly on a paper towel.

Gather them together between 5 and 8 stems and tie them with a piece of string.

Place them head down in a brown paper bag with the ends protruding a few inches and hang the bag up by the stem end in a warm, dark place - an airing cupboard is probably the best you will find in a modern house.

It will take one to three weeks for the herbs to dry, depending on the fleshiness of the leaves.

Oven Drying

Take the leaves off the herb sprigs after washing and drying on a paper towel - spread over a baking tray in one layer.

Use the plate warming section of a cooker or the bottom of a conventional oven with the door ajar - put it on the lowest heat.

Turn the herbs every 30 minutes until dried - could be anywhere between 3 to 5 hours - you will know they're ready when they are brittle and crumble when touched.

Microwave Drying

Perhaps the easiest method as the results are known within a few minutes.

Wash and dry as oven drying.

Spread the leaves over three layers of paper towel and cover with another layer of paper towel.

Give them a 30 second blast, then turn - keep repeating until they are brittle.

Don't burn them - they should take between 2 to 3 minutes to dry.

Once the herbs are at the brittle stage, crumble them into storage jars that exclude the light and label them clearly.

Drying fresh herbs is a good way of getting herbs out of season.

You can use them during the winter season when there are no plants growing.

They will be fine for the winter season but once the herbs start growing again, discard what's left - wash and store the jars ready for your next harvest.

For an explanation of gardening terms that you might not understand, please check out the Growers Dictionary section.
I found that I was either skimping on explanations or giving too much information on the individual pages so I have posted all relevant terms in one section - if there's anything you need to know, please drop me an email.

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