By: Calen Cabler
Last time I posted, we talked about some fun ways to use your fresh herbs from your quarantine herb garden (if you missed that article, catch it here), but what happens when you have an over abundance or they start to seem less-than-fresh? As you suspected–we dry them!
There are a few ways to dry herbs. One of the fastest ways is to use a food dehydrator–if you have never used one, trust me, it is worth the investment. I grew up with my Dad having one that we used to dry venison jerky and it makes the drying process sooo much easier. You can find the one that I have used and loved here. If you want to save a little cash, try this one or this one. Whatever you choose, make sure you rinse your herbs, and lay them out in a single layer on the drying trays. The time will vary depending on the herb you are drying.
If you are drying multiple herbs simultaneously, make sure to keep trays divided and make yourself a cheat sheet labelling each tray. If you take a quick look in your spice cabinet, you will be quickly reminded that most green herbs look similar when dried. While the dehydrator is a speedy method, you can also get a quick result using your oven!
All you have to do is spread out the herbs on a cookie sheet (like this set), set the oven below 180 degrees, and let them slowly dry for 2-4 hours. Just make sure you keep an eye on them so you don’t end up charring all of your hard work. Of course, the most basic method of drying is tying bundles together and drying them in a dark place. Twine is super handy to use for this–something like this or you can order it in a set with these cute and handy tags.
Regardless of how you dry them, once they are finished, go ahead and crush them up a little. Then throw them in some glass spice bottles or mason jars. Ta-da! You are now ready to cook with them!
Dried herbs are a phenomenal way to add deep flavor to any dish. In the drying process, their flavor tends to change a bit (some spices have larger discrepancies than others). Recipes also necessitate a smaller amount of dried herbs than fresh herbs due to the concentrated flavor profiles. Use your homemade dried herbs just as you would store bought in any recipe you want to try!
If any of these ideas intrigue you, here are the links again (as Amazon affiliates, we get a little $ through qualifying purchases!)
Nesco dehydrator
Hamilton Beach dehydrator
Nesco Snackmaster
Cookie sheets
Twine
Twine with tags
Spice bottles with labels
Mason jars with labels
Happy harvesting!
