Drying Fresh Herbs
Do your recipes call for dried herbs? Do you have leftover fresh herbs that you don’t want to go to waste? If your answer is yes, you should try drying your own fresh herbs. With very little effort, you can be using air-dried fresh herbs that have superior color and flavor to the dried herbs sold in grocery stores. In this post I will share with you the simple method I use to dry my fresh herbs.
The best herbs for drying are herbs fresh from your own garden or the garden of a friend or neighbor. Other sources would be your local farmer’s market, or your grocery stores produce section.
Once you have your fresh herbs in hand, prepare them by discarding any leafs that are bruised or discolored and rinse away any dirt or sand. To remove any excess water, give your herbs a good shake or take them for a ride in your salad spinner, then blot them dry with a clean kitchen towel. When drying basil remove the leafs from the stems, for other herbs leave the leafs and stems intact. Spread the herbs evenly on your drying rack and cover with paper towels. I use a metal cooling rack, or a splatter screen. Place the rack in a well-ventilated area of your kitchen out of direct sunlight, making sure that it is elevated to allow good air circulation. If you live in an area that has high humidity, you may want to use an electric dehydrator. My preference is to not use any direct heat for drying herbs. The long slow process of air-drying herbs preserves the color and more importantly the volatile oils that give the herbs their flavor.
Once a day, to insure that your herbs are getting good exposure to air, pick them up, turn them over, or just give them a slight move. The herbs should take a few days to a week to thoroughly dry. Test the larger leafs, basil, sage or tarragon for instance, for readiness by breaking a leaf in two, it should break with a clean snap, or you can rub a leaf between your fingers; you should get a fine powder. Test the smaller leaf herbs, thyme and rosemary, by gently pinching the leafs against the stems, if the leafs fall away and break easily, they are ready. To harvest the herbs from the stems break the leaf from the stems or use the pinch method over a sheet of clean paper. When you have the leafs separated from the stems, roll the paper into a cone and pour the herbs into a labeled jar. Store your herbs in a cool dry place. It is best to keep the leafs as whole as possible, crushing or breaking them into your recipes as needed.
Do not think of dried herbs as a replacement for fresh herbs but more as an enhancement to your seasoning. Consider using dried herbs in the beginning of a recipe, and finish the recipe with fresh herbs. That is not to say you can’t finish a dish with dried herbs, try crushing a single dried tarragon leaf over a couple of scrambled eggs. With the exception of dry rubs, most recipes that call for dried herbs are high in moisture, which allows the herb to re-hydrate and release its volatile oils.
After a few months evaluate your dried herbs for freshness, like everything else the quality of dried herbs will diminish over time. On the plus side, the fresh herbs you dried a few months ago are fresher than the dried herbs your local grocer placed on his shelf this morning.
