Herb Drying 101

I'm really into drying and preserving herbs this year. Mostly because buying them in the spice aisle is expensive, and plants are not. Plus, they keep on giving year round here. If you don't live in a warm climate, you can plant your herbs in containers and bring them inside a sunny window during the winter.

Drying your plants is so easy to do! You can always hang dry your cuttings, but I am impatient, so I use a dehydrator. You can get mesh trays to keep the tiny little leaves from falling through the cracks (they'll shrink as they dry).

Just cut your herbs and wash thoroughly. I usually lay mine out to air dry just for about 20 minutes after washing to let excess water drip off.

Thyme, chives, basil, rosemary, and mint. Fresh from the garden.

My dehydrator is an old Nesco. It's a hand-me-down from my mom. The brand is still around, but I think they're a little snazzier now.

 Trim the stems or any unusable parts of your cuttings. Arrange leaves in a single layer on your trays.

Because my appliance is older, it only has one heat setting. Newer models have varying temperatures available. You may have to play around with your particular settings based on the humidity in your home. It generally takes at least a few hours for everything to dry thoroughly. You want to ensure that everything is dried completely. If moisture is left in the leaves, they could mold after you store them.

This is how they looked after a few hours. Not quite done yet.

I have Tupperware spice containers that worked perfectly for storing my newly dried spices.  I used my label maker so I'd know what was in each container. 

How easy is that? Now you've got spices for a whole lot less, and you can preserve your fresh herbs in case you can't use them all right away!

Note: I've been told that keeping the leaves in their full form until use will guarantee the best flavor. I don't know if this is true or not, but I tend to follow this rule. I just crumble the leaves when I get ready to use them in my cooking.