Homegrown herbs are a terrific room to punch up the flavors you create in your kitchen . Whetherbasil , oregano , chives or cilantro , homegrown herbs are well used fresh , but when fresh is n’t possible , preserved herb will replace in almost every recipe . preserve homegrown herbaceous plant is n’t difficult if you know how to do it right . Here are five techniques for preserving fresh herbs so you may enjoy their tang all wintertime .
1. Air Drying
in all probability the easy way of save homegrown herbs , air drying requires very little effort and does n’t take up much elbow room . There ’s also no particular equipment involve . Though not all herb dry well , many do . Try oregano , tarragon , parsley , thyme , rosemary and sweet marjoram .
To air juiceless herbs , simply reap the foliation at its peak , just before the plants come into flush , and draw megabucks of five to 10 stem together at their base . I expend caoutchouc bands for this labor , but jute twine or twist crosstie would work well , too . Then , cling the bundles of herb in a dry , well - ventilated room . attempt to hang them so each bundle receives good melody circulation around its entire circumference , and keep the herbs out of lineal sunlight . Most fresh herbs dry in three to four week . You ’ll know they ’re fully ironical when the leaves crumble off the base well .
Once ironical , place the bundle in a brown paper grocery bag and carefully clean the leaves from the stems . crumple the leaves to your desire sizing and discard the theme . Like I enjoin , zephyr drying herbaceous plant is the easy way of preserving homegrown herbs .
2. Using A Dehydrator
I find that herbs dry in a dehydrator have a slenderly more acute flavor than those dry via atmosphere drying . I believe that because the dry out process fill place in a topic of hours , rather than a matter of hebdomad , the flavourous oils in the leaves retain a little more of their wholeness . If you have a food dehydrator , dry herb is well-off . Simply pluck all the leaves off of the harvested herbs and distribute them out in a individual layer on the food trays . Put the trays in the dehydrator and dry out the leave for one to three hour . If you ’re drying an herb with thick leaves ( or if you ’re include the stems ) , it might take a spot longer . Again , you ’ll get it on the herbs are wry when they crumble between your fingers . This is my preferred technique for drying mint , lemon balm , gamboge verbena , cinnamon basil and many other tea herb .
3. Oven Drying
If you do n’t have a dehydrator but you ’re interested in preserve homegrown herbs in a quick way , oven dry out might be for you . Spread fresh issue herb leaves in a individual level on parchment - lined cooky sheets and put them into an oven preheated to 170 degrees . To improve atmosphere circulation while your herbs are drying , leave the oven door ajar . When oven - drying , most herbs are done one to four time of day afterwards , again look on how thickheaded the leave are and whether stem turn are include . Begin checking the herb one hour after putting the tray into the oven and preserve to check for doneness every half hour to keep them from being overdried . Look again for leaves that well fall apart when rubbed between your pollex and index . I lie with to dry out embayment leaves , salvia and Ananas comosus sage this way .
4. Microwave Drying
dry herbaceous plant in the microwave takes even less prison term than the oven or dehydrator . This technique , however , does n’t function with all herbs . I find it works well for mint and oregano , but in my experience , it does n’t work well for chives , dillor basil .
To dry herbs in a microwave , pluck the leaves from the stems and spread them in a individual level on a composition towel . Put the paper towel on a collection plate and cover the leaves with a 2nd paper towel . Microwave on high for about 20 to 30 second . The paper towel will grow moist while the herb will grow more dry . If the leave are n’t crispy when you pull them out of the microwave oven , put them in for another 20 second and check them again . Keep repeating until the herb are wry . I usually flip the parting over once or twice during the cognitive process to secure they dry equally .
5. Freezing
When it come to preserving homegrown herbs , some types taste substantially from the Deepfreeze than they do when dry out . For lesson , I much prefer frozen Petroselinum crispum to dried parsley . The same goes for chive , dill and cilantro . Though the leave develop a sour colour in the deep freezer , the intense herbaceous plant flavor is more preserved when freezing certain herbaceous plant .
To block brisk herb , rinse the harvested herbs with cool piss and then chuck them dry with a newspaper towel . Once ironic , pack them into pronounce zip fastener - top plastic bag and pack them into the Deepfreeze . They ’re best when used within three to six months of freezing , but I ’ve used them up to a year later and they ’ve been fine . And , remember , you do n’t have to use the whole dish at once ; only spread out the bag , break up off as many farewell as you need , and then reseal the traveling bag and bond it back into the deep freezer . I know many folks who also freeze invigorated herbs in ice cube tray fill with water supply in hopes of retaining the bright dark-green color of the leaves .
As you’re able to see , preserve homegrown herbaceous plant is a simple and fun process that enables you to revel their delicious flavor for months after harvest home . Experiment with different preservation proficiency on each of the herbs you grow to bump which ones work the dependable for you .
