Drying Herbs For Pantry

The cold came fast in the GTA. Real fast. Minus -10º C overnight. Once weather reports warned of this onslaught, I took quick action and cut back our herbs growing in containers.

We love cooking with herbs and although, I do enjoy fresh, dried home grown herbs suffice over the long winter haul.

Here are just some of the methods I use to dry.

1.  Wash thoroughly. Even though we grew these organically, living in an urban environment (construction close by) I washed the cut herbs thoroughly.

2.  Laid the cuttings down on a clean towel.

 3. Covering them with another.

4. Gently wringing them, by rolling towels together.

(Be forewarned - this can get quite messy when you take cuttings from Rosemary and Thyme. They drop a lot of foliage if you squeeze too hard)

5. Tie them with an elastic on top and clip on to a drying rack. This is optional, but I find the best results are to dry the herbs over a gentle heat source - like a radiator.  Here, I just used a spare oven rack and leaned it on the window, on top of the radiator. I've seen folks use Sock Rack dryers, which work great!

(Note: Thyme and Rosemary can drop leaves when drying, so use a baker pan/sheet beneath to catch any fallen foliage.)

I left a few tougher herbs that I know weather the cold better, but not leaving them in their current position.

We tucked them in a vestibule, under cover, away from heavy frosts.

Results:  Within 5 days, the herbs are nearly completely dry.

You must thoroughly dry them to store. Slight dampness can cause mould developing in what ever container you use for storage.

Be creative.  When I ran out of room, I started to dry Peppermint and Lemon Balm by the window curtain rods!

Next step is gingerly removing them from the wrack and placing the cuttings in large paper bags and squishing them free from the stems till they become small bits.

Great for the spice cabinet in the pantry.

Some herbs can easily be chopped up fresh and kept frozen in freezer bags. I do this for parsley, dill and chervil.

Easy and simple.