anyone freeze herbs?

[lorihadams]

I read in one of my gardening books that some herbs are alright to freeze. I just wondered if anyone has frozen herbs with success. I have spearment, peppermint, and basil but I would love to be able to do more next year. Any thoughts?

 

[miss_thenorth]

I picked wild wintergreen before and froze it. It lost its flavour.

 

[keljonma]

I used to freeze herbs, but when you live in an area where power outages are frequent (hurricanes, tropical storms, or blizzards), you can lose them quickly. I prefer to keep of pot of various herbs in the house over winter so I have some fresh. But I mostly dehydrate after harvesting, if not using as fresh.

Here is the process I used to follow for freezing basil. Basil can turn black when you freeze it, but it will taste the same as fresh. You could also make pesto and freeze the pesto.

Cut the basil in the early morning. Place the basil in a pan or clean sink of cold water. Gently swish the basil to remove debris or bugs. Drain and shake off excess water. Place between clean terry kitchen towels, and press on the towels to remove more moisture. Do not rub, or you will release the oils. Take some plastic wrap and place leaves stacked on top of each other (about 6-8 in each). Then store the individual packets into a freezer type storage bag. Make sure all air is removed before sealing and putting into the freezer. When you want to use the basil, remove a packet and immediately break off the amount you want to use. If you wait too long to do this, the basil gets limp.

ETA: MTN is right, many will lose their flavor.

 

[TanksHill]

When I was doing some research on drying herbs I found some freezing info. For chives they put them in ice cube trays with water. After they freeze transfer to zip lock. Then when you needed some you just pulled out a cube. I wonder if this would work with all kinds?

Let us know how it goes. Gina

 

[keljonma]

Gina, I found the ice cube trick is great if you are planning on using the herbs in soups, stews, casseroles. You can even make pesto and freeze as ice cubes.

 

[ORChick]

My preferred way to keep herbs is deydrated, but there are some that just don't, IMO, dry well. Basil being one of them (though home dried is way better than commercially dried). I used to make pesto, but without the cheese (DH doesn't eat cheese), and freeze it in icecube trays. Now I generally just make a rough paste of basil and olive oil in the food processor, and freeze it that way. I can finish it up as pesto later (with and without cheese) if desired, or just put a cube into a sauce or soup that wants some basil. I've done the same with cilantro, but used water instead of oil (the oil is mostly to keep the basil from discoloring, but is also a basic part of pesto). For hardier herbs - mint, oregano, marjoram, sage, and some others drying is better, I think. I have also frozen some - like chives or parsley - mixed into butter (softened butter, herb(s) of choice, a splash of lemon juice, maybe some finely minced garlic, a grind of pepper), wrapped in waxed paper, and then foil. A little pat on veggies, or buttering hot bread is lovely.

 

[ams3651]

When I was doing some research on drying herbs I found some freezing info. For chives they put them in ice cube trays with water. After they freeze transfer to zip lock. Then when you needed some you just pulled out a cube. I wonder if this would work with all kinds?

Let us know how it goes. Gina

ive done this too, worked great

 

[me&thegals]

I have frozen dill with great success. My volunteer dill always comes too early for cucumbers, so I stick the stalks in a plastic freezer bag and then whip them out when the cukes are here. It tastes great!

 

[TanksHill]

My preferred way to keep herbs is deydrated, but there are some that just don't, IMO, dry well. Basil being one of them (though home dried is way better than commercially dried). I used to make pesto, but without the cheese (DH doesn't eat cheese), and freeze it in icecube trays. Now I generally just make a rough paste of basil and olive oil in the food processor, and freeze it that way. I can finish it up as pesto later (with and without cheese) if desired, or just put a cube into a sauce or soup that wants some basil. I've done the same with cilantro, but used water instead of oil (the oil is mostly to keep the basil from discoloring, but is also a basic part of pesto). For hardier herbs - mint, oregano, marjoram, sage, and some others drying is better, I think. I have also frozen some - like chives or parsley - mixed into butter (softened butter, herb(s) of choice, a splash of lemon juice, maybe some finely minced garlic, a grind of pepper), wrapped in waxed paper, and then foil. A little pat on veggies, or buttering hot bread is lovely.

Wow, that herb butter sounds fabulous!!!

 

[Farmfresh]

I freeze herbs BUT ... I always dehydrate them first.

I place the fresh clean herbs on the dehydrator tray set on about 120 degrees until toasty dry then package in a canning jar, spice jar or ziplock freezer bag and freeze until needed to refill my small sized spice bottles. The herbs stay super fresh this way!