How to Dry Herbs?

[Dace]

I have dill and basil coming out my ears! I would like to dry some and I have a dehydrator that I have never really been successful with.

Can anyone give me some guidelines on how to dehydrate herbs?

I also have a large bunch of rosemary that I would like to dehydrate, I know it probably needs more time than the dill or basil....any suggestions?

 

[freemotion]

Rinse, spin in a salad spinner if you have one (worth it if you are doing a lot of herbs every year) or you can swing them in a pillow case.

I find that things dry much faster and without yellowing if I remove as much stem as possible, or at least the thickest parts of the stems. Some herbs do well being hung upside down in a dry place out of direct sunlight. I like using the car, though, and finishing up in the electric dehydrator.

I put the leaves on trays (soda can trays acquired from a dumpster dive) lined with tulle (any cloth or paper towels will work, but tulle allows more air flow). I have a friend who had an old window screen that she uses. I put it in the back seat of my car and park the car in the sun with two of the windows open a half inch. If it is not too humid, they are almost dry by evening, and I run them through the dehydrator for a bit to finish up that night. Or leave them in the car another day. Works great!

 

[FarmerDenise]

Dill and basil is best dried as quickly as possible. Freemotion's method sounds really good to me.
I have had so much of it in the past, that I could not spend the time doing all that work. I just bundled it and hung it in our garage. It looses it's color and isn't as strongly flavored, but it is still way better than anything storebought. I found that the goats and rabbit also love the basil, and since we had so much, they got lots of yummy treats of basil this winter.
I do the same with rosemary and the goats love the rosemary also. But I only dry little bits of it, since most of the time I just go outside to gather some for use. I like have some dried in the house, for when I don't feel like going outside to pick it and also to send to friends and family, who cannot grow it.

Parsely and chives also need to be dried quickly, it is one of the few herbs, I go through the trouble of putting in the dehydrator.

 

[BarredBuff]

Mom hangs it up in the closet bundled up..........

 

[Dace]

Great! Thanks guys

 

[Wifezilla]

I bundle the herbs, then slip a paper bag over it and hang it in a closet. This might be working well for me because our climate is so dry. This might not work for people with humid conditions.

 

[miss_thenorth]

I bundle the herbs, then slip a paper bag over it and hang it in a closet. This might be working well for me because our climate is so dry. This might not work for people with humid conditions.

Yes, this method does NOT work here. What kind of dehydrator do you have--does it have a fan? My lst dehydrator did not have a fan, and things didn't turn out as well, but now I have one with a fan and dehydrating is so much mopre productive. I've never had an issue with herbs. Right now, I am dehydrating carrot, radish,brocolli, caulifower and celery. I make a soup mix out of it. tomorrow I will do onion and garlic and add to it, but they get dried outside.

 

[TanksHill]

I bundle the herbs, then slip a paper bag over it and hang it in a closet. This might be working well for me because our climate is so dry. This might not work for people with humid conditions.

I hug all mine in our attic. If you have access. I tied string around the neck of the brown bag and used a staple gun to staple them to a rafter.

It gets so warm up there they dried very quickly.

good luck.

g

 

[kitchwitch]

if you were willing to use the dehydrator to begin with, I'd put the oven on the lowest setting, lay your herbs inside and keep the door propped open.

 

[freemotion]

I hug all mine in our attic.

Sometimes I hug my hay because I am so relieved to have a full barn and the security that a winter's supply of food for my goats brings. But I've never hugged my herbs!

Don't hide in the attic.....hug them proudly and in full public view!