How to clean it up properly

Clean the basil

Prepare the herb as follows:

1. Cut off the leaves with the stem.
2. Rinse briefly but thoroughly under running water.
3. Pluck individual leaves by hand.
4. Carefully pat dry with kitchen paper.

Then cut the leaves into fine strips with a very sharp knife. For pesto, you can now put the leaves directly into the electric multi-chopper.

Wash basil and dry for the spice supply

Harvest Basil that you want to dry only when the leaves are strong and no longer too soft, because the essential oil content is highest shortly before flowering.

Late morning on a dry day is ideal when the dew has dried. If the sun is already very high at noon, it is too late for the harvest, as the essential oils of the basil quickly evaporate due to the strong sunlight. The dried cabbage then tastes bland.

1. Cut off entire shoot tips with sharp, clean scissors.
2. Gently shake the stems out so that any coarse dirt falls off.
3. Sort out yellow and diseased leaves.
4. Wash briefly under running water and pat dry.
5. Dry the herb very gently in a warm, dark and well-ventilated place.
6. Tie the shoots together in small bunches and hang them upside down.
7. You can tell whether the herb is dry by the fact that the leaves rustle when touched.

Alternatively, you can dry the washed basil in the oven at the lowest possible temperature or in the dehydrator.

Can you do without washing?

Most of the basil pots you can buy in the grocery store are splashed. To ensure that the herb is not contaminated, it should therefore be showered off in any case. It is also advisable to wash them with Bioware.

Since you do not know which animals have crawled over basil from the garden, thorough cleaning is also recommended.