Drying herbs: instructions & suitable herbs

Herbs from your own garden are still the most aromatic - we will show you the best way to dry and store your herbs.

thyme, rosemary and basil - Herbs belong in every good kitchen and refine numerous dishes. Especially the herbs from your own garden are hard to miss, because they are a real treat for the palate. But in winter it often looks lean in the herb patch: Unfortunately, many herbs are not hardy. Nevertheless, you don't have to do without the delicious spices, because they can be easily and easily preserved. We will show you the best way to dry, preserve and store your herbs.

If you don't want to do without herbs in winter, you will find practical tips below on how best to dry, preserve and store herbs.

Which herbs can you dry?

In fact, the timing of the Harvesting the herbs plays a particularly important role in storage. The reason: In order to retain the full taste after preservation, the plants should also be at their peak when they are harvested. Many herbs develop the best aroma before their actual flowering phase and should then be picked quickly - plants such as achieve this dill, oregano and chives namely when they bloom, their aroma is suddenly reduced.

But the time of day and weather should also be perfect for an ideal aroma. This is most intense on a sunny morning shortly after the dew has dried. If the herbs are picked on a rainy day instead, their aroma is not only softened, but the drying process is also made more difficult. In addition, the right care for herbs can lead to an increased aroma: Are the herbs optimally supplied, for example through the use of a good herbal soil like ours Plantura organic herb & seed compost, they can develop their aroma in the best possible way.

How do you dry herbs?

Drying herbs is the best known and most popular type of herb preservation. No wonder, after all, this method is not only particularly easy, but the dried herbs can also be used very well in the kitchen. The dried herbs can be used as a spice. Drying herbs for tea is also a great way to conserve herbs from the garden. But how do you dry herbs? There are several methods for doing this. We have summarized the most common ones for you - drying herbs in the sun, in the oven, in the dehydrator or in the microwave.

Do not wash herbs before drying

A common mistake made by hobby gardeners when drying herbs is to wash the plant parts properly again. Unfortunately, contact with water not only means that drying takes significantly longer, but the herbs also lose their flavor. Instead of washing the herbs, you should just shake them out vigorously - this also frees the plants from dust and unpleasant crawling animals. However, if the plant is more soiled, you cannot avoid the sink. However, try to clean the plants as briefly as possible and with cold water, this will protect the aroma. After the bath, you should remove excess water from the herbs - this is best done by carefully patting dry with kitchen paper. When freezing and soaking herbs, however, washing is expressly allowed because it has no effect on preservation.

Dry herbs in the sun

It is not only the best known, but also the gentlest way of drying herbs: when drying on the In the air, the herbs are usually tied upside down in loose bouquets with thread or a rubber band hung up. Large sheets of Laurels or sage, on the other hand, are best dried individually on a kiln. A sheltered, shady and warm place is ideal for drying, whereby special attention must be paid to the temperature. If it is too cold, the herbs cannot dry properly and in the worst case they start to rot. If, on the other hand, it is too warm, there is a risk that the essential oils of the plants will evaporate and the plants lose their aroma. Therefore, the herbs should ideally not be exposed to temperatures higher than 35 ° C, but also not to solar radiation. But how long do herbs have to dry? Under optimal conditions, the herbs are completely dry after 3 to 4 days and can be stored in an aroma-proof container until they are used.

Herbs dry in the oven

Drying in the air is simple and tried and tested, but it is also very time-consuming and takes up a lot of space. If you don't want to wait that long, you can also use modern aids: drying herbs in the oven is particularly well known. No wonder, after all, there is an oven in almost every household and drying can be significantly accelerated by the oven. To dry herbs in the oven, it must first be preheated. When drying herbs in the oven, the temperature should be kept as low as possible, because this is the only way to preserve as many aromas as possible. Then the herbs are crushed and spread out on a baking sheet lined with baking paper. The oven door should be slightly open so that the resulting moisture can escape - a tried and tested trick is to clamp a wooden spoon in the oven door. After about three hours, the herbs are completely dry and can then cool down and stowed away.

Herbs can be dried in the microwave or in the automatic dehydrator

In addition to the oven, there are two other kitchen appliances that are often used to dry herbs: the microwave and the automatic dehydrator. If you want to dry herbs particularly gently, you should use the latter. The advantage of the dehydrator is the low temperatures between 30 and 70 ° C (ideally not higher than 50 ° C), with which the water is gently withdrawn from the herbs - so there is a loss of aroma limited. How long it takes for herbs to dry in the dehydrator varies depending on the model, temperature setting and the herb in question. Microwave drying, on the other hand, is not recommended as the herbs lose a lot of their aroma. If you should use the microwave anyway, it makes sense to set the wattage as low as possible and use it several cycles of drying, which should not take longer than 30 to 45 seconds, so as not to add too much aroma lose. The herbs can be rearranged between the individual cycles in order to achieve as even drying as possible.

Freeze herbs

Many herbs can not only be dried wonderfully, but also frozen very well. Especially plants with soft leaves (for example chives, basil and parsley) are made for the freezer. Freezing the ingredients and essential oils is better preserved than drying the herbs and the taste remains very intense. In addition, this method is also very easy: the herbs only need to be crushed in a suitable Container (for example an ice cube mold) portioned, poured with water and then frozen will. Here they can be kept for up to twelve months and can be easily removed for cooking and in appropriate portions.

Soak herbs in oil

For many, pickled herbs only have a nostalgic charm - this type of preservation is not at all old-fashioned and even very gentle on the aroma of the herbs. The pickling of basil and co. Is still widespread, especially in Mediterranean cuisine, and the pickled herbs belong in every good kitchen. To do this, the herbs are washed, cut and poured with oil in a vessel. It is important that the oil is of a high quality and that all herbs are covered with oil. The advantage of the method is that you can use the herbs with one another, as well chili and garlic can mix. After three to four weeks you can finally strain and transfer the oil: it now contains the full aromatic taste of the herbs. The herbs can also be pickled in mild vinegar according to the same principle.

Which herb for which method?

Not every herb can be preserved with every method without problems and loss of flavor, which is why you should find out about the right preservation beforehand. Most herbs can be dried without any problems, especially the Mediterranean herbs (with the exception of basil), but lavender, chamomile, savory and marjoram are also suitable for this. Basil, coriander leaves and chervil, on the other hand, do not tolerate drying at all and should rather be pickled. The dill is also predestined for pickling, from which both the umbels and the leaves can be preserved in this way. As mentioned above, herbs with soft leaves and shoots are best suited for freezing. Here, too, basil is an exception: in the refrigerator, its leaves turn brown and mushy and lose almost all of their aroma.

Store dried herbs

If you want to enjoy your herbs for a long time, you are not finished after they have dried: In fact, storing the herbs after drying is crucial for their shelf life. A common mistake many people make when drying and storing herbs is choosing the wrong one Vessel: Ideally, this should be protected from air and light in order to preserve the aroma of the herbs maintain. UV radiation and high humidity have a negative effect on the aroma and shelf life of the dried herbs. If you prefer white glass or transparent plastics as a material for optical reasons, you should make sure that the spices in the dark (for example in a kitchen cupboard) so that as little harmful UV radiation as possible can reach the herbs comes.

In addition, it must always be ensured that the herbs are absolutely dry when they are stored - otherwise there is a risk of mold forming. But not only the container is important when storing dried herbs, the location is also important. This should be as dry and dark as possible. Dried herbs should therefore not be stored above the stove or next to the sink: the increased moisture can cause a loss of aroma or even spoilage of the herbs.

Would you like to combine enjoyment and nature conservation? You can find out which herbs not only delight the human palate, but also support insects in our article: "Bee-friendly herbs: our top 10“.

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