Drying fresh herbs: make your own spices

The list of kitchen herbs is long. There is the right herb for almost every dish. You can enjoy them fresh or dry them and use them to create your very own spice creations.

Harvest on time

Harvesting at the right time is important in order to preserve and use the full aroma and flavor of these aromatic plants. Many kitchen herbs develop their most intense aroma before flowering and should then be harvested as quickly as possible. As a rule, the aroma is quickly lost during flowering. Of course they are still edible. Ideally, collect them on a sunny day, once the morning dew has dried. After harvesting, they can be air dried, dried in a dehydrator, or in an oven.

in the air

Drying is the most popular and well-known method of preserving aromatic plants. However, you should never wash them, but only remove dirt by shaking them or using your hands. If you wash them, this is at the expense of the plant quality and also delays the drying process. Air drying is probably the gentlest of all drying methods, but it is also the most time-consuming.

• the first step is to clean the fresh herb
• then tie loosely into small bundles
• do not squeeze or press, hang upside down
• don't hang too close because of the ventilation
• in a warm, shady and wind-protected place
• Do not expose items to be dried to direct sunlight
• ideal ambient temperature between 20 and 30 degrees
• not warmer than 35 degrees, essential oils could volatilize
• optimal drying time between two and four days
• fully dried when the plants have a papery consistency

Unfortunately, not all kitchen herbs are suitable for this method of preservation. Types with soft leaves such as parsley, chives, basil, dill, cress or lovage are best frozen. They would lose most of their flavor during the drying process. Peppermint, rosemary, sage, thyme, savory, marjoram, oregano, lavender as well as chamomile, mugwort and woodruff are very suitable.

In the dehydrator

In the dehydrator, drying should be particularly gentle due to the low temperatures. Such devices usually work in a temperature range between 30 and 70 degrees. Consequently, it would be an advantage if the dehydrator had an appropriate temperature controller. With the right setting, the water is gently removed from the herbs and the loss of aroma is limited. Temperatures of 40 degrees are usually optimal. Many kitchen herbs are simply no longer edible at higher temperatures.

• only use intact plants for drying
• remove yellow or rotten spots
• washing the herb as opposed to air drying
• dry well with kitchen roll
• Distribute evenly on the drying grid of the dehydrator
• pay attention to sufficient distance, do not overlap
• only chop after drying
• Drying process takes about two to three hours

In the oven

This method is quite expensive due to the long drying time and the associated power consumption. Here, too, the collected goods are distributed, without the plants touching each other, on a baking tray lined with baking paper and pushed into the preheated oven. At 50-60 degrees they are now dried for two to three hours. During drying, the oven door should be slightly ajar to allow moisture to escape. It's best to just stick a wooden spoon or something similar in the door.

Make your own spice blends

Homemade spice mixes are very trendy. So much the better if you have grown and harvested the herb yourself. The great thing about it is, on the one hand, that you know exactly what's in it and, on the other hand, you learn a lot about the subtle differences between the individual herbal mixtures. There are hardly any limits to your own imagination and creativity, as the following examples show:

herbs of Provence

• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp oregano
• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1 tbsp basil
• 1 tbsp savory

Depending on your needs, you can refine this mixture with bay leaves, marjoram, chervil, aniseed, fennel, tarragon, sage and/or lovage. These spices Herb mixtures go well with different dishes, including salads.

Italian spice mix

• 1 tbsp thyme
• 1 tbsp rosemary
• 1 tbsp sage
• 2 tbsp basil
• 2 tbsp oregano

This mixture can be supplemented or substituted with parsley, mint, dill or nutmeg, depending on what you like to have in it.

soup seasoning

• 2 tsp thyme
• 3 tsp parsley
• 3 tsp chives
• 4 tsp chervil
• 6 teaspoons lovage

All these herbal plants are known for their intense aroma and delicious taste. If you add celery, fresh leeks and carrots, nothing stands in the way of a delicious stew.

Seasoned Salt

• basil
• rosemary
• oregano
• sage
• thyme

The kitchen herbs mentioned are inoculated with salt Relationship 1:10 (10 g cabbage and 100 g salt) mixed. Depending on your taste and willingness to experiment, you can add lavender and mint, but only in small doses small amounts, because both spices have a very intense aroma, which easily masks that of the others could.

Learn more about growing herbs