How to Dry and Store Fresh Herbs

Whether you purchase fresh herbs from the market, or harvest them from your own garden, air-drying herbs is the easiest and cheapest way to enjoy them long after the growing season has passed.

Instructions

Difficulty: Easy

Things You’ll Need:

• bundle of fresh herbs
• bread wrapper ties
• wire clothes hangers

1. Gather the herbs of your choice. If you purchase them, choose herbs that look perky and fresh, not wilted, with tender stems, not tough and overly mature. If you get them from your garden, harvest the plants before they flower. Cut them mid-morning, after the dew has dried but before the leaves wilt in the afternoon sun.
2. Wash the herbs, removing any wilted, brown, or diseased leaves. Shake excess water from them, and gently pat dry with paper towels. Separate them into smaller bundles, removing the leaves from the bottom few inches of the stem.
3. Bind each small bundle tightly with a twisty tie, and loop the ends of the tie onto the wire hanger. Hang in a warm, dry place, out of direct sunlight.
4. Herbs that do not have a high moisture content, such as parsley (pictured here), thyme, oregano, rosemary, or bay, will dry in about two weeks.
5. Once dry, strip the leaves off the stems and store them in an airtight container in a cool, dry place.

Tips & Warnings

• Be sure the leaves are completely dry before storing, or they might mold.
• Dried herbs are good for up to a year. As they lose their color, they also lose their flavor.
• Use about one teaspoon of dried herbs in place of one tablespoon of fresh.