How to Dry Lavender in a Dehydrator
Dehydrators work by providing constant heat and air circulation, whose combined effects remove moisture from food, thereby shrinking it and causing it to weigh less. If you have a food dehydrator, don't hesitate to use it to dry herbs as well. Lavender dries very well in a food dehydrator, and dried lavender has a number of aromatherapy applications. Does this Spark an idea?
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Instructions
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Select lavender stalks from your garden whose flowers have opened completely. Cut lavender immediately before you are going to dry it.
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Go over your lavender and make sure it is free of bugs, dead leaves or flowers, and other debris, but do not wash the lavender before it goes in the dehydrator.
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Cut the stalks to fit your dehydrator.
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Place the lavender in the drying tray of your dehydrator in a single layer.
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Set the dehydrator anywhere between 85 and 100 degrees F. Adjust the temperature with each use to what you feel is ideal.
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Allow the lavender to dry for two hours, checking it after the first hour and then every half an hour after that. If it needs more time to dry, check it every 15 minutes after that.
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Tips & Warnings
140 degrees F is the optimum drying temperature for food, but choose a lower temperature if you've never dried lavender in the dehydrator before or if you don't use your dehydrator often and are unsure how effective or efficient it is.
Do not hurry the drying process. Setting your dehydrator at temperatures higher than 140 degrees can cause what is known as "case hardening," which occurs when the outside of the plant dries but moisture remains on the inside. This will eventually cause your lavender to grow mold.
If you want to speed the drying time, you should increase airflow to your lavender rather than raise the temperature.
If you only need the lavender flowers, remove them after the entire lavender stalk has dried. Use your lavender to make laundry sachets, aromatherapy pillows, and many other fragrant articles.
