Drying Herbs:
Three Methods to Yield High Quality.

My goal is to teach the best ways of drying herbs with an end result that is of the highest, natural quality and gives you the longest shelf life possible. Some of these herb drying methods are not historically or culturally accurate. I firmly believe that - if my Great Grandmother owned some of today's conveniences - she would have used them too. On this page I don't talk about all drying methods for herbs, only the three that seem to yield me the best results.

The three basic methods, for drying herbs, I'm going to cover - hang drying, slow air drying and dehydrating (which is just fast air drying). The purpose of drying your herbs is to remove the water (which causes most of the spoilage), but retain most of the plants natural oils (which is where nutrients and benefits, scent and flavor are).

Always start with a good washing. You want to remove bugs (check under leaves for eggs), dirt and anything else that might be on the plant that you may not want. I don't want to gross you out, but remember that animals pee outside. And, if the herb or spice was purchased you don't know what chemicals could have been sprayed on them. After you're done with the washing and inspection, pat or shake excess water off and walk away for about 15 minutes to let the air dry them a bit more.

Drying Herbs via Hang Drying: Drying herbs via hang drying can be aesthetically pleasing - but it is a slow process, takes up a lot of room and may not work well if you live in a humid location. You need a place that has good air flow, NO direct sun light and is not exposed to air born toxins (like gas fumes, hair spray or cigarette smoke). The plant must also have good stems that you can tie together well.

Cut about 2 feet of white (or natural colored) cotton string or jute - start gathering your herb by the stem, keeping the stem ends as even as possible. Stop when the grouping is about an inch or so wide. Tie these together about an inch or two from the stem end - leaving about a foot of string on either side. Hold the two ends of loose string together and tie that off at the top (giving you a handy length to use to hang the herb).

Herb should always be hung to dry upside down (leaves down - stem up). You want the natural oils to travel into the leaves. And, if you want to collect seeds it's now easy to loosely tie a paper bag at the end to catch any seeds that might fall off.

Drying Herbs via Slow Air Drying:
There are just some things you can't hang like nuts, fruit peels, berries, feathery leaves and some flowers. For the most part I skip Slow Air Drying and these kinds of herbs go directly into my dehydrator. But there are times that Slow Air Drying is just more convenient and better for the herb. Two herbs that come to mind right away are citrus fruit peels (that sometimes turn brown in a dehydrator) and wood sorrel. You need to consider the place you are using with the same conditions as for Hang Drying - adding that the area must be very dry.

You can go into all kinds of high cost here (making some really nifty racks for drying herbs) or simply use stacking cookie racks, with a piece of paper towel (or cotton cloth) laid down, before you set the herb on it. The most important thing to remember about slow air drying is that you MUST rotate and turn the herb every day and you may need to change the paper towel or cloth. You will also need to keep a close eye on this dried herb for mold, after you place it in it's final container.

There is a very high risk that mold will form before the herb dries, especially if you live in a humid area. Even one humid day - at the wrong stage - can spoil a whole crop of herb. This is the main reason I use my dehydrator for drying herbs.

Hint to help with slow air drying:
Turn your oven on at it's lowest temperature and prop the door open about 4 - 6 inches. Begin the drying in the oven by using the oven racks with paper towel, or cotton cloth, on them. BE EXTRA CAREFUL that the paper or cloth DOES NOT come close to any flame! This hint can even be used if you've started and have a humid day in the middle of the drying process. Leave the herb in the oven for anywhere from 10 minutes to a half hour - and CHECK on the herbs every 3 - 5 minutes. You don't want cooked herb - you want dried herb.

Drying Herbs via Dehydration (or Fast Air Drying):
For detailed instructions on drying herbs using a dehydrator, click here.

A dehydrator simply forces warm, dry air around your food to remove the water faster. If you are going to purchase a dehydrator make sure you get one with a fan (instead of just heat) and temperature control (which saves those poor citrus peels from turning brown). Working with a dehydrator is so nice for drying herbs. You need enough room for the unit, close to an electrical outlet, in an area that's clean and away from toxins.

Simply spread your herb loosely on the trays, stack them in the unit, adjust temperature, turn it on and walk away. Check about every half hour and remove any dried herb to speed up the drying of what remains inside. As an extra bonus you get the wonderful slight scent of the herb in the air (I LOVE drying mint leaves).

Every unit is a little different so read the instructions before use. Most of them have a temperature setting for drying herbs - start with their recommendation and make your own adjustments from there.

When are the dried herbs ready?
Your dried herb is ready when; leaves and some flowers get crunchy, twigs and stems break with a snap, seeds and nuts can be turned into a powder that doesn't clump together easily, berries and some flowers will be like a box of raisins that's been left open for a day.