Storing herbs is a great way to add flavor variety to your stored foods. Growing herbs in an herb garden can provide fabulous fresh herbs during growing season. Usually, there is plenty of herb left at the end of the season. These fresh herbs can be preserved easily by drying them, and one way to get it done quickly is by using a dehydrator. I have an Excalibur dehydrator, but most dehydrators will work for drying herbs.
What you’ll need:
- Fresh herbs like oregano, basil, parsley, chives, marjoram, and sage.
- Dehydrator (best if it has adjustable temperatures and tray spacing).
- Containers for the dried herbs.
That’s it. Pretty simple, right? Okay, let’s get started.
1. Pick your herbs. If you grew them yourself, it’s best to pick them before they flower and if you can do it in the morning or evening it is supposed to help retain more flavor.
2. Wash the herbs. You don’t want little dirt bits in your dried herbs. Make sure they’re cleaned off well, and then give them a good shake or pat dry on a towel to get rid of the excess water.
3. Set the dehydrator to a low temperature (between 95 and 125 degrees is ideal), and place the herbs on the trays. You can remove them from the stems or cut them up prior to drying if you’d like to. If your dehydrator does not have adjustable tray spacing, you’ll probably want to get them off the stems. I just leave them on because it’s really easy to get them off after they are dry.
I’m drying parsley, oregano, and basil and all the trays needed double spaced, like this:
4. Dry for 6-18 hours depending on the herb and humidity levels. Herbs are dry when they crack and break into bits and powder.
5. Remove any extra stems before storing. I just stripped the oregano and basil from their stems by running them through my fingers over a bowl. The parsley needed a few stems broken off after drying as well.
6. Keep your dry herbs in an airtight container. I’m recycling a Nutella and a drink container. Washed out and completely dried before filling with herbs. If you want to recycle containers, use food grade “PETE” plastic. It has recycle code 2 on the bottom and will say PET or PETE by the code.
That’s a lot of herbs for cheap! Drying herbs in a dehydrator is super easy and a fantastic way to preserve those fresh herbs for later use!
Keep preparing! Angela
***************************************************************
Subscribe to my email newsletter for updates and special deals.
Please be sure to follow Food Storage and Survival on Facebook which is updated every time there is a new article. You can also find me on Pinterest, and purchase my book, Food Storage for Self Sufficiency and Survival on Amazon.
***************************************************************
Shop the Thrive Monthly Specials or my favorites, the freeze dried vegetables and yogurt bites!
***************************************************************
Copyright secured by Digiprove © 2013 Angela
Your dried herb stems can be tied into small bundles for a fine herbes bouquet to add to soups, or powder them and add to broth, soups, gravies, etc. They have a lot of flavor.
I use fine herbes bouquets in the cavity of chicken or turkey to add flavor to the juices while they are roasting.
Thanks for this! That is a great idea. :)
Never have used a dehydrator but I’ve had great luck putting rinsed, dried off stems of parsley and basil in brown paper lunch bags, folding over and taping or stapling the top down and then just setting the bags on the top of the kitchen cabinet or top of a tall bookcase. Wait a couple of weeks and they’re done.
Some day when I can find a dehydrator at a thrift shop or at a yard sale I’ll seriously think about getting one.
I found that the herb section basil was horrid. So, I froze it, putting washed leaves in a freezer bag. Then, after a couple of days in the freezer, I just crushed them with my hands. I am wondering if the home dehydrated basil is as tasty as fresh or frozen. ??? I am ready to dehydrate what I have now!
thank you for this article . I was blessed to receive a 9 tray excalibur for my birthday from the hubbs, so I need to get busy thank you!
I have a 10 tray excalibur and an herb garden in very large pots. I highly recommend dehydrating. I dryed ment
today. You can hang your bundles from attic rafters to dry as well. I’ve dryed herbs and peppers in the attic before
my dehydrator was purchased.
Im dehydrating basil right now,is it supposed to turn brown as it dries? i picked it fresh this morning-,rinsed and dried it off well on paper towels. Im only doing one tray til i know for sure its supposed to turn brown! Thanks
It does sometimes turn brownish. Not sure why. Make sure it’s drying at the low temperature setting if you can adjust that. Herbs can also be air dried if it’s not too humid where you live by hanging or laying them in a dry dark location with plenty of airflow.
My rosemary is turning brown in the dehydrator, is that right? I would love it to me green.
Dried Basil loses a lot of its flavor iMO. Freezing is much better for basil. Also if you have a vacuum pack machine, packaging the herbs in a vacuum makes them last much longer. In case you have more than you can use in a few months