5 Different Ways to Dry Herbs

If you’ve ever grown herbs, you know that they grow quickly and continue to grow and grow and grow. And if you’ve ever tasted the difference between homemade and store-bought dried herbs, you know how worth it is it to pluck your herb harvest and get it dried.

Store-bought herbs are almost bland in comparison. I’ll use them in a pinch, but if I can cut and dry my own, I’m going to every chance I get! Here are 5 easy ways you can dry herbs. Just choose your favorite and get to drying!

Before you get started, you need to harvest your herbs. During the height of growing season, I usually snip of the entire stem to encourage the plant to keep producing.  Then, I slide my thumb and pointer finger along the stem, forcing the leaves into a bowl.

Give them a good rinse and spin dry in a salad spinner or pat dry with a paper towel. You need to give them a rinse, but want to make sure they aren’t wet when you begin the drying process. Now pick your method.

In a Dehydrator: My post on Harvesting and Drying Herbs from the Garden goes into more detail on dehydrating them using a dehydrator, but it’s pretty dang simple! Lowest possible setting and then 1-4 hours, checking after each hour to see if they are dried.

In the Oven: The oven method or cookie sheet method requires only a cookie sheet and whatever herbs your little heart desires.  Spread your herbs out over the cookie sheet {they can overlap}. Turn your oven onto the lowest possible temp and place the cookie sheet in the oven for 2-3 hours.

Hanging in Bunches: I’d only recommend this method if you like in a dry climate because sometimes the bundles retain too much moisture and you get mold before they are dry. But if you want to try this method, you can clip the stems and bundle them with a rubber band or twine, then hang them upside down in a place that is warm and dry.

In the Microwave: Place a single layer of herbs on a paper towel on a microwave-safe plate. Cover with another paper towel. Microwave on high for 1 minute. Check to see if herbs are dry. If not, return tot he microwave for 30-second intervals until herbs are dry {this can take up to 10 minutes, depending on the herb!}.

Air Dry: In the summer months, I love to use the sun and hot weather.  I lay them out flat on a cookie sheet or even my dehydrator racks and set them outside to dry.  I like this method because they dry pretty slowly, which I think retains their flavor better {but that might be all in my head!}.

Now what do you do with all those dried herbs? Me, I prefer to pull out my coffee grinder and pulse small batches them.  If you are drying multiple types of herbs, you want to make sure that in between each type of herb, you clean your coffee grinder, just so that the flavors don’t co-mingle.

I put the dried and lightly pulsed herbs into small mason jars and then store them in the pantry or cupboard.  They will store for about a year, and the flavor is so much more intense than anything you can get in a store!

Do you grow and dry your herbs?  If so, what is your preferred method?

~Mavis