Do you dry your herbs?

[MissPotato]

Not a lot of people are a fan of dried herbs VS their fresh counterparts - like basil for example. But there are some recipes which call for them. Do you dry your own herbs or prefer buying them pre-dried on the supermarket? Is there a difference?

 

[Trellum]

I'm working on drying my own herbs in the future, but I need to get a few things before I try doing that! There are many ways to do it, I plan to use the sun as my ally, some people use the oven, but I don't think that's a good idea. Mostly because that process is too fast, and most nutrients will be lost, plus this can affect the flavour!

 

[claudine]

I air dry some herbs, especially thyme and marjoram. I don't do anything special, it's very easy. I simply bundle a few branches together, tie them as a bunch and hang it upside down. And I wait

 

[gata montes]

I used to dry my own herbs, in much the same way as claudine in bunches, hung upside down, but as I'm not a great fan of dried herbs, I prefer to store my herbs as ice cubes, because that way they taste just like fresh herbs but saying that, dried ones, especially home grown ones, would be far better than none at all.
Shop bought dried herbs verses home grown - home gown always wins for me, much more flavor.

 

[ChanellG]

I'm starting to dry more herbs so I will have them over the winter. I have such an abundance at times it would make sense to dry some so that I always have some available, though I mostly plan on using dried stuff for tea. I have saved some dried fruit peel to use for that purpose as well. I'm just not organized about it though.

 

[Shellyann36]

I dry my own when I have it. I have had quite a bit of success with basil and it turns out awesome. I have tried to dry cilantro and I did not like how it turned out. I am trying to keep cilantro growing year around for me but I am not having a lot of success at that. When I buy it at the grocery store I will normally use half and then dry the rest of it. I have not tried to dry anything but these two herbs. I need to experiment more.

 

[ChanellG]

I recently started experimenting with freezing herbs. I chop them up and put them in a little container about the size of an ice cube and then cover them in olive oil. I've done it a few times so far with garlic and with basil. It works out really well, especially with the garlic.

 

[Shellyann36]

I recently started experimenting with freezing herbs. I chop them up and put them in a little container about the size of an ice cube and then cover them in olive oil. I've done it a few times so far with garlic and with basil. It works out really well, especially with the garlic.

I have heard of this. I did it once with basil and used water and not olive oil. It worked out well for me but I had to be careful not to put too much into a dish. I would use it for pizza and spaghetti sauce mostly. I miss my fresh basil. It smells so good.

 

[justusforus]

I agree with Claudine. I have air dryed Sage and Basil as well. Just hang em and let em go. I have to try the ice cube tray trick though. I love having fresh herbs but still my home grown dried outshine anything store bought.

 

[ChanellG]

I have heard of this. I did it once with basil and used water and not olive oil. It worked out well for me but I had to be careful not to put too much into a dish. I would use it for pizza and spaghetti sauce mostly. I miss my fresh basil. It smells so good.

I hope mine survived all that wind yesterday! It's cold this morning and I am not inclined to go out and check on it. Things are going to have to warm up a bit first, but at least we weren't expecting freezing temperatures overnight.

 

[firelily99]

I dry quite a few although my space is limited. Bee balm, mints, rosemary, thyme, basil, borage, and cat nip are the main ones. I usually have a ton of bee balm because I cut it back at least twice a summer. Its medicinal properties are many and it makes a nice tea when combined with one of the mints. I have five different mints: peppermint, spearmint, apple, pineapple, and chocolate, all wonderful for a tea - especially the chocolate.

 

[ChanellG]

I wish I was growing bee balm; the last time I went to the garden center looking for it they were all out. I haven't tried growing borage in ages! I had planned to grow catnip this year, but never got around to getting the plants. I added a few fall plants, but have decided to hold off with anything new for a while. I am waiting to see if the cold snap left me any herbs (that bitter wind was fierce) worth harvesting, but I probably need to go out and cut as much as I can and hang it to dry.

 

[Shellyann36]

I hope they survived too. We have had such a cold snap and it is so early! In the 20's at night here all week. We are experiencing a warm up right now and its in the 40's and 50's. We are also expecting rain. I am glad for the warm up even if it does involve rain!

 

[ChanellG]

I've been super busy with speed dating stuff, but I plan to get out there tomorrow and survey what is still alive. I have a lot of basil that needs to be transplanted and the lavender desperately needs a new home. I hope I haven't lost either of the two lavender plants in the back yard, the one in front has been holding its own, and we had a really good rain the other day so I'm optimistic.

 

[Pat]

I recently started experimenting with freezing herbs. I chop them up and put them in a little container about the size of an ice cube and then cover them in olive oil. I've done it a few times so far with garlic and with basil. It works out really well, especially with the garlic.

This seems like a great idea. My daughter has purchased bottles of Olive Oil with the garlic or basil in the bottles. The seasonings are great to cook with. I will have to give your idea a try.