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Drying of Herbs
Nature is an endless enigma of beauty and utility. In the very same way the uses of herbs don’t cease and can be done in varied ways. The fresh and natural way of herbs has its own importance. So does the dried form. In fact you need to dry herbs for their preservation. This is the simplest and best possible formula to store herbs over a longer period and use them as required.
Simple drying
Nothing hi-fi is there in the drying techniques. But a little concern is definitely demanded. Laying herbs directly under the sunlight to allow the moisture to get evaporated might seem to you the simplest and most effective technique but you might lose the importance of the herb if dried in this way. Even the oven and dehydrators must be avoided in drying up the herbs.
You must keep a note on a few things.
- Herbs are not just leaves of the plant.
- The flowers, fruits, seeds and buds are also integral parts of herbs.
- Different types of herbs will need separate treatment to get dried but the essential things will be alike.
- If it is a tender leaf herb you will have to place the leaves into a bag with holes for the passage of air and then allow them to dry up.
- For sturdy leaves the process will be slightly different.
Interestingly whatever moderation is required for a typical kind of herb, the basis of drying herbs is natural air and warmth. In some the time required to dry might be lengthier than that of the others.
Drying techniques
The most common tender leaf herb is basil. You can also include mint, lemon balm and tarragon in this category. These leaves contain excess of moisture but putting them directly under sunlight will erase their flavor. Thus you will have to apply such a technique by which the leaves will get dried up fast and also retain the original flavor in the dried state.
- Plug the fresh leaves and wash them with clean water.
- Rinse them well to shake off the gathered water.
- What remains next is the moisture content. For that you must make arrangement for some paper bags.
- Fill up these bags with the herbs and prick small holes from its sides.
- The mouth of the bag has to be closed and the holes will act as ventilation.
- The bags are to be hanged in different areas inside the house where passage of air is free and can hit the bags with greater velocity. This is enough to dry up the basil leaves.
- Indoor drying procedure is more welcomed that the outdoor drying in direct heat and radiation.
- If there is space problem then you can place the bags under shadow where circulation of air is more without the direct hit of the sun’s rays.
There are herbs like thymes, sage and parsley that don’t even require paper bags. If you tie these herbs in small bundles and hang them in free air passage inside your home, they will dry up easily retaining all qualities you seek from them. So do it yourself instead of fetching from the market. A brilliant idea indeed!