Make Your Dried Herbs

If you decide to make some dried herbs for your kitchen, the best period to collect your herbs is in the late summer because some herbs begin to decline with the weather turning cool. During the day, morning will be best harvest time to pick up your herbs. When you do the cutting work in your garden, remember to take a good look at the health status of your chosen herb and remove the diseased leaves and insects. Before the drying process, you should tie several branches into a branch. You'd better use a rubber band as the whole branch will shrink when they are dried and the rubber band can still keep the branch tight compared with other strings. Then you should wrap up the whole branch using paper and wait until the moisture is gone.

The easiest and efficient way to make your dried herbs is using the air. However, this process may be a long time and some herbs oils may also not be fully depleted as well. The air drying process is suitable for some herbs with "dry" characteristics such as Rosemary, Thyme and Summer Savory. If the plants you are going to dry have high moisture substances like Basil and Mint, you'd better make use of a dehydrator to do the job. A microwave oven can also be used to dry the herbs, but it is more like a cooking process which help to remove the oily elements of the herb.

The dried herbs must be stored in containers which are properly sealed. Some small sized-jars can be used to facilitate categorization and labelling. When you put labels on your jars, be sure to put date on it for reference. To keep the flavor longer, you should store the whole leaves together instead of separate them. Also you should keep an eye on the status of your dried herbs, and discarded those which looks like to grow mold. Your herb containers should be put in a cool and shaded place to avoid direct sunlight. As your herbs may lose its qualities (color and flavor) with the time passing by, they should be consumed as quick as possible (less than a year).

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