It's all well and good to grow your own herbs or buy them fresh from the shops, but they don't last more than a few days when they've been cut. So, if you want to keep your herbs all year round, you'll have to dry them (or in the case of chives, freeze them). Drying is the oldest method of preserving food and compared with other preservation methods is quite simple - you probably already have most of the equipment on hand. Dried herbs keep well because the moisture content is so low that mould and bacteria can't grow. There are 2 methods of doing this, discussed below - I haven't included sun drying, because it's uncontrollable and not great for preserving the colour and aroma of herbs - which is part of the fun of using them!

To get the optimum aroma (and flavour, if you want to use your herbs for cooking), harvest your herbs just before they flower (the oils are at their most potent) and in mid-morning, after the night dew has evaporated but not so late the hot sun has hit them.

Herbs need to be prepared for drying as soon as possible after harvesting. They should be dried rapidly, but not so fast that the outside becomes hard before the moisture inside has a chance to evaporate.

Drying must not be interrupted! Once you start drying herbs, don't let them cool down and start drying again later. Mould and other micro-organisms can and will grow on partially dried food.

Before storing, all herbs that have been air dried should be heated in an oven to destroy insects and insect eggs (this is called pasteurising). Heat herbs for 10 minutes at 70°C, cool and package immediately.

 

Oven Drying

Oven drying is well suited to 'wet', leafy herbs like parsley, coriander, mint, etc. To dry herbs in an oven, you'll need -

Preheat your oven on 60-70°C, low fan if you have a fan. This isn't so hot the outside of the herbs will get crispy before the inside is dry and not so cool they won't dry properly.

Wash your herbs thoroughly and pat them dry. You'll need to cut your herbs into pieces - don't chop them or anything, but don't leave them in whole lengths either. Use some common sense. :)

Arrange your herbs in an evenly spaced single layer on your racks and put your racks in your preheated oven - remember, no trays! The air needs to get at all the surfaces of your herbs equally.

Don't shut the door completely - the door needs to be ajar about 7-10cm so the moisture can get out. I find the Herald Sun (newspaper) folded in half is useful.

The herbs will take at least an hour to dry properly - move the trays around the oven (i.e. from bottom to top), because the temperature isn't the same all over the oven.

Generally, the herbs are dry when they crackle in your hand like a smaller version of dry autumn leaves - you all know that sound. Another clue to when they're done is that they'll resemble dry parsley, which we've all seen.

Let the herbs cool down, then put them in a clean, dry, airtight container and you can keep them for months.

 

Air Drying

Sturdy, 'dry' herbs are best suited to air drying - ones like sage, thyme and rosemary (also works for lavender).

Use sharp scissors to cut stems from a mature plant. Remove insects, the leaves from the lower end of the stem and also any damaged/diseased leaves.

Wash the herbs (not flowers) in cold water and pat them dry - wet herbs will mould.

Tie 4- 6 stems together with the string - for higher-moisture 'dry' herbs, use smaller bunches. Put your holey bag over the top (with the name of the herb and the date you hung it), making sure the leaves don't touch the sides.

Hang the herbs upside in a warm, dry and airy place (incidentally, herbs are hung upside down so any oils in the stems migrate into the leaves). Check the string occasionally, as the stems will shrink as they dry and the string may become loose.

Leave the herbs for at least 2 weeks. If there is any sign of mould at any point, throw the lot out and start again in a drier place.

 

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