How to Dry Herbs

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How to Dry Herbs:

 There are many methods to dry herbs. Depending on where you live some methods will be better than others. Some may take multiple days others will only take a few hours. In this post I will let you know which worked best for me. 

Indoor Drying:
It’s not recommend drying indoors, as it’s easy for the herbs to mold.

 -Use a dehydrator on it’s lowest setting, if possible.
-Use an oven on it’s lowest temperature setting (170 or less).
-Tie a bunch of herbs or flowers with a piece of string and hang it in a sunny window in your home.

-Place them in an old mesh or produce bag (like an onion bag) and hang the bag in a sunny window.

 DON’T dry your herbs and flowers in a cool or damp place (like a bathroom) out of sunlight. Ensure that they’re in an environment that’s hot, dry, and ideally, in direct sunlight.


Outdoor Drying:

-Use an old mesh or produce bag (like an onion bag), place the herbs in the bag and set it in direct sunlight.
-Use old window screens and racks.
-Tie the end of a bunch of herbs or flowers with a piece of string and hang it in an undisturbed place in direct sunlight
-Lay them on a towel or other dry surface and use a stick to weigh them down.

 At dusk, bring your herbs inside to prevent them from getting damp and dewy. They’re ready to store when they are completely dry and crumble when crushed.

Trial and Error:
For Indoor drying, the dehydrator worked best for me, it only took a few hours. I also tied herbs to the window which took almost a week for them to dry completely. That's why I recommend the dehydrator over the window.

For Outdoor drying, I've used the mesh bag and the towel methods. Those both work great! Just make sure when you're using the mesh bag, your herbs are laid out evenly. Rotate or flip the towels or mesh bag to make sure everything is getting enough sunlight, you don't want half of your herbs to be mushy while the other half crumbles.

I plan on trying the screen method soon, I believe it'll work great as well!

Comments

Diwakar said…
Hello Adrienne. I am a Pastor from Mumbai, India. I am glad to stop by your profile on the blogger and the blog post. I am also blessed and feel privileged and honored to get connected with you as well as know you and your interest. I love getting connected with the people of God around the globe to be encouraged, strengthened and praying for one another. I have been in the Pastoral ministry for last 40 yrs in this great city of Mumbai a city with a great contrast where richest of rich and the poorest of poor live. We reach out to the poorest of poor with the l ove of Christ to bring healing to the brokenhearted. We also encourage young and the adults from the west to come to Mumbai to work with us during their vacation time. We would love to have you come to Mumbai and help us in the ministry as well as find out various herbs that are used as medicine. I am sure you will have a very rewarding time. Looking forward to hear from you very soon. God's richest blessings on you, your family and friends. Also wishing you a blessed and a Christ centred rest of the year 2018. Myemail id is: dhwankhede(at)gmail(dot)com and my name is Diwakar Wankhede
June 25, 2018 at 7:43 AM

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