How do you dry your herbs ?

[faeriewitch]

Ok Everyone !

Another Question for you ....
How do you dry your herbs ?:)

[Fairy_Princess]

In a 200 degree oven laid flat on a cookie sheet, with the door propped open about an inch. Takes about 6-8 hours.

[Hærfest Leah]

I just hang mine in the kitchen. I don't dry herbs often.

[Gyda]

Hang them upside down from a sting in the kitchen.

Gyda

[Eternal Night]

The oven.........the quicker the herbs are dried the better they are.
(For uses in magic anyway)

[Zephyrstorm]

I dry them in the back of my closet, hung upside down on a hanger. But I don't dry herbs often.

[LadyCelt]

Would a flower press used to dry those work for herbs?

[skilly-nilly]

A flower press makes things flat and pretty (good for framing and the like) but squishes out (imo) too much of the essential juice to make it a good way of preserving for other uses.

I have a big, dry basement storage area that I use. My son built me a big rack (sort of a very sturdy deep set of shelves) with netting as the surfaces between the framing. I can (for example) poke Queen Anne's Lace and Daisies through the netting to make them dry flat and I can lay big bundles of herbs on the netting to dry.

I also have big nails spaced along the beams to dry small bundles (I advise using tiny rubber bands to keep them bundled as they dry, otherwise they will end up on the floor).

Once they are nicely dry, I store them in paper grocery bags or laundry hampers so as to free up the rack and nails for more.

[halfwaynowhere]

laid flat on a baking sheet, in the oven, which is off. The pilot light keeps it warm enough that it works pretty well for drying.

[daphnerose]

I have a huge walk in closet I hang them in, also put certain ones, like flowers in paper bags. I also dry them in my kitchen, hanging from nails. I usually turn a fan on them a few times a day.

[Astara Seague]

I hang them in my pantry it takes longer but for me it works best

[Caitlin.ann]

I either dry them in the oven or hang them in bundles from my curtain rod.

[faeriewitch]

Thanks for that info everyone !!

Off to dry some herbs !!:)

[Xirian]

I usually hang them upside down somewhere cool, dark and dry, but I've also done the following, that I saw on t.v.:


Drying Herbs

Buy four furnace filters (without the fiberglass) and two bungie cords. On three of the filters, place your fresh herbs in the ridges. Stack the filters one on top of the other and use the fourth filter to cover the other three. Take an upright box fan and a couple of bungie cords and strap the filters to the front of the fan. Allow fan to run for 12 hours. After 12 hours, flip the filters, and strap them back to the fan. Allow the fan to run for 12 more hours. When this process is done, your herbs will be crispy dry, they won't have any dust on them, and your house will smell wonderful.

[Nitefalle]

Interesting method, Xirian. I've never heard of that before. How does it work out for you?

I hang mine in the basement, in a dark corner, but I want to try the oven thing, too.

[Zephyrstorm]

Ooooo... that sounds like an interesting way to do it, Xirian. *ponder* couldn't do it in the place I have now, but maybe when we get a larger place.

[Xirian]

Interesting method, Xirian. I've never heard of that before. How does it work out for you?

It actually worked out really well. They were crisp and they didn't have any dust on them, which has been my problem in the past. I dried basil and flat leaf parsley that I bought at the farmers market. The furnace filters are really inexpensive and I happened to have a box fan at the time (which I don't have any longer). I only did one layer (two filters), but they turned out really nicely and they fit perfectly in the furnace filter slots.

[Glowy]

cool, I will have to try that. I hang mine upside down on my enclosed 3 season room.

[PoisonIvy]

I use a food dehydrator.

[Willow Rosette]

I use a food dehydrator.

I use my dehyrator too. It seems whenever I hang them up they end up hanging forever and getting dusty. So the dehydrator works much better.

[Skylah]

I have a sheet of slatwall on my bedroom wall with straight hooks (like you'd see in a hardware store), and hang the herbs there.

I've used a dehydrator and the oven before, but found that some herbs will brown when dried this way. Most stay green when they dry hung on the slatwall.

[MsMollimizz]

I use an oblong corning ware, layer of cheesecloth and place the garlic, celery leaf, ginger...etc on it and let the pilot dry
them, takes roughly 3 days and have no trouble with browning-
so far...!
Gentle Light
MsMolli

[Terra Mater]

The oven.........the quicker the herbs are dried the better they are.
(For uses in magic anyway)
Maybe in your path. Mine prefers drying them hanging upside down to keep the strength in the the plants rather than cooking them an extra time and losing their potency.

[shuvanilu]

First I wash them, and lay them out on a towel over night just to get the moisture off of them from the washing. Then I tie them in pretty bundles with different colored yarns, and hang them from the long curtain rod over my back sliding door. It looks really pretty, they dry nicely, and I consider them to have protective properties hanging there over the doorway. Sometimes I will also put them in paper lunch bags, and give them a good shake everyday until dry. This works especially well if I'm creating an incense mixture...I just take the bag out to the garden, make my herbal combination, let them dry in that bag, and it's ready to use for a ritual.--shuvanilu

[~*Sacred*~]

I have a huge closet in the dining room that we're going to change into my herb closet (now I have to find a place for all the stuff already in there...). I don't want sunlight getting my herbs while they're drying. I would LOVE to hang my herbs to dry in my kitchen, but it's too light and I don't want the sun to affect the properties of the herbs :( How beautiful to see drying herbs though - however I don't welcome dust on them either...

[darkNight]

Ahh, so that answers the question I was going to ask. I had a hour appointment and left a stalk of catnip in my car that I am transplanting. I came out and noticed it dried pretty well in the car for that hour. But it makes sense, does the sun leach out the ingredients?

What if I put up a windshield visor? There wouldn't be any sun and the natural heat of the car would dry it quickly, no?

[~*Sacred*~]

From what I know... no sunlight and nothing above 96 degrees and you should be ok, but I'm not experienced in drying herbs so hopefully someone else says something :toofless:

[Bugscuttle]

If you want the essence of the herb left in it, dry herbs in a dark place with temperature under 90 degrees F. Air circulation is good, sunlight and high temps are bad.
I dry mine for both holistic use and magickal use, tho. Your mileage, etc.

[Astara Seague]

Just saying that my article in the new issue of the MW mag will have some great info for you:thumbsup:

[KC Destroyer of Worlds]

If sunlight and dust are an issue, tea dying cheese cloth, letting it dry and loosely wrapping it around the herbs a few times will keep out most of the light and a good bit of the dust. Granted it won't keep out all of the light and dust but it helps. Also if you wait until they are starting to dry and you live in a low humidity environment, tying a paper bag around the herb stems can keep out the light, and regulate the heat a bit. (if you have a dry cool basement this isn't really necessary).

[EntwinedScylla]

I actually use a Ronco food dehydrator, though if I'm worried about heat dammage I use furnace filters bungee tied to a box fan (the "Alton Brown" method).

The more aeromatic the herb, the better with the fan method... fills your house with a lovely smell. And you can also dehydrate beef jerkey the same way!