Drying herbs. Can I...

[TreasonousBastard]

toss a bunch of greens in a laundry bag, pillowcase, pantyhose or whatever and throw the whole thing in the clothes dryer on low?

I've never bothered with drying things before and have been perfectly happy to buy a jars of parsley, basil and such instead of messing up my kitchen with it it. Besides, I rarely had any place to grow the stuff anyway.

But now I have discovered parsley root, which is suddenly available at our local farm stands. Easily mistaken for a parsnip, it is a neat thing with edible leaves much like your usual parsley. The leaves re a bit more intense, though and there are a LOT of them.

It was over a hundred yesterday, so I have no intention of turning the oven on for another month or so, even on low, but I am using a countertop convection oven-- which will require at least three loads at 2 hours or so...

(I don't have a dehydrator, but that might come in handy if I do this a lot.)

So, anyone ever used the dryer (which vents outside!) for drying herbs and things?

Any other ideas?

[sinkingfeeling]

1. Think I'd use the microwave before my dryer.

[Arkansas Granny]

2. The easiest way I've found to dry herbs is to tie the stems together and hang them upside down in

a warm, dry place. When they are completely dry, you can store them in glass containers. You can invert them into a paper bag before hanging them, if you wish, to keep dust and lint off of them, but I've never found that to be necessary.

Indoor Air Drying Herbs. Tie stems in bundles and hang the herbs upside down. Use twist-ties so you can easily tighten the bundles when stems shrink as they dry. A warm, dry spot is best; avoid the kitchen. Wrap muslin, a mesh produce bag or a paper bag with several holes around the bundle, and tie it at the neck. Carol Costenbader, author of The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest, suggests making a gift this way by using a decorative hole punch and pretty ribbon.

A drying screen helps dry leaves or sprigs. Make your own from an old window screen or hardware cloth mesh stapled to scrap wood or a picture frame. Lay cheesecloth over the screen, and place herbs on the cloth. Herbs can take a few hours to several days to dry fully.

http://www.motherearthnews.com/real-food/drying/drying-herbs-zm0z13fmzmat.aspx

[TreasonousBastard]

4. Alas, no place for that here.

[MADem]

3. Do you live in a damp climate? You can't just hang them up and let them dry on their own?

http://msue.anr.msu.edu/news/drying_herbs_can_be_done_using_one_of_four_techniques

[TreasonousBastard]

5. Stuff tends to rot around here...

not dry, so that's out.

I'll see how the oven works, or maybe buy a dehydrator.

[randr]

6. I would be concerned about the amount of heat on the volital oils

and the beating it would take.

[TreasonousBastard]

7. Yeah, the beating. Dust and tiny little crumbs. Blecchh.

[packman]

8. Yes, DO NOT use your clothes dryer

It would beat them up and mix the flavors - just don't. I've heard a low set oven, making your own dehydrator with a low watt bulb for heat, buying a dehydrator - I have one and use it quite a bit for everything from drying fruit out to jerky to dried tomatoes and have found it a good investment. Go for the biggest one you can get.

[TreasonousBastard]

9. I'm using my countertop oven...

150 degrees for under an hour worked just fine. Lots of stems I'll have to figure out with to do with, though.

It holds 3 racks, and then two loads to do all the leaves. The second load is in there now.

This is kinda neat, so I'm looking for a cheap dehydrator. Might make one.

[japple]

10. I dried basil in a brown paper bag in my attic. It's probably about 120

degrees, even with an attic exhaust fan running. I took a paper punch and punched small holes in the paper bag. Then I gathered the basil, tied the stems together in a bunch and put them down in the bag with the leaves down/stems up. Then I stapled the bag shut and hung it on a nail in the attic. Then I forgot about it--really, I forgot about it. When I went up to to get something else, I found the bag with very nicely dried basil. Crumble it and place in a jar.

[Major Nikon]

11. Drying Herbs Video

http://www.foodnetwork.com/videos/drying-herbs-96752.html

[TreasonousBastard]

12. Cool! But, still takes a day or two, so...

I found a dehydrator for 45 bucks, but it's 400 WATTS and you run it for hours. Well, probably not hours for herbs, since it does fruit, too. Anyway, my oven works fine.

Electric rates here are among the highest in the nation, and going up. So, I found an assortment of colanders, chafing dishes, and parchment paper floating around, which gives me ideas. I also have some incandescent bulbs I haven't thrown out, strainers, and several slow cookers.

I also have a stash of Sterno cans.

[Major Nikon]

13. The video shows the best way to dry herbs

Things like fruit and jerky are OK in an electric dehydrator or oven, but herbs contain aromatics and essential oils that will degrade very quickly with a heat based dehydrator. So drying them out at room temperature is the very best way to go.

[Warpy]

14. I think you'll end up with a lot of dust caked on the inside of the pillowcase

with nothing to show for it but the stems.

The best way to dry herbs is to tie them in a bunch, hang them upside down so the resins stay in the leaves and upper stems, and encase them in a small paper bag with a few slits cut into it and loosely tied at the top. The paper bag avoids having the wall stained if that's where you have to hang them. It also keeps light away from the herbs, which also preserves their full flavor.

In 100 degree heat, those herbs will dry very quickly.

[TreasonousBastard]

15. Much too humid here so serious air circulation is necessary...

the Alton Brown thing with the fan and filters should work, and my convection oven works.

[Warpy]

16. The paper bags worked just fine on Cape Cod

where I had to shave mildew off the furniture once a week in summer. The water content escaped mostly through the cut stems, which were in open air. Slits in the bag provided just enough air circulation to avoid fungus on the leaves. I didn't do basil this way, basil plants have always committed suicide around me, but I did do thyme, oregano, summer savory, dill, and a few others.

[TreasonousBastard]

17. May be, but this apartment has its own problems and...

paper bags have made little difference.

I might, and I repeat "might", be able to do it in the water heater closet if I can get come air circulation in there.

As I said, though, I'm perfectly happy to get most of my herbs in bottles-- it's just oddball stuff like this that I'm looking to do. Most other greens, like beet and radish, I save if I can cook them up and freeze them in a day or so. Beyond that they are mush.

[dem in texas]

18. Drying herbs

I used to grow a large herb garden and I dried herbs still on the stems by hanging upside down to a nail on a shelf in my garage. Also dried lavender this way. To dry my chili peppers, I'd pick the ripe peppers with some stem still on them, then using a needle and a buttonhole thread, I'd thread the peppers on the thread and hang the thread of peppers in the garage to dry also.

For basil and big leaf herbs, I'd line a baking pan with paper towels and put leaves on the paper towels. I put the baking pan on a window sill and let the herbs air dry, stirring them each day. It would usually take about a week to get them good and dry. I had a small laurel tree growing in a big pot and I'd harvest the leaves off it to dry (bay leaves). I kept the laurel tree going for about five years, taking it in the garage in the winter, then I let the frost get it one year. No more home grown bay leaves.

Watch the herbs and peppers and as soon as they are dry, put them in jars or containers. Don't want the bugs to get them.

[japple]

19. Folks used to dry apples on the shelf behind the back seat in their car.

You know how hot it gets when the car sits out in the sun during the summer!! At some point they would have to rotate the apples. Herbs would really make your car smell great.