#Thyme and season how to#
#Thyme and season full#

Pack in ice cubes: Chop the well-rinsed herbs (create a mixture if you like), pack them tightly into ice-cube trays, add just enough water to cover, and freeze.

This method allows you to reach into a bag, remove the needed amount of herbs, and crumble them quickly into a salad dressing, soup, or other dish.

Freeze in layers: The most common way to freeze herbs is to lay sprigs of rinsed herbs one layer deep in a freezer bag and freeze flat.

Just wash all herbs in cool, running water, and pat dry before freezing. There’s no need to blanch herbs for freezing.

#Thyme and season how to#

How to Freeze Herbsįreezing is the best way to maintain the essential oils and spritely flavors of delicate herbs such as dill, fennel, thyme, basil, and chives (although you can freeze any herb). Make sure you store the herbs in an airtight container. I like small-mouthed mason jars for storage because they accept the lids from grated parmesan-cheese containers that let me shake herbs right from the jar. When the herbs crumble easily, I sweep them into a large paper bag, crumble them with my hands, and funnel them into glass containers. Because it removes moisture at such a low temperature (about 95°) with continuous airflow across the drying racks, it preserves the rich flavors of these culinary herbs better than oven or air-drying. I’ve found it especially useful for drying aromatic culinary and tea herbs: oregano, sage, basil, mint.

Dehydrate: A few years ago I bought an eight-tray electric food dehydrator to try drying tomatoes, zucchini, and garden fruits.

When they crumble easily, I sweep them into a clean pillow case or heavy paper bag and crush them, then store in glass jars in a dry, dark place. It’s hot, dry and dark up there in summer, and the herbs dry quickly. Strip and dry in hot place: To dry a large harvest of tea and medicinal herbs, I’ve had success with stripping individual leaves or flower clusters from their stems, spreading them one layer deep on a thin cotton sheet and tacking the four corners to boards in the steeply pointed ceiling in my attic.Rinse the herbs well under cool running water, lay them to wilt and dry in the sun, then tie them up. When leaves are dry, remove them from their stems and store in an airtight jar. Hanging in bunches: The old-fashioned method of tying small bunches of herbs with string and hanging them to dry in a dark, well-ventilated place still works well for most leafy herbs and flowers.Patty Sanders, certified herbalist, explains further … You may decide how far you want to go with the process. But unless you live in a very arid climate, herbs such as basil and parsley, which have thick, succulent leaves, are better dried in a dehydrator. Certainly, some herbs can be air-dried easily, such as oregano, sage, and thyme. There are many ways to dry herbs-in a basket, hang herbs, or use a dehydrator. Some herbs respond best to freezing, others respond better to drying, and some can be frozen or dried! See our chart and details below. Sometimes is just fine to buy a few ounces of the organic herb and make the product you have been waiting to make. If you don’t grow or collect your own, you may find fresh herbs in quantity at many farmers’ markets or speciality food stores. This should be after the flower buds appear but before they open.

#Thyme and season full#

If you’re growing herbs, always harvest on a sunny morning after the dew has dried, but before the full force of the midday sun. The volatile oils and medicinal phytocompounds are most highly concentrated in leafy herbs as the flower buds swell but haven’t yet opened. Favorite herbs include Greek oregano, basil, rosemary, thyme, dill, parsley, and the various mints, as well as the medicinals: yarrow (leaves and flowers), elderberry flowers, plantain, comfrey, heal-all, and others. Herbs have been both our medicine and our food for millennia! Think of an “herb” as any aromatic plant used for food, seasoning, or medicine. Here’s how to preserve your herbs for that garden-fresh flavor all year long. There’s no need to waste any herbs, whether you bought those small (and pricy) store containers or need to cut your garden herbs before fall frost. The two best ways to preserve extra herbs are drying and freezing.