Drying Rosemary?

Hi,

I had some leftover fresh rosemary yesterday, so I decided to see if I can make dried rosemary out of it.

I washed it, waited for it to dry up and spread it on towel for the drying process.

It looked wilted today, so I am wondering:

- Should I take the leaves off the stems now or when it dries up?
- How long will it take for it to dry?


Thanks!

It will be easier if you wait till it's dried.

Drying time depends on the amount of rosemary, the humidity of your house and other factors. It shouldn't take more than a few days, though. It will dry somewhat faster if you gather it in a bunch and hang it instead of laying it flat. Assuming you have a modern frost-free fridge, you can also speed up drying of small amount of herbs by placing them in the refrigerator.

Next time you have extra fresh herbs, though, you can get a fresher end result by freezing. Remove stems, whirl in the blender with a little bit of water and make herb ice cubes. Once frozen, pop out into a plastic bag and use as needed.

I've noticed the last couple of times I've bought rosemary in the cello boxes at the store, that it becomes moldy quickly...anybody else had this issue? I've dried the rosemary from my garden quite successfully (often by accident ) so I wonder if this is something that happens just to store-bought.

Mhays wrote:I've noticed the last couple of times I've bought rosemary in the cello boxes at the store, that it becomes moldy quickly...anybody else had this issue? I've dried the rosemary from my garden quite successfully (often by accident ) so I wonder if this is something that happens just to store-bought.

Opened or unopened box? I buy boxes of mixed lettuces from Costco. If they stay unopened for a few days in the refrigerator, then they stay ok. Once opened, they need to be used fairly soon. I think these boxes have nitrogen or some other gas replacing the air and retarding spoilage. Once opened and the gas released, then it is time to use them promptly.

Regards,

I believe this past Christmas, I bought a box of mixed herbs and they molded before I got a chance to use them, (a matter of five days or so) so I don't think the issue is nitrogen - the little boxes don't seem to be airtight, so it may just be an issue of packaging. Maybe next time I'll open the boxes and let them breathe, and see if that helps.

I've had the same experience you describe with lettuces - a tip for that - I've noticed that if I rinse unused lettuce in acidulated water, drain it well, and re-package it in a ziploc bag lined with paper towels, it has a longer shelf life than if I reseal the bag and put it back in the fridge.

I've had good luck drying herbs in a microwave. Spread them out on a paper towel, give them 4 or 5 minutes at about 40% power, and see what you get. Dry them well first, otherwise you'll steam them. You can repeat as necessary until they're dry enough. A few runs will give you an idea of what works best in your particular MW.

Lately, I've used the "dehydrate" setting on my convestion oven. It runs the fan and holds at 140 degrees. I put something in the door to hold it open just a little bit, though the instructions don't call for that. On that setting, I can just let it run until they're dry enough.

I like to make my own dill weed that way, especially.

Mike

MikeLM wrote:I've had good luck drying herbs in a microwave. Spread them out on a paper towel, give them 4 or 5 minutes at about 40% power, and see what you get. Dry them well first, otherwise you'll steam them. You can repeat as necessary until they're dry enough. A few runs will give you an idea of what works best in your particular MW.

Lately, I've used the "dehydrate" setting on my convestion oven. It runs the fan and holds at 140 degrees. I put something in the door to hold it open just a little bit, though the instructions don't call for that. On that setting, I can just let it run until they're dry enough.

I like to make my own dill weed that way, especially.

Mike

I've dried a lot of herbs in the microwave, but I've hesitated to do rosemary because I think it would have to be cut off the stem before drying. (I've also found that to be true of other herbs that are on woody stems, such as thyme.) While the microwave method is great, I do cringe when I think of how much electricity and how many paper towels it takes to do this, particularly if you're trying to dry a lot of varieties of herbs.

I just got back from my Mom's house. She has a rosemary bush, and had dried lots for me. She simply took threw the stems into a paper bag, loosely closed it and left it in the garage (though any warm, dry location would theoretically work). Although the rosemary was cut several months ago, I was surprised to find how sticky the dried leaves were. I use a lot of fresh and dried rosemary, and seldom find dried rosemary that's still still sticky with rosemary sap. It took a few handwashings to get it off my fingers, but I was gifted with about a cup of dried rosemary!