drying herbs

I've tried three ways of drying my herbs, and have now settled on what works best for me. The oven.

Hanging them takes too long. Plus, now that it's getting colder (but not cold enough to heat my house yet) I don't want my kitchen ceiling fan on all the time. So these bunches that I hung up almost four weeks ago were drying, but not yet crisp. Every time in the past week when I tried to crumble a few hanging basil leaves in my fingers it would still have some give to it.

I tried using the microwave, which a gardening friend of mine recommended (she's tried all methods too, so that's her favorite. We all have our preferences!) She said to dry them just ten seconds at a time until the leaves crispy. The first zap I gave a plateful of thyme started a small fire in my microwave! No damage done, but scared me enough that I don't want to try that again!

Using the oven worked marvelous. I set it at the lowest temp it would go - 170- and laid the herbs spread out on a baking tray, put it in the oven with the door slightly ajar. It only took five to ten minutes for each batch of herbs to get dry and crispy. (I'm sure it would usually take longer, as these were already mostly-dry from having hung for weeks)

pictured here on the trays Parsley and Thyme

Then during a baby-nap I stripped the dried leaves off the stems of Thyme

and Fennel,

crumpled the Basil

 and Parsley

to fit into the jars. I love these little spice jars!

My husband found them at a garage sale with a wall-mounting spice rack. They are old, thick glass with bubbles in it, and corks. The colored glass is a good thing, as to keep their flavor longer the herbs should be stored either in a dark cupboard, or in colored glass to keep out the light (this is also why drying herbs that are hung should be in paper bags or in a dark room, something I failed to do this time).

Close-up of the Thyme and Sage:

Pictured left to right: Parsley, Fennel, Thyme, Sage and two jars of Basil

the end!

(I'm planning on drying another batch of herbs later, of more Sage and Thyme, and some Rosemary)