It is easy to dehydrate herbs and spices, they take up little space and enhance the taste of most food. Dried spices are available for purchase, but growing and drying them yourself is significantly cheaper and more tasty. You can use them as they are in the food or make your broth or herbal salt.
DEHYDRATE HERBS: Herbal tea
A few grams of dried herbs, such as mint, are refreshing as herbal tea – pour hot water over the herbs and let brew for five to ten minutes.
Dehydrate Herbs and Spices
- Herbs such as thyme, oregano, mint, basil, sage, coriander, rosemary, marjoram, tarragon, and St. John’s wort.
- Spices as parsley, dill, chilli and ginger.
The herbs above are something that anyone can grow, even on the smallest balcony. If you grow in a garden plot, you will get large harvests. Then, it is almost impossible to use all the herbs at once. Drying them is an excellent way to preserve them for the rest of the year. Store them with whole leaves in tight glass jars and crumble them only when to be used; then, they retain the most flavour.
Dehydrate Herbs and Spices: 3 things you need to know
You preserve more flavour by drying herbs and spices at a lower temperature. This means air drying at room temperature is best; however, it takes longer than in a food dehydrator and doesn’t work well on rainy days when damp outside.
To retain as much flavour as possible, herbs should not be crumbled into small pieces. Instead, keep leaves whole and crush them instead when using them.
In addition to being simple and valuable, many herbs and plants are available for free. Pick them when they are tender and green, but remember that you must have the landowner’s permission to pick them.
Dehydrate Herbs and Spices: HOW TO
| Cut | Remove the large stems to shorten the drying time. Lay airily on mesh or hang on a wire. |
| Pre-treat with heat | Optional, both blanching and steaming works. |
| Temperature | Room temperature up to a maximum of 40°C (104°F). You retain more flavour at a lower temperature, but it takes longer. |
| Time | Food dehydrator 40°C (104°F): 5 hours Air drying at room temperature: several days up to a week |
| Store | Dried herbs keep their taste for up to two years if stored dark and cool. Dried herbs are great flavouring agents. |
The detailed description below is from
the Book on Amazon
⬇️ ⬇️ ⬇️
Dehydrate Herbs and spices: GINGER
It is easy to grow ginger and in addition to peeling and freezing it, ginger is also suitable for drying. Ginger adds flavor to many dishes and is also great for hot or cold drinks.
If you want to dry it just for tea, make slightly larger chunks to put directly into your cup. From the dried ginger, you can also make a tasty and spicy salt, for example, together with dried chili.
SLICE
Peel and cut into thin slices
PRE-TREAT WITH HEAT
No
TEMPERATURE/TIME
Dry the ginger at room temperature on mesh or 40°C (104°F) in a food dehydrator. You maintain more flavor at a lower temperature. Reduce drying time and soaking by slicing thin. Dry until the slices can be broken.
Food dehydrator 40°C (104°F): 5 hours
Air-dry at room temperature: several days
