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how to dry herbs

Out of all the ways you can preserve your garden harvests, drying is my favorite…and it is so easy-peasy compared to canning! Many herbs are easily preserved by drying and hold their flavor well when dry. 

While I love hoarding shelves full of Mason jars, not all herbs are best preserved via drying. 

For best success, stick with drying:

  • Calendula

  • Cornflowers

  • Catnip

  • Chamomile

  • Cutting Celery

  • Lavender

  • Lemon balm

  • Lemon verbena

  • Mint

  • Oregano

  • Rosemary

  • Sage

  • Savory

  • Thyme

While you can dry Basil, Chives, Dill and Parsley as well, they lose that delicious flavor of theirs. I prefer to preserve these summer treats via freezing in olive oil.

Some tips for preserving your herbs at their best:

• Harvest in the morning, right after the dew dries…this is peak time for locking in those precious essential oils. And because we want to preserve those oils, I recommend air-drying your herbs whenever possible. Exposure to any type of heat (dehydrator to direct sun), zaps some of those valuable oils. 

• You don’t have to wash your herbs if grown organically. Rather, after harvesting, carefully inspect each herb, removing damaged leaves and threshing any bugs. 

• Pending the herb, lay out in a single layer on a rack, screen or in a shallow basket. For herbs like sage, lavender, catnip, oregano and mint, hang those in small bunches. 

• The area where you are drying your herbs should have low-humidity and excellent air flow, otherwise mold and mildew can run amok.

• Check on your herbs every few days, giving them a good shake, toss and inspection. 

• When the herbs are easily crumbled (signaling they are completely dry), jar up in glass Mason jars, keeping the herb in as whole of a form as possible (This helps keep the flavor intact for longer). 

• Store jars in a cool area out of direct sunlight. Kept properly, they will keep for at least a year. They’ll be good for longer than that, but their taste and aroma will start to lose its luster. 

• Avoid storing herbs over the stove where heat and moisture will affect them and keep covered as to avoid collecting dust. If you are hanging in bunches and will be storing like that for a bit, cover each bunch with a paper bag to protect from dust.

If you live in a high humidity area, you just may be better off sending your herbs straight to the dehydrator or oven to dry and then quickly jar up. 

To dry herbs in the oven:

• Set your oven to the lowest temperature possible…they ideally like 100ºF, but that’s hard to find in today’s ovens. 

• They’ll need some air circulation while in the oven, so carefully use something (non-flammable) to slightly prop open the oven door as it bakes.

• Keep a close eye on your herbs and pull out when the leaves crumble between your fingers.

• Finally, make sure to label those jars! You tell yourself, you’ll remember what’s what, but marjoram and oregano really start to look, smell and taste alike after a while.

To dry herbs in the dehydrator:

• Set dehydrator for a temperature between 95ºF and 110ºF.

• Make sure herbs are completely dry and lay out in a single layer on the racks.

• Some herbs will be dried in one hour, while others may take up to  four hours. Just keep a steady eye and check in on them.

Check out these great HERBAL RECIPES to make with your dried herbs.

Visit my FAVORITE VARIETIES page for some of my must-grow herbs.