I recently discovered a new way to dry herbs. While I wish I could say this was my own invention, it isn't. All hail the Google gods for always giving me the information I need and then some.
I harvested a bunch of lemon balm and sweet mint and was about to hang it up to dry, when I decided to use Google to see if there was a better way of drying my herbs. I found this super fast two-minute method, and am hooked. This should work with all your leafy herbs like mint, basil, thyme, oregano, or whatever other kinds of herbs you have that you need to dry. It will save you countless weeks of waiting for your herbs to dry and you can put them away in storage immediately.
Step 1: Arrange harvested herbs on paper towels.
Step 2: Microwave for 30 seconds.
Step 3: Move herbs around and repeat Step 2 until herbs are dry and able to crunch and crumble (usually 1-3 minutes total time.)
For me, it took just shy of two minutes. I think this depends on the herb and your microwave wattage. They were crunchy and dry and ready to be put away. I let them sit a little bit to avoid any humidity still left from the microwave, and then put them away in a ziplock bag. Pictured above are the fresh herbs on the left, and the microwave-dried herbs on the right.
The only downside I know of so far is the house smelled like cooked herbs afterward. But... slightly like sour herbs. I don't know if that's the result of the specific herbs I did since I mixed sweet mint and lemon balm together. I ended up running my diffuser with lemon oil in it to get rid of the scent, because it was just too herby/planty for my taste. Other than that, so far everything seems great.
One other thing, since I'm new to this method, I am curious about flavor preservation. Does this method cook out the flavor, or will they still be delicious in teas and other recipes? Only time will tell. I'll keep you posted.
If you do have any input on this, please let me know. I'd love to know if this method provides quality dried herbs, or if the tried and true "hang them up to dry" method is still the best one.
Is there an update on this? How did they hold up and do you still use this method?
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