I find that I never use all the herbs that I buy so finally I looked up how to dry basil. I bought some at Trader Joes and it only came in a large quantity and they were the biggest basil leaves I’ve seen.
I figured that all I’d have to do is hang them up dry but just in case I Googled it. The first couple of links led me to methods involving a dehumidifier or a dehydrator which is all well and good but I wasn’t going to buy one just for drying herbs. I don’t do it often enough nor do I plan on doing it that often to justify a purchase.
So I finally found my air drying method confirmation on instructables.com: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-air-dry-basil/
So I finally found my air drying method confirmation on instructables.com: http://www.instructables.com/id/How-to-air-dry-basil/
My shortened take on how to dry them:
- Wash basil clean
- Discard the ‘bad’ leaves (ie. leaves with holes, discolouring etc)
- Pat dry
- Bunch them up by the stems & tie them at the stems. I used yarn since I have a lot of scrap yarn from my knitting projects.
- Hang them where it’s dry. I’d avoid anywhere where it may come into contact with steam (ie. above where you put a rice cooker/kettle/stove) since it won’t dry properly.
- Once fully dried, cut/scrunch/crumble them into bits and store them in a dry container/Ziplog bag. I used scissors and snipped away at the leaves. It’s quick, easy and I can snip them directly into the container.
