Preserving Fresh Herbs: Air Drying or Freezing

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One benefit of growing your own herbs during the summer time is that whatever isn't used fresh is easily preserved for later on in the year. Two easy ways to preserve fresh herbs are by air drying or freezing. Dried herbs may be crumbled and sprinkled in foods at the beginning of cooking, while frozen herbs will give a flavor boost when added at the same time as fresh herbs. The two methods are described below.

Air Drying Herbs

  1. Find a place for drying. You'll need a warm, dry area, with good circulation and away from direct sunlight.
  2. Wash or rinse off any dirt from the herbs, and pat dry.
  3. Bundle herbs with their stems, with the area where it will be tied no larger than 3/4 of an inch thick.
  4. Tie the bundles with kitchen twine tightly to ensure no herbs will fall out, and leaving a long string at the end to tie it up to hang.
  5. Hang the herb bundles with the leaves pointing down and the stems pointing up.
  6. Let the herbs hang until they are fully dried. Test after about a week: if the leaves are brittle enough to crumble then they are fully dried.
  7. Store dried herbs, either in their whole leave or crumbled forms, in an airtight container away from the light.
  8. Properly dried and stored herbs will keep for a year in the pantry.

Freezing Herbs

  • Wash or rinse off any dirt from the herbs, and pat dry.
  • Remove the leaves from the stems, and arrange the leaves in a single layer on a sheet pan.
  • Place the sheet pan (or flat cookie sheet) in the freezer and freeze until the herbs are frozen.
  • Transfer the leaves into a zipper bag and store in the freezer. Freezing them this way is the easiest, and the leaves are individually frozen which makes adding them to recipes a cinch. But, they should be used within 3 months for best flavor. For longer storage, blanch the herb leaves first (add them to a pot of boiling water and cook for a few seconds, then transfer them to a bowl of ice water to stop the cooking). Drain, and then place directly into freezer bags. Use within 6 months.

 

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