Preserving and storing herbs
Most people prefer to use fresh herbs in their cooking but sometimes
a herb cannot be grown all year round and so storing herbs is necessary.
Sometimes there may be an abundance of a herb crop within a short
period of time that means there is excess supply so again storage
is necessary.
Herbs tend to retain more of their flavour when they are stored 'whole'.
The stored herbs can then be broken / ground up with a pestle and
mortar before use to release their flavours and aromas. This is especially
true of herb seeds such as Coriander seed which should be stored in
their whole form and then ground up for use in cooking.
Herbs can be stored and preserved in a number of ways.
Freezing herbs
A relatively new method of storing herbs is freezing them. Many prefer
this to drying herbs as more flavour can be preserved by freezing.
To freeze your herbs you can adopt one of two methods. Firstly for
leafy herbs such as Basil, Parsley, Dill or Chives you can simply
rinse and then place straight into freezer bags or other suitable
storage in the freezer. Some herbs may require blanching in boiling
water for a minute before cooling the herbs in very cold water before
transferring to the freezer.
An alternative method of freezing herbs that is becoming increasingley
popular is to chop / cut the herbs into small pieces and place in
the cells of ice cube trays. Top up the cells with clean cold water
and then place in the freezer as you would normal ice cubes. When
you want to use the herbs in cooking simply pop out a herb-cube and
drop it into your sauce.
Drying Herbs
Drying herbs is the traditional method of preserving and storing
herbs that has been used all over the world for centuries. The herbs
should be dry and brittle, leave should crumble easily.
To retain as much flavour and fragrance as possible dryed herbs should
be stored in airtight containers in a cool, dark place.
You
can dry herbs by a number of different methods but each method will
require the herbs to be prepared prior to drying. To prepare your
herbs for drying you should
- remove any soil still attached to the stems
- rinse the herbs in cold water to remove any insects or dirt.
- Remove any flowering stems along with their flowers
- Gently pat off any excess water with a paper towel
The herbs are now ready for drying.
Air drying herbs
Tye the stems in bunches and then hang the bunches upside down. Because
the bunches are upside down the herb oils that provide a lot of the
herbs flavour and fragrance will travel down the stems and into the
leaves. After about two weeks of hanging the leaves should be dry
and brittle to the touch. Firmly run your fingers along the stems
and the leaves should fall off easily. Collect the leaves and place
in your airtight storage container.
Dehydrator machine
You can use a dehydrator to dry your herbs. Simply place the herbs
on one of your dehydrators trays and follow the machines instructions.
You can turn the stems over to help achieve an even drying process.
Dehydrators use electric heat to gently dry the produce but they don't
'cook' the produce unlike the microwave method outlined below. Dehydrators
are useful for drying all sorts of produce, not just herbs.
Microwave
This is a quick fix if you can't air dry your herbs but is recommended
only if there is no other option as you are actually cooking the herbs.
You can dry herbs in the microwave by placing them between two layers
of kitchen towel in the microwave and then microwaving on a LOW setting
for around 3 minutes. You can turn check the drying progress and turn
the towel over after 2 minutes.