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Herbalist

By Kami McBride

Herbalist

Kami McBride is a well-known author and educator whose bestselling book, “The Herbal Kitchen,” has helped thousands of people learn how to use common kitchen herbs and spices in delightfully simple, new, and delicious ways. She developed and taught the herbal curriculum for the Complementary Medicine Department at the University of California School of Nursing, and she founded the Living Awareness Institute in 1994 where she offers online herbalism courses to students of all skill levels.

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June 5, 2023

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If you’ve ever attempted to dry your own herbs, the process may have gone something like this:

1. Feel like a botanical goddess as you spend the day gathering, drying, and storing your herbs.
2. Return to the jar a month later to find mold or perfectly crispy but flavorless herbs. 
3. Wonder if you’ll be doing that again!

It sounds obvious, but herbs will dry faster in an arid climate than in a cold, moist one. Simple things like this can trip us up if we’ve heard information from a source living in another region, so it’s something to be cognizant of as you plan your approach. For example, if you heard someone based in a different place say, “Let this herb dry for three days,” well, you really can’t be certain this is how long it will take in your environment.

Not only is the drying process climate-specific, but the time of day and even the time of year can also affect moisture levels. Herbs tend to have more moisture in the morning than evening and in the spring than in late fall.

Summary

Every herb is different, and every situation is different. Before drying your herbs, consider these three factors and you’re much more likely to find success.

Drying herbs in a basket with holes works well in drier climes. Even so, there will be some variation. Where I was raised, in the Sacramento Valley in California, I could toss almost any herb into a basket in the summertime and two or three hours later, it would be dry. In a moderately dry climate, you’ll want to spread the herbs out in the basket, keeping them separated to prevent mold.

Either way, keep the basket out of direct sunlight and blowing air, which in my experience, saps the flavor and beneficial constituents from the plants.

If you live in a moist climate or it’s a moist season, hanging the herbs is likely a better approach than the basket.

For this method, loop a string around the herb stems and hang the bundle high because heat rises. I have a baseboard in my kitchen with little nails along it, and I hang the bundles from that. As the herbs hang, make sure they are exposed to air all the way around. Again, you don’t want them in direct sunlight.

If you’re dealing with a more moist plant like peppermint, you’ll want to hang individual stems. If a tiny bit of the leaf folds over on itself, the place where it folds can turn black, and you don’t want that. 

If you find that your climate fluctuates quickly between moist and dry and your herbs get moldy, or maybe they never dry in your humid climate, that’s when you get a dehydrator. This speeds up the process and adds consistency.

There are many types of dehydrators. To preserve the nutrients, you want to make sure you don’t overheat them, so look for a dehydrator that lets you keep the temperature at 100°F or lower. I have an Excalibur, which I like because I can lay things out and control the temperature.