Thread: Drying Basil
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Old 17-09-2003, 05:42 PM
Pat Meadows
 
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Default Drying Basil

On Wed, 17 Sep 2003 10:38:50 -0400, Allan Matthews
wrote:

When I planted my new raised garden July 15, I bought a left over
withered basil plant and stuck it in. Now it is 2 feet in diameter, 2
feet tall and dense with leaves. How is the best way to dry
this?Thanks


With a food dehydrator, probably.

But I don't dry basil, I don't think the taste holds up very
well to drying. I freeze it, and this keeps all that great
'fresh basil taste' (although not the texture, of course)..

I puree lots of basil leaves in my blender, with enough
water to make a thick but pourable slurry. Then I pour this
into ice-cube trays and freeze them. When they're frozen
solid, I take the 'basil-cubes' out of the ice trays and
store them in the freezer in a freezer bag.

Then I just grab a basil cube or two and toss it into soups,
stews, chili or pasta sauce whenever I'm cooking them.

Pat
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