Technique for drying herbs?
 

I've had a bumper crop of volunteer dill and cilantro. I would like to
dry some of the dill to use throughout the year. When I pulled some up
and turned them upside down to dry, the foliage all turned brown. I
presume you must need to use some low heat or something. Anyone
experience out there?

Thanks!

Liam

Davis, CA

In article om,
"GardenDude" wrote:

I've had a bumper crop of volunteer dill and cilantro. I would like to
dry some of the dill to use throughout the year. When I pulled some up
and turned them upside down to dry, the foliage all turned brown. I
presume you must need to use some low heat or something. Anyone
experience out there?

Thanks!

Liam

Davis, CA

We have a food dehydrator that works well in Humid S. Jersey.
I have a friend who took the seats out of a junk car fitted it with wire
mesh and in full sun controlled the temp via the windows. Lost some
peaches but it did what he wanted. He also used an old ice box to smoke
his eel's. Frugal kind of guy.

Fire pit was 10 feet away and piped in to cool the smoke. All metal
no plastic. Was good with Aquavit and perogies.

Bill

--
Garden in shade Zone 5 S Jersey USA
Long -75.0246 Lat 39.637876
Enjoy http://terrafly.fiu.edu/

Alton Brown' show _Good Eats_ on _The Food Network_ did a whole 30
minute episode on drying herbs. He made his own rig. If I remember
correctly he used panty hose and a box fan. You might want to look it up.

bk

GardenDude wrote:
I've had a bumper crop of volunteer dill and cilantro. I would like to
dry some of the dill to use throughout the year. When I pulled some up
and turned them upside down to dry, the foliage all turned brown. I
presume you must need to use some low heat or something. Anyone
experience out there?

Thanks!

Liam

Davis, CA

alazar wrote in news:d7907d$2u6$1
@reader1.panix.com:

Alton Brown' show _Good Eats_ on _The Food Network_ did a whole 30
minute episode on drying herbs. He made his own rig. If I remember
correctly he used panty hose and a box fan. You might want to look it up.



Couldn't find it on the Food Network site, but did find a mention of it on
a site where they grow, um, a different type of herb.

Then found this site:
http://www.goodeatsfanpage.com/Seaso...eservation.htm

Richard

In article ,
William Wagner wrote:

In article om,
"GardenDude" wrote:

I've had a bumper crop of volunteer dill and cilantro. I would like to
dry some of the dill to use throughout the year. When I pulled some up
and turned them upside down to dry, the foliage all turned brown. I
presume you must need to use some low heat or something. Anyone
experience out there?

Thanks!

Liam

Davis, CA

We have a food dehydrator that works well in Humid S. Jersey.
I have a friend who took the seats out of a junk car fitted it with wire
mesh and in full sun controlled the temp via the windows. Lost some
peaches but it did what he wanted. He also used an old ice box to smoke
his eel's. Frugal kind of guy.

Fire pit was 10 feet away and piped in to cool the smoke. All metal
no plastic. Was good with Aquavit and perogies.

Bill

Wow -- I didn't realize that there were misplaced Alaskans living in
Jersey. You guys should immigrate. We'd be glad to have you!

We use buildings that look like outhouses to smoke our fish. Use old
stovepipe to pipe cool smoke into the building. Since we don't have
fruitwood or hickory up here, we use alder.

Anyway, for the OP, to dry stuff, hang it in a cool, dark spot.
I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry. Food grade stuff should be dried, then put in jars
or bags, to keep the dust off. (Our house is dusty. I live on a
beef cattle ranch. Between me, the dog and the cowboy, this place
is *always* dusty.)

Best,

Jan, in Alaska
59N, 151W -- USDA Zone 3

--
The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and the fifth rib.

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow for please?

Janet

I lived in SE Alaska (Ketchikan, actually) back in the '70's. We used
an old refrigerator to smoke salmon. We put a hot plate in the bottom
of the fridge and put a cookie sheet filled with green alder chips on
the hot plate. Worked great! Some friends of mine did build an
"outhouse style" smoke house, similar to what you describe, but alas,
through putting too much wood on the fire and subsequent inattention
during the smoking process, they let the fire get too hot, so
everything went up in smoke - smokehouse and all! Moral of story -
don't drink too much beer while smoking fish. :)

As far as drying herbs goes, I now live in Colorado where our summers
are hot and dry most of the time. I just hang herbs upside down in
small bunches inside paper bags in a clean dry place. The paper bags
keep dust and light away from the herbs, so they stay green after they
dry. When dry, I package them in glass jars or plastic baggies and
then put them in the deep freeze for at least 48 hours to kill any
lingering "critters." After that, I just store them on a shelf in the
pantry.

Jan Flora wrote:
In article ,
William Wagner wrote:


In article om,
"GardenDude" wrote:


I've had a bumper crop of volunteer dill and cilantro. I would like to
dry some of the dill to use throughout the year. When I pulled some up
and turned them upside down to dry, the foliage all turned brown. I
presume you must need to use some low heat or something. Anyone
experience out there?

Thanks!

Liam

Davis, CA

We have a food dehydrator that works well in Humid S. Jersey.
I have a friend who took the seats out of a junk car fitted it with wire
mesh and in full sun controlled the temp via the windows. Lost some
peaches but it did what he wanted. He also used an old ice box to smoke
his eel's. Frugal kind of guy.

Fire pit was 10 feet away and piped in to cool the smoke. All metal
no plastic. Was good with Aquavit and perogies.

Bill


Wow -- I didn't realize that there were misplaced Alaskans living in
Jersey. You guys should immigrate. We'd be glad to have you!

We use buildings that look like outhouses to smoke our fish. Use old
stovepipe to pipe cool smoke into the building. Since we don't have
fruitwood or hickory up here, we use alder.

Anyway, for the OP, to dry stuff, hang it in a cool, dark spot.
I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry. Food grade stuff should be dried, then put in jars
or bags, to keep the dust off. (Our house is dusty. I live on a
beef cattle ranch. Between me, the dog and the cowboy, this place
is *always* dusty.)

Alton Brown on FoodTV ("Good Eats") showed a clever way to dry herbs. A
small bundle is held in boiling water for 5 seconds and then dowsed in
ice water for 5 more seconds. Individual sprigs are placed on furnace
air filters. 4 filters provides 3 spaces. The stack is attached to
the front of a box fan with bungee cords. Run the fan for 12 hours on
each side. After 24 hours the herbs are still green and can be rubbed
between the hands. I'm going to try it soon.

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow for please?

Janet

Gee, I just found this post. *blush*

I dry yarrow & comfrey for our own use. The yarrow goes into an infusion
for my SO's feet, when they get itchy and start to crack between the
toes. (Probably athlete's foot.) Some comfrey goes into that concoction,
too. The comfrey is mostly for sprains/strains/burns (after they've been
soaked with fresh aloe vera, when the burn is new)/etc.

Yarrow has a pretty extensive history of use by Alaska Native people. If
I would clean my office, I would probably find my book that lists all of
the uses that the various Native groups up here have for all of the
"weeds" that grow around the state.

Jan

--
The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and the fifth rib.

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow for
please?

Janet

Gee, I just found this post. *blush*

I dry yarrow & comfrey for our own use. The yarrow goes into an infusion
for my SO's feet, when they get itchy and start to crack between the
toes. (Probably athlete's foot.) Some comfrey goes into that concoction,
too. The comfrey is mostly for sprains/strains/burns (after they've been
soaked with fresh aloe vera, when the burn is new)/etc.

Yarrow has a pretty extensive history of use by Alaska Native people. If
I would clean my office, I would probably find my book that lists all of
the uses that the various Native groups up here have for all of the
"weeds" that grow around the state.

Jan

Urine kills athlete's foot. I'll leave at that.

Bill

--
Garden Shade Zone 5 in a Japanese Jungle manner.
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational and informative purposes.
This material is distributed without profit.

In article
,
William Wagner wrote:

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow for
please?

Janet

Gee, I just found this post. *blush*

I dry yarrow & comfrey for our own use. The yarrow goes into an infusion
for my SO's feet, when they get itchy and start to crack between the
toes. (Probably athlete's foot.) Some comfrey goes into that concoction,
too. The comfrey is mostly for sprains/strains/burns (after they've been
soaked with fresh aloe vera, when the burn is new)/etc.

Yarrow has a pretty extensive history of use by Alaska Native people. If
I would clean my office, I would probably find my book that lists all of
the uses that the various Native groups up here have for all of the
"weeds" that grow around the state.

Jan

Urine kills athlete's foot. I'll leave at that.

Bill

Yeah it does, but it's hard to get the SO to go out into the yard during
the winter to pee on his feet. At these latitudes, we have 9 months of
winter and 3 months of damned poor sledding.

Jan
59N, 151W

--
The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and the fifth rib.

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article
,
William Wagner wrote:

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow for
please?

Janet

Gee, I just found this post. *blush*

I dry yarrow & comfrey for our own use. The yarrow goes into an infusion
for my SO's feet, when they get itchy and start to crack between the
toes. (Probably athlete's foot.) Some comfrey goes into that concoction,
too. The comfrey is mostly for sprains/strains/burns (after they've been
soaked with fresh aloe vera, when the burn is new)/etc.

Yarrow has a pretty extensive history of use by Alaska Native people. If
I would clean my office, I would probably find my book that lists all of
the uses that the various Native groups up here have for all of the
"weeds" that grow around the state.

Jan

Urine kills athlete's foot. I'll leave at that.

Bill

Yeah it does, but it's hard to get the SO to go out into the yard during
the winter to pee on his feet. At these latitudes, we have 9 months of
winter and 3 months of damned poor sledding.

Jan
59N, 151W

I hope at least you have this as an option without fear of indecent
exposure law stuff.

Bill

PS
If you were to send salmon to friends in the lower 48 any suggestions?

--
Garden Shade Zone 5 in a Japanese Jungle manner.
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational and informative purposes.
This material is distributed without profit.

In article
,
William Wagner wrote:

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article
,
William Wagner wrote:

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow
for
please?

Janet

Gee, I just found this post. *blush*

I dry yarrow & comfrey for our own use. The yarrow goes into an
infusion
for my SO's feet, when they get itchy and start to crack between the
toes. (Probably athlete's foot.) Some comfrey goes into that
concoction,
too. The comfrey is mostly for sprains/strains/burns (after they've
been
soaked with fresh aloe vera, when the burn is new)/etc.

Yarrow has a pretty extensive history of use by Alaska Native people.
If
I would clean my office, I would probably find my book that lists all
of
the uses that the various Native groups up here have for all of the
"weeds" that grow around the state.

Jan

Urine kills athlete's foot. I'll leave at that.

Bill

Yeah it does, but it's hard to get the SO to go out into the yard during
the winter to pee on his feet. At these latitudes, we have 9 months of
winter and 3 months of damned poor sledding.

Jan
59N, 151W

I hope at least you have this as an option without fear of indecent
exposure law stuff.

Bill

PS
If you were to send salmon to friends in the lower 48 any suggestions?

Our house sits on 220 acres -- anyone who can see someone taking a pee
in our yard is either trespassing or flying over. (A neighbor with one
of those hang gliders with a chainsaw motor buzzes us once in awhile.)

Are you asking how to cook salmon or how to ship it to the small states?
Which kind of salmon? There are five kinds. The silvers are starting to
run right now. To pull this back on topic for rec.gardens, use some
of your homegrown dill when you cook salmon.

Jan

--
The way to a man's heart is between the fourth and the fifth rib.

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article
,
William Wagner wrote:

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article
,
William Wagner wrote:

In article ,
Jan Flora wrote:

In article ,
Janet Baraclough wrote:

The message
from Jan Flora contains these words:

I dry loads of yarrow and comfrey every year, for medicinal use.
I just throw a loop over the stems with baler twine and hang it
in the pantry.

Hi again Jan F

Is that for your own use, or on animals? What do you use yarrow
for
please?

Janet

Gee, I just found this post. *blush*

I dry yarrow & comfrey for our own use. The yarrow goes into an
infusion
for my SO's feet, when they get itchy and start to crack between the
toes. (Probably athlete's foot.) Some comfrey goes into that
concoction,
too. The comfrey is mostly for sprains/strains/burns (after they've
been
soaked with fresh aloe vera, when the burn is new)/etc.

Yarrow has a pretty extensive history of use by Alaska Native people.
If
I would clean my office, I would probably find my book that lists all
of
the uses that the various Native groups up here have for all of the
"weeds" that grow around the state.

Jan

Urine kills athlete's foot. I'll leave at that.

Bill

Yeah it does, but it's hard to get the SO to go out into the yard during
the winter to pee on his feet. At these latitudes, we have 9 months of
winter and 3 months of damned poor sledding.

Jan
59N, 151W

I hope at least you have this as an option without fear of indecent
exposure law stuff.

Bill

PS
If you were to send salmon to friends in the lower 48 any suggestions?

Our house sits on 220 acres -- anyone who can see someone taking a pee
in our yard is either trespassing or flying over. (A neighbor with one
of those hang gliders with a chainsaw motor buzzes us once in awhile.)

Are you asking how to cook salmon or how to ship it to the small states?
Which kind of salmon? There are five kinds. The silvers are starting to
run right now. To pull this back on topic for rec.gardens, use some
of your homegrown dill when you cook salmon.

Jan

Hello Jan. I'd just like to know of small mail order folks that can
ship to the lower small states. I've found two.

I use http://www.catchofthesea.com/ Oregon folks.

Iv'e looked at but can't afford

http://salmonvillage.com/cgi-bin/pi....lobal/gotoHome
..t


My hope is you know of a smll local salmon fisherman that can can and
ship.

Hope all is not too warm up your way!


Bill

--
Garden Shade Zone 5 in a Japanese Jungle manner.
Acts of creation are ordinarily reserved for gods and poets. To plant a pine, one need only own a shovel.
-- Aldo Leopold
This article is posted under fair use rules in accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. Section 107, and is strictly for the educational and informative purposes.
This material is distributed without profit.