Growing And Drying Your Own Italian Herb Seasoning

 

When I first started vegetable gardening, herbs were an afterthought.  I was far more interested in growing great vegetables than I was the seasoning I'd use to cook them with.  But after realizing one can only grow so much zucchini, and after watching the cost of quality herbs rise in the store, I began devoting more and more garden space to herbs.  It's become especially good now that I've found a favorite technique for drying herbs, and a favorite recipe for the combo we use most often:  Italian Herb Seasoning.

Every year, I grow a healthy amount of basil, oregano, thyme, parsley and rosemary which we use fresh when we have it.  And as the season goes on, I bring in batches to dry and store for fall when I typically make a big batch of Italian Herb Seasoning.  

I've tried a number of combinations, and have found this to be my absolute favorite:

Italian Herb Seasoning Recipe

1 Part Parsley

1 Part Basil

1 Part Oregano

1/2 Part Thyme

1/3 Part Red Pepper Flakes

1/3 Part Minced Garlic

1/3 Part Minced Onion

1/4 Part Rosemary

I keep the mix in the above pictured grinder I bought on Amazon for less than $6.  I like the size, and a dial in the top allows me to adjust how fine or course I want to grind the herbs as I use them.

The bigger challenge for me wasn't so much a recipe as it was learning to dry herbs in a way that worked best for me.  There are lots of ways to dry herbs:  

• Air-Drying on a rack or bundled and hung:  This method is easiest, retains the flavor and color of the herbs the best.  But it also takes the longest amount of time--could be weeks depending on your climate or where you're drying.  And while you wait, they're exposed to dust and/or bugs you can't wash off once they're dry.
• Dehydrating:  This method will dry them faster at a low enough temperature to retain their color and flavor, but you need a dehydrator.
• Oven drying:  Fantastic for drying quickly, a large batch can dry in a matter of hours.  But if the temp is too high, you risk cooking your herbs, turning them brown and losing much of the flavor.  Add to that, most ovens can't be heated to a temp lower than 170 degrees, which I found too high for good results.  BUT with a little trickery, I came up with a way that worked great.

My Method For Oven-Drying Herbs 

My oven has a bottom temp of 170 degrees, which I believe is standard for many ovens.  Lots of blogs will tell you to dry your herbs in the oven at 170, but I found that was way too high.  You can see in this photo the difference between basil I tried to oven-dry at 170 degrees (left) with basil I dried using my alternate method (right):

Obviously, the lower temp produced a more desirable result.  But what do you do when your oven won't go lower?

Keep reading. 

The Prep:  

• First make sure you're starting with herbs at their peak.  It's always best to cut them first thing in the morning when they're freshest and the summer heat hasn't yet "tired them out" for the day.
• Rinse the herbs well and spin them dry in a salad spinner.  If the herbs are small, like thyme, leave them on the stems.  If the herbs are large, like basil or parsley, cut the leaves from the stem after rinsing and before spinning.
• Lay them out on cookie sheets in a single layer. 

If using one sheet, place in the center of the oven.  Or if using two, place so they are evenly spaced as shown:

The Drying Process: 

Though my oven has a bottom temp of 170 degrees, when turned on, it will begin registering the temp when it gets to 100 degrees.  I used this to my advantage, and you do need an oven that works like this to use this method.

• After placing your sheets in the oven, close the door and turn your oven on.  (The temp you set it to doesn't really matter, as you'll be turning it off before it gets there.)  
• Watch the temp as it's rising.  Once it hits 145 degrees, turn the oven off and set your timer for 30 minutes.  Don't open the oven door while the herbs are drying!
• After your 30 minutes has passed, turn the oven on again and see what temp registers when you turn it on.  You are shooting for anywhere from 110-120 degrees.  If the temp is higher than that, you'll want to extend your timing from 30 to 40 minutes.  If it's lower than that, you'll want to shorten your timing from 30 to 20 minutes.  The goal is to keep a high threshold at about 145 degrees, and a low threshold at about 115 degrees. 
• Like you did in the last step, once the oven hits 145 degrees, turn it off and reset your timer accordingly.

You'll want to repeat this process of turning the oven on and off for a total of about 1 1/2 hours initially.  At that point, when your timer goes off, you'll want to start checking your herbs for dryness.  They're dry when they're crisp and will easily crumble if you try and crunch them with your fingers.  If not yet dry, go for another round then check again.

Fully Dried Thyme

Fully Dried Parsley

I found for heavier leaves like basil and parsley, it took anywhere from 2-4 hours to get them as dry as I want.  So yeah, you'll need to plan your activities to stay nearby the kitchen while they're drying.  But I found the effort was worth it.  All in one day, I was able to fully dry an ample batch of thyme, basil, oregano and parsley (and enjoy the NY Times Crossword Puzzle in the process!)