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How to Dry Herbs
It is of the utmost importance that food should be well seasoned and palatable. Herbs and seasoning are as important as the food itself. They bring back the languid appetite and encourage one to eat when he would not otherwise do so. During the summer, when herbs are in their highest state of perfection, full of juices and just before flowering, they should be gathered and dried. This should always be done on a perfectly dry day, early in the morning or after sundown. Cleanse thoroughly from dust and dirt, cut off the roots and spread the herbs on squares of brown paper. Put them in a warm oven, dry quickly, to preserve the flavor. If allowed to dry gradually the heat dries off the aroma and they will be almost tasteless. Care must be taken that they do not brown or scorch, as this also destroys the flavor.
When dry, pick the leaves from the stems, put them into bottles or jars and cork tightly. They must be perfectly cold before going into the bottles or they will sweat and Mark each bottle or jar plainly on the outside, to save confusion when wanted for use. sour.
A method rather than a dish, and one that still works — though the reasoning about heat runs against current practice. A few adjustments bring it in line with what modern ovens and dehydrators can actually do.
- Harvest timing holds upCutting in the morning after dew has dried, just before flowering, is still the standard advice: that is when leaf oil content peaks. Once a plant bolts, flavour moves into the flower and the leaves turn bitter or thin.
- "Dry quickly" needs qualifyingThe instruction to dry fast in a warm oven, and the claim that slow drying carries off the aroma, is the point where modern practice differs: low and steady generally preserves more flavour than hot and fast, though drying too slowly in damp air risks mould. Aim for 95-115F in a dehydrator, or the lowest oven setting with the door propped ajar.
- Most home ovens run too hotThe recipe does not say how warm a "warm oven" is, and period usage was vague; it is unlikely to have meant anything like a baking heat. A modern oven's lowest setting is often 170F or 200F, which will dry herbs but can scorch delicate ones. Convection at the lowest temperature, or simply air-drying in bundles in a dark, airy room, is probably closer to what the writer intended.
- Brown paperReplace with parchment, mesh screens or dehydrator trays. Unbleached kraft paper works but slows airflow underneath, which is exactly what you do not want.
- Not all herbs suit the same treatmentThyme, oregano, sage, rosemary, marjoram, savory and mint dry well and keep their character. Basil, chives, parsley, chervil and tarragon are high in water and low in stable oils; they brown easily and lose much of their scent. Freezing suits those better.
- Test for dryness before bottlingLeaves should crumble at a touch and stems snap rather than bend. The warning about sweating is the serious one: any residual moisture sealed in a jar will condense and grow mould, spoiling the whole batch. Let everything come fully to room temperature first, then check the jar again after a day.
- StorageKeep leaves whole and crush only when using — surface area is what loses flavour. Dark glass or an opaque tin, away from the stove. Labelled with the date as well as the name; dried herbs are usable for about a year, after which they are colour without taste.
- Yield and substitutionReckon on about one teaspoon of dried leaf for a tablespoon of fresh in cooking, added early enough to rehydrate.
- A garbled lineThe closing sentences have been transposed in setting. It should read that the herbs must be perfectly cold before bottling or they will sweat and sour, then that each jar should be plainly marked.
Drying the summer's herbs was an ordinary summer duty in households that expected to cook through a winter without a greengrocer, and cookery books of the period commonly carried a paragraph like this one somewhere near the seasonings. The stock of a well-run store cupboard was the "sweet herbs" — thyme, marjoram, savory, sage, parsley and bay — which between them flavoured many of the soups, stuffings and made dishes in the English and American repertoire. The opening argument here, that seasoning revives a languid appetite, reads as a case that plain food need not be dull. The detail about gathering before flowering reflects long practical observation rather than any chemistry the writer could have cited.