Drying Herbs

Just before our first really hard frost I went out and cut what was left of the herbs I had planted in the garden. I had cut some a few weeks ago and hung them to dry in the garage the old fashioned way. I thought I'd put my dehydrator to use for this batch.

Lined up and ready to go...

Sage ............................. Rosemary ................................ Oregano

I cleaned them off and then layered the herbs in the dehydrator trays. I thought I'd just plug the dehydrator in in the laundry room to have it out of the way. If we smell like rosemary at all in the next few weeks you'll know why. Holy moly, that stuff was strong! As it dried it got better, but at one point I turned on the exhaust fan in there just to try and ease the smell. It wasn't a bad smell really, just really strong!

Tons of fresh rosemary... now dry... fills only one container!

It's amazing how much stuff "shrinks" in the dehydrator! I thought I was going to have lifetime supply of rosemary. Instead, I got one regular size spice container full. I can't wait to use it. For those of you who haven't tried rosemary on or in bread, I highly recommend it! It always reminds me of the delicious bread at Monti's La Casa Vieja in Arizona. Here is the recipe for Monti's bread and a video on how to make it.