How can you save fresh mint?
At the beginning of the season I planted a few mint plants for the first time. I didn’t realize how big they would get and howmuch I would really have. It is getting to the point were I need to cut some but I have no need for all of it at this time. Is there a way to store Fresh Mint Leaves to where I can possibly use them over the winter or atleast for the next couple months?
The best time to cut herbs for drying is just before they flower. This is when the leaves have the most oil, which is what gives herbs aroma and flavor. Different varieties of herbs flower at different times of the season, so look for buds or newly opened flowers as your clue for harvesting. But, if your herbs have already flowered, they can still be harvested and dried. It’ slightly better to cut herbs in mid-morning when the leaves are dry but before the hot midday sun, but early evening is also good!
Use a sharp knife or scissors to cut large stems or branches from mature plants. Gently shake each branch to remove insects. Examine each branch and remove old, damaged or diseased leaves.
Rinse each branch in cold water and dry with towels or paper towels to remove all visible water. Wet herbs tend to mold which destroys the whole bunch.
Lay the leaves on a paper towel, single layer without allowing leaves to touch. Cover with another towel and another layer of leaves. Five layers may be dried at one time using this method.
Food dehydrators are made just for this purpose, so they’re obviously ideal.
Just spread the herbs out on the racks, leaving space between them for the air to circulate, and only one leaf thick on each rack.
Dehydrators are faster, easier and more useful if you want to dry larger quantities of herbs or you have high moisture.
As mentioned earlier, mints have high moisture content and will mold if not dried quickly.
Dry in a very cool oven (high temperatures will result in tasteless herbs). Basically, just turn the oven on to “warm” (140 to 200 F) (or 65 degrees C to 93 degrees C, gas mark 1) for 20 minutes, then turn it off and pop in the herbs.
If you have a dehumidifier, I have found that spreading the branches loosely on a cake cooling rack (which allows the air to circulate) and placing this by the outlet from the dehumidifier, where the warm and very dry air exits the dehumidifier works great, and much faster!
Leave undisturbed overnight and check them in the morning. I find that they dry out in a day or two, as long as they are not piled on top of each other. If you are using the oven method, juts turn it on to “warm” again for another 10 or 15 minutes twice per day.
As the leaves are dry, check for any signs of mold growth. Toss the entire bunch if it becomes moldy and try again.
Strip dried leaves from stems and discard the stems. Crush the leaves if desired, but whole herbs retain their flavor longer than crushed, ground or rubbed herbs. I wait until I use the herbs later, to crush them.
Store dried herbs in small airtight containers away from the light. Zip closure plastic bags, colored bailing wire jars and ceramic crocks can be used for storage. My preference is FoodSaver vacuum bags – it removes all the air, so the dried herbs retain more of their flavor. TIP: If you don’t a vacuum food sealer to freeze foods, place food in a Ziploc bags, zip the top shut but leave enough space to insert the tip of a soda straw. When straw is in place, remove air by sucking the air out. To remove straw, press straw closed where inserted and finish pressing the bag closed as you remove straw.
Be sure to label and date each container.
Store herbs in a cool, dry, dark place (away from sunlight). Dried herbs keep for years but for best results use within a year. Most herbs will diminish in flavor with age and a larger amount will be needed to achieve the desired flavor in cooking.
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