How to make dry basil leaves

If you want to be a little more careful cook the basil a little longer on a medium-low setting. Place the whole leaves in an airtight glass container in a dark and dry place.

Uses - Dried basil is fantastic in pasta omelettes scrambled eggs on roast meat andor vegies in salad dressings on fish and it makes a great home-made gift.

How to make dry basil leaves. Wash and pat dry your basil. Spread the leaves evenly and in a single layer in a herb drying rack in a place with good air circulation out of the sun. Allow the leaves to dry for a few weeks.

Place the whole leaves in an airtight glass container in a dark and dry place. Lay each leaf in a single layer on the racks and allow them to dry in the machine until completely crisp. A super fast method of drying basil uses the microwave.

Use caution to prevent the herbs from scorching. Lay the leaves in a single layer on paper towels and microwave on low for up to 3 minutes. Place dried leaves on a paper towel in a single layer.

Youll only need to zap the leaves for twenty seconds or so on the high setting to dry them out. Check and return basil to the microwave to zap it again if its not dry enough. If you want to be a little more careful cook the basil a little longer on a medium-low setting.

Microwave 30 seconds then in 15 second increments until leaves are dry. Time will vary depending on the size of leaves smaller leaves will dry much faster and require less time my larger leaves are usually dried out and ready after 90 seconds or so After dry simply crumble and crush the basil leaves. Making dried basil powder is actually really easy and a great way to put some of those basil leaves to good use before they spoil.

Like I mentioned above the basil plant tends to grow easily and gives you a lot of leaves. I try to use my leaves in my cooking as much as I can but sometimes I cant keep up with their growth. When that happens.

Uses - Dried basil is fantastic in pasta omelettes scrambled eggs on roast meat andor vegies in salad dressings on fish and it makes a great home-made gift. Materials needed - Fresh basil from the garden - String wool or cotton thread - A plastic container or ziplock bag - optional 2 x eyehooks Time taken - 1 hour This is what the basil looks like when its been air-dried. So making pesto with dried basil leaves for instance is not something you want to try out.

When converting fresh basil to dried basil make sure you use the correct conversion ratio. Most experts recommend using twice as much fresh as you would dried basil. Heres how to dry basil in the oven.

Simply spread your fresh basil leaves evenly on a baking tray and bake at the lowest temperature possible for about 20 minutes. Leave the baking tray in the closed oven overnight to ensure that the basil leaves are completely dry. Once finished place your dried herbs into a suitable container for storage.

Freshly dried basil leaves can be stored as whole leaves and only crushed when it is used to preserve the subtle peppery flavor and other aromatic compounds that chefs and food enthusiasts long for. Others prefer to crush the leaves after drying basil so it can be stored in small jars and then sprinkled on top of food. To process whole dry basil leaves into a flaky ground seasoning simply crush up the leaves into your desired consistency.

You can add the whole leaves to a dry mixing bowl and crumble them up with clean hands. Some folks put them in a ziplock bag and then smash the heck out of it. Tie 5-10 branches of basil together with string or a rubber band.

Make smaller bundles so that they will dry easier and faster. Put the bundle of herbs stem-side up in a paper bag. Poke a few holes in the bag for ventilation.

Hang the bag by the stem end In a warm well-ventilated room. There are several ways to freeze basil. Choose a method that works best for you and how you use basil when cooking.

Freeze Basil in Oil Fellow Professional Home Economist Mairlyn Smith shows you how she freezes basil by chopping it and mixing with oil. To dry basil in a dehydrator simply lay the rinsed and spun leaves on your dehydrator trays making sure they dont overlap. Set the dehydrator at 95-110 degrees and run for two to four hours.

You can put the machine on a timer if youre concerned about forgetting it. Check if your basil has dried completely. To dry basil in the oven you just need to wash and trim fresh basil and lay the leaves on a baking sheet.

Place them in the oven at the lowest setting for 15 to 4 hours. Drying basil is really quite simple. Of course there are a few best practices youll want to follow for optimal results.

All-time favourite scrambled eggs just got an exciting facelift by the addition of awesome veggies like onions zucchini and tomatoes. A good amount of spinach is added to the dish to add more volume and get a nice mouth-feel. A sprinkling of herbs boosts the taste and aroma of the dish while a.

Cant use all your fresh basil during the season. DFJ will show you how to easily and quickly dry and store your basil for use all year round.