Basil is one of the most versatile herbs, which is the main ingredient of tasty pesto sauce. It is mostly used as an ingredient in salads, sandwiches, or mints. There are many types of basils, such as Thai basil, lemon basil, and many more.
The growth of basil is at its peak in dry conditions such as hot summer weather. Many people face several problems, or either they don’t know how to dry basil. Here in this article, we are going to provide you with the fair and right ways that will help you to understand:
Key Points
- How To Dry Basil – Methods
- What Is Food Dehydration
- Benefits Of Food Dehydration
How To Dry Basil
Use Air
The most traditional and standard method for drying basil is air drying. Just hang your basil upside down in a ventilated and warm environment. The reason for hanging basils is to prevent insects from chewing their little pieces.
Please keep in mind that you don’t have to use any sprays and chemicals for killing pesticides and hanging basil. It will ruin the quality of it.
Let it dry at an optimal temperature and wait for the results. This technique is one of the best inexpensive and easy methods. The only con this technique had is that it takes more than three weeks to complete the procedure.
So if you decide to use basil in June, you had to hang it daily from may. Another drawback of this effective way is that it is a must for you to use trees free from moisture. In case if you did not care about this, you will eat molded and useless leaves.
Drying It In Microwave
Another simple trick on our top of the list for drying basil is using the microwave. Using this method, you only had to use some high-quality leaves from the plant. Clean them to remove dirt from them.
Check the quality and other impurities. If you find any kind of pollutants on it, remove it and made it moisture-free.
Place your leaves on a clean kitchen towel and after that, keep it in the microwave. Please turn on the machine on its higher setting and provide it heat as much as possible. It will take less than 60 seconds.
Repeat this process 3-4 times until you see the leaves are drying and curling. The best thing that we notice in this method is that it is quite simple, easy, and preserving green color naturally compared to other traditional techniques.
Please be careful and make sure that the leaves or the towel you placed did not catch any fire.
Use Sunlight
This method will be helpful for those who live in the scorching climate. You can use a clean towel, a dry bed sheet and place your basil leaves on it for a couple of days until it brings you results.
Please note that you had to put these leaves by keeping in mind the wind pressure. We did not want that you place basil leaves and wind pressure blew it away in someone’s lap.
The last and the most important thing you need to consider is to change the position of basil several times. This process will only include solar energy, which will not cost you a single penny.
Use Oven
Using the oven with the right technique is one of the best methods for drying basil. This method does not require a couple of days. You can dry your basil in several hours only.
Start your procedure by cleaning basil and place it in a single layer only on a cookie sheet. It would be best to use parchment paper and let it bake for 20-25 minutes at 200 degrees. That is a relatively fair and straightforward method for drying basil.
Please note that the temperature you choose should not be higher as demanded. If the temperature is left too high in the oven, you will eat bitter herbs. Once you complete this procedure, let it cool for 3-4 hours in the oven.
Don’t take out the leaves in a hurry. Another important fact you should know that every kind of metal darkens the herbs.
It is a must for you to use paper parchment for drying basil on a metal tray.
Use Dehydrator
Dehydrating food will provide you with many benefits that you can apply in your daily life for a convenient lifestyle. But, it demands perfect and fair techniques or processes for doing so.
This process can be done using heated air that circulates to make the food 100% dry. Using this method will dry your herbs and preserve nutrients in fruits and other vegetables.
We will recommend using this method only if you have a significant quantity of herbs and basils. The process is simple, arrange basil leaves in a single layer and avoid double layering.
Turn on the dehydrator on its low frequency (temperature setting). It will take a time duration of 5-6 hours. The time duration for drying anything depends upon the moisture in the content and its type. Moreover, the frequency also matters a lot in this process.
What Is Food Dehydration?
Food dehydration means removing water and other moisture from fruits and vegetables. Many different types of food also come, such as meat and fish.
This will help you to defend your food against mould and microorganisms. Preserving food ensures food nutrients and a healthy diet for you.
The most interesting thing is that this method has been going in the human race since the beginning of time. The only difference is that science and technology are making it more advance and easy to preserve food.
Benefits Of Dehydrating Food
The feeling of knowing that you had food for upcoming months, and there is no need for going to the stores and market is satisfactory. You can make this possible by maintaining the food. This can be done by food hydration, and below, we had mentioned its benefits.
You can do business with them by visiting a farmer community and market and buying in wholesale. Preserving them will enable you to sell them, which a customer gets at high prices from stores.
If you do a little bit of the market about what you are selling, you will surely grab many customers to your place. Sounds good? Here is more. You can even save them for your personal use also.
On the other hand, you can save time, money, and energy by dehydrating the food you use on long-terms. Many people made a to-do list and go to the stores for buying.
The interesting fact is that they end up buying many unnecessary things, such as snacks, chocolates, etc. This is a significant reason you can notice that many stores keep chocolates and candies on their counter for making a quick sale.
Leave a Reply