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food preservation

Drying a lot of herbs - efficiently?

Matt McSpadden

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posted 9 months ago

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Hi All,
In a previous post, I was asking about the solar dehydrator plans from Wheaton Labs for drying herbs. And what I got was that it might get too hot for something like oregano, basil, thyme, etc where I am trying to preserve color and flavor for reselling.

While I may build one and try it out just to be sure, I also wanted to look at other options. Unfortunately, I live in a humid enough environment that simply hanging them in the house would probably not work without additional help in some way. Some random thoughts that my brother-in-law and I came up with.

Take a decent sized closet or small bedroom and just plugging in a dehumidifier. I think this would work and its really easy, but they can use quite a bit of electricity.

Take a decent sized closet or small bedroom and hook up a heat pump. I think this would work, and could heat the room and speed up drying, but much more complicated to install, and more difficult to move if needed.

Take a couple large totes with stacked trays and connecting them with pipes full of silica beads and using a small fan for air movement through the beads to soak up the moisture. I think this could work as well and would be minimal electricity, mobile and scalable, but would be a lot more pieces to buy, and I would have to bake the beads in between in order to reuse them.

Run a wood stove. I think this could work well, but would be a lot of extra expense and work if I was not already using the wood stove for something else, and the time of year I would be drying them would not be cold enough to need a stove.

Modify the rocket assisted solar dehydrator plans and just stick it in the shade?

Anyone done larger scale dehydrating of herbs? Found a way to do it other than a row of electric food dehydrators?

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Judith Browning

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We like hanging bundles of herbs from strung wire ( we have high ceilings) or cut herbs on big table cloths or cane trays in a room with a dehumidifier and dark curtains.

Not sure what amount you are considering?
For us it's seasonal and sometimes a room full of one herb such as passion flower vine and other times bits of this and that. It also works well for quickly drying wet bean pods for shelling for seed and corn. Seeds in general.

The plus side is it doesn't heat the room too much for year round use.

I've always understood that drying herbs slowly is much better for retaining flavor, color and any nutrition and medicinal value...that might be old dated info?
High heat is not good, nor sun directly on the herb.

We don't sell herbs though...just use and give away any excess.

Thinking pounds of finished herb would mean a more orginized space but I would still vote for a dehumidifier.

And pack in jars when crunchy....

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Matt McSpadden

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posted 9 months ago

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Hi Judith,
Is is nice to hear that you use a simple method of blocking sunlight and just using a dehumidifer. I'd love for this to grow into a full sized business where maybe I am drying an entire room of herbs on racks at a time. However, this first year, I plan to figure things out. How to dry efficiently, how long it takes, how much fresh product it takes to make how much dry product and that sort of thing.

I could see getting several hundred garlic plants, maybe a 100 plants worth of oregano, basil, and thyme. Probably a couple hundred onions. I figure I could make a rack the size of a bathtub/shower and fill it up with what I hope to do this year. It needs to be enough to get a good test on a lot of plants, but not so big that I break the bank if I fail utterly and can't sell it :)

It's amazing how much water is in some things. My oregano shrivels some, but garlic, wow. I estimate that two large mixing bowls (about 200 head of garlic) became just under 4 cups of garlic powder after being processed. It sure packed a punch in the flavor department, but feels like not a whole lot for all the work. I had cooks telling me they could use 1/3 the product to get the same flavor as store bought stuff. I figure, if I sell for twice the cost, but have 3 times the flavor... that would be a good thing for both me and the customer.

Carmen Cullen

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Is there anything un-permie about a dehydrator?

Mine is electric and it runs a small fan and a small heater, which is a lot more efficient than a dehumidifier or a heat pump, and I can dry a lot of herbs in it. It has 10-15 trays and I rescued it from a trash heap. It takes maybe 12-24 hours to dry my herbs. I can adjust my temp depending on what I'm drying. I also use a solar farm for my electricity draw so the impact is reduced on that front.

Edit: I now see you're trying to do large scale dehydrating. My apologies. Still love my trash heap dehydrator.

Matt McSpadden

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Hi Carmen,
I'm sure people could find fault with the food dehydrators if they wanted to :), but I have no problem using them. In this case, my reason for not wanting to use them was the amount of product I am hoping to do at a time. It will probably come in spurts, and I didn't want to have to have 10 of those dehydrators lined up on the counter. That seems like a lot more work to do that many smaller trays and plug in that many devices and set the temp, etc. Plus, I wonder if a dehydrator would be more efficient at that scale. I'm just guessing though. Those things are pretty efficient. Maybe I should get one of those watt meters and find out.

Nikki Roche

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I'd be fascinated to see a set-up with the silica beads. My skill level is nowhere near that.
On mildly humid days, I just turn the ceiling fan on. If they're not crunchy-dry when I expect, then I finish them in a dehydrator, but I can see how that wouldn't work with larger quantities. On extra humid days, I've run a dehumidifier with fantastic results.

I've noticed the same thing with garlic powder. So flavorful and potent when I've dried my own! Makes me wonder how old the store-bought stuff really is, or if they problem is their growing or drying processes.

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Judith Browning

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Matt,
We only dry leafy things as I described and seeds...not onions, garlic, tomatoes and mushrooms, other 'wet' vegetables. Those go in our dehydrator at a temp at or below 115F.
I think the smells might linger in the drying room and would take too long to dry.

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"Be a lamp, or a lifeboat, or a ladder."-Rumi
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Rock Xie

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Hi Matt. While you might not prioritize a food dehydrator, what if you bought an industrial(large) dehydrator with many layers? But obviously, dehydrating could cost a lot of electricity.

Dehydrating makes life healthier.

Anne Miller

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I am planning to buy a dyhydrater co can anyone tell me the best brand?

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Deane Adams

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Matt, I've ordered a dark mesh hanging "dehydrator/drying" bag thing. This model has four shelves with zipper openings. (Amazon - cost was $15 or $16) I plan to dry my tea herbs and use it as a pre-dryer for veggies before using the electric dehydrator, hoping to reduce the run time and use less. (electric rates took a big jump here in Virginia on January 1 this year).

I'll let you know how this works out.

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Deane Adams

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Anne Miller wrote:I am planning to buy a dyhydrater co can anyone tell me the best brand?

Anne, Cosori dehydrators getting good reviews from most users/owners. No plastic, and quiet. Priced at $150 or less, most online stores list at $99-$125. I think there are several models. (Five trays up to nine trays)

I just got a Hamilton Beach five trays dehydrator. Best price ever, free. It's not quiet, have to run it in the basement!!!

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bruce Fine

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how large a quantity? I'm not sure what is in a food dehydrator that you would buy. but I'm wondering if a plywood sheet size box with a bunch of screen shelves and one of those dehumidifier/dehydrators that are about the size of a window air conditioner would get the job done. I know someone who has one of these dehydrators in a damp cellar and the water catchment tank gets filled pretty quickly. but it has a fitting to connect a garden hose to drain outside.

Deane Adams

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Matt, I've been thinking of using a rolling baker/bread rack, for the core of a solar dehydrator, the trays for bread are six inches apart with space for 12 trays. I'll make my own wooden trays with screen and silicone mesh liners.

One rack will be more than large enough for me. You might be able to group four or six together with a dehumidifier in the middle, wrapping all with poly.

Something to think about.

Peace

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Matt McSpadden

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@Bruce - This year, I'm hoping to get at least a 5 gallon bucket worth of 4 or 5 of the leaf kind of herbs. The onion and garlic would have to be more, as they have more water content. But if I can sell this stuff, then I would love to have 5 gallon buckets of the dried stuff, which means I'd probably need bathtubs full of fresh.

@Deane - The solar dehydrator from Permies.com has a similar rack system to what you are suggesting. I'll bet it would work well. I think I would try to find something else to wrap it with, but plastic wrap would certainly be a simple solution.

Matt McSpadden

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So far, my plan is to build one of the solar dehydrators for garlic and onions, and maybe sea water. Just make some modified trays. Then use a large closet or build a smaller area inside a room for the rest of the leafy herbs and spices.

Fun fact - herb refers to something from the leaves, while spice refers to something from the root/stalk/bark of the plant.

Joy Hancock

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This last year, I used a laundry rack (that you would air dry clothes one). I would bundle and rubber band a few stalks of each leafy herb (holy basil, lavender) and have them dry downward on each rack. It did help with space.

F477FE96-AE20-484C-8B4B-540A239CF9D7.jpeg

bundle a few stalks of each leafy herb and dry downward on each rack

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Matt McSpadden

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@Joy,
Thanks for that good idea. I've been focusing on taking the leaves off the stem and laying them out on racks to dry. If I kept them on the stem like you have done first... I just just use laundry racks or dowels, or probably even strings going across the space.

Carla Burke

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Joy's method is a slight modification to one of the oldest (possibly the oldest) methods - simply bundling and hanging the herbs, in a covered, dry-as-possible area. Easy, fast, and efficient. It was common to see herbs hanging in kitchens, dry storage areas, even living areas, usually from the rafters - especially near heat sources like a fireplace or wood stove, since... well, since people started drying herbs.

One tip I'd give on this is to either make your ties through forks in the herb branches, tie them tighter than your think necessary, or plan to check and adjust the ties at least once per day, until they're completely dry, or you could end up picking them off the floor. Don't ask.

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