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food preservation

Would herbs still dry well on a partial mesh tray?

Matt McSpadden

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posted 6 months ago

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I am continuing my journey to drying herbs in bulk. Right now, I am using hanging, round, and completely mesh drying racks. They work well, but are a pain to load and unload as you can only disconnect the trays in pairs, so the bottom shelf is difficult to get stuff in and out of. So I've been looking around at various options, both home made and purchased for some sort of tray that is by itself but can still be stacked easily.

I really like the idea of one of those baking/cooling racks like they have at restaurants. Lots of short shelves would be perfect. I didn't want to use solid pans because I was worried things wouldn't dry as well... and I certainly was not looking forward to making trays out of window screen or something, which might be harder to clean... when I came across something I never knew existed. An aluminum pan with holes in the bottom. Apparently for baking various breads. These trays would be easy to load and unload, relatively inexpensive, and easy to clean... but I'm worried things would not dry as well as a full mesh. Anyone have any thoughts? Anyone dry things on a solid surface that can tell me it wouldn't matter? Below are links to what I am talking about.

Something like this rack
https://www.webstaurantstore.com/regency-20-pan-side-load-bun-sheet-pan-rack-unassembled/109APR1826L.html

Something like this tray.
https://www.boltontool.com/index.php?route=product/product&product_id=34034

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Anne Miller

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posted 6 months ago

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I am looking forward to what other have to say.

I feel you would need to turn the herbs daily.

Also being on a stand up rack might impend the air flow.

Maybe if you are handy at crafts you could make some tulle/wood rack the right size to fit the stand up rack.

Tulle or net is usually sold at fabric store like for making ballet costumes.

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Matt McSpadden

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Anne Miller wrote:
Maybe if you are handy at crafts you could make some tulle/wood rack the right size to fit the stand up rack.

Tulle or net is usually sold at fabric store like for making ballet costumes.

This was my original idea. except I was going to use metal screen you can get to repair windows screens. I wonder if tule would be any easier to clean? Though, if I have a wooden frame, it would limit my washing options.

Chard Irking

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Anne Miller wrote:I feel you would need to turn the herbs daily.

Also being on a stand up rack might impend the air flow.

If you have good airflow through the room (e.g., a fan blowing, or perhaps leaving them on the porch), I feel like those roller carts could work well. They're even convenient to move around to different locations where they might dry better. A lot that I have seen though have a back on one side so that folks don't accidently push the tray all the way through. I think you'd want to stay away from those since you won't get much airflow.

As far as needing to turn them daily, having an extra set of trays that are the same size might let you simply hold a full tray against an empty tray, flip, and put it back on the shelf - if that makes sense. I imagine you could move through one of those standing racks pretty quick using that method.

Matt McSpadden

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posted 6 months ago

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Hi Chard,
While I would prefer to come up with a method that does not require flipping them... that is an amazing idea to put an empty pan on top and flip it. I have seen it done on cooking shows, but never thought of it for this use case.

The space does not exactly get good air flow. I have a small area sealed off with a dehumidifier running. The dehumidifier does blow air out the top, but it's not directed or circulating. I am mostly relying on the natural tendency of moist material to release that moisture if the air is dry.

Matt McSpadden

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posted 6 months ago

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So far it is drying very well within 3 days. It gets nice and crispy... right now I'm running short of quart jars to store it in.

Matt McSpadden

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posted 6 months ago

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And... of course... now that I have gone and done all this research, I came across this other thread from a few years ago. https://permies.com/t/140150/dehydrator-screen-material

And it talks about those perforated pans, and the baking racks, and screen and muslin, etc. What is that quote, if you don't pay attention to history, it will repeat itself :)

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