The main thing is that microwaves specifically target water as they're heating. The fastest way just happens to involve your microwave. Stored this way they'll last for several months while maintaining flavor and color. *Do not microwave recycled paper towels—they can contain tiny fragments of metal that can arc and cause fires. The ultimate creamy-in-the-middle, crispy-on-top casserole. They can take on a papery texture if used where fresh herbs would be used such as for salads or for garnishing. If you see something not so nice, please, report an inappropriate comment. All products linked here have been independently selected by our editors. Drying bay leaves in a microwave oven is recommended if you only have a few pieces to dry. Compared to other drying methods—like hanging or using a low oven—the microwave produces the most potent dried herbs with the freshest flavor and the brightest color. The hot water in turn transfers energy to the rest of your food. If they weren't, they'd lose too many volatiles through evaporation under hot and sunny conditions. Herbs that would end up brown or gray and flavorless by the time they're done drying in the oven or through hanging will retain their bright green color and much of their aroma after the minute or so it takes to dry them in the microwave. The sunlight will dry out the leaves, but the edges may curl. Kenji's next project is a children’s book called Every Night is Pizza Night, to be released in 2020, followed by another big cookbook in 2021. If the herbs are still pliant, continue cooking them until completely dried. Delicate and moist herbs like parsley, mint, tarragon, cilantro, chervil, basil, and chives lose a great deal more of their flavor when dried. I use either a mortar and pestle or a coffee grinder to reduce the herbs to powder. When it comes to picking which herbs to dry you've also got some decisions to make. Here are the step-by-step instructions for this method: Rinse the bay leaves in cool water to remove dirt. Or you might want to dry it. His first book, The Food Lab: Better Home Cooking Through Science (based on his Serious Eats column of the same name) is a New York Times best-seller, recipient of a James Beard Award, and was named Cookbook of the Year in 2015 by the International Association of Culinary Professionals. Herbs should crumble when you bend them when they're finished. And because microwaved herbs are so brittle and dry (air- or oven-dried herbs tend to be more tough than brittle), they can be reduced to fine, flavorful powders that incorporate beautifully into spice blends and rubs. Comments can take a minute to appear—please be patient! Whether left whole, crumbled, or in powder form, dried herbs should be stored in a tightly sealing airtight container in a cool pantry away from light. Drying herbs will greatly extend their shelf life by removing any moisture that bacteria could use to survive. Pick the leaves off the herbs and spread them on a microwave-safe plate lined with 2 layers of paper towels or a clean kitchen towel.*. What's different about the microwave than other methods of drying? What this means is that a microwave can very efficiently case water to evaporate from your herbs—especially because they are so thin—while leaving flavorful compounds and colorful pigments mostly intact. If you want it extra-fine, you can tap it through a fine mesh strainer. Even better, it only takes two to three minutes to achieve your desired results. But that's not to say that these herbs are completely useless in dried form, especially if you use the microwave to dry them. I wouldn't recommend it. Air-dry the leaves if you don't need to keep them flat. Smaller leaves will dry faster, so sort them roughly by size. You can take a batch of fresh herbs from the fridge to the dry pantry in just a couple of minutes—a fraction of the time it takes for your oven to even pre-heat! You can't taste it, but there's as much flavor as there is color in there. Subscribe to our newsletter to get the latest recipes and tips! An oven, on the other hand, heats everything evenly. Delicate herbs will take 40 seconds followed by a few 20 second bursts until completely dry. Post whatever you want, just keep it seriously about eats, seriously. All of my timing was done with a half ounce of fresh picked herbs (about as much as can fit on a dinner plate in a single layer) in an 800-watt microwave operating at full power. Expose to direct sunlight for a few days, checking every day or two to see whether they're dry. You might also consider blanching and freezing it in ice cube trays. The downside is that it also robs fresh herbs of flavor, aroma, color, and texture. Once the herbs are dry, you can store them whole or grind them into a powder for spice rubs or spice mixes. They have to be. Just look at this rosemary. But we've all been there: you buy a bunch of parsley from the supermarket for those two tablespoons of garnish that you need, a week goes by, and you suddenly find yourself with a whole lot of fresh parsley that's on its way out. This is because their aromatic compounds are naturally less volatile than their more delicate, fair-weathered counterparts. The batch on the left was dried in the microwave while the batch on the right is fresh. Delicate herbs should be used for dishes that use moist cooking methods like soups, stews, and braises. Microwaves work by emitting waves of long electromagnetic radiation that cause polar molecules within your food to rapidly flip back and forth. Pick the leaves off the herbs and spread them on a microwave-safe plate lined with 2 layers of paper towels or a clean kitchen towel. So what makes a microwave so much better at drying than any other method? Microwaves are by far the most efficient method of heat transfer in your kitchen. Stunningly crisp skin, perfectly cooked breast and leg, and a flavorful gravy in one fell swoop. * *Do not microwave recycled paper towels—they can contain tiny fragments of … Cover the herbs with a second paper towel or clean dish towel, then microwave them on high power. Your best option? Place leaves in a shallow container or tie them in bunches. Repeat until it does crumble easily. https://www.foodnetwork.com/recipes/articles/how-dry-herbs-microwave By far the most abundant polar molecule in anything we eat is water. Dried hearty herbs can be used very much like their fresh counterparts for flavoring roasts or sautés, for sprinkling into soups or on your pizza, or for stewing and braising. If it doesn't crumble easily, give it another 20 second burst. How to Dry Herbs in the Microwave Step 1: Spread the Herbs. Drying herbs is a great way to extend the flavor of a bountiful crop. We reserve the right to delete off-topic or inflammatory comments. The best option is to just find a recipe that uses it, of course. Most hearty herbs will take around 1 minute initially, followed by a few 20 second bursts until completely dry. Let it sit out a minute for the last moisture to evaporate. What do you do? It simply flies off the herbs along with the water while you're dehydrating them. In general, thick-leafed, hearty herbs that grow in hot, dry climates like rosemary, thyme, savory, marjoram, and oregano fare well with drying. J. Kenji López-Alt is a stay-at-home dad who moonlights as the Chief Culinary Consultant of Serious Eats and the Chef/Partner of Wursthall, a German-inspired California beer hall near his home in San Mateo. Like oysters and princes, herbs are nearly always at their best when they're fresh. Try these Olive-Rosemary Spiced Cashews, for instance. It works best with herbs like bay leaves, oregano, rosemary, sage, and thyme, and there are a couple methods you can use. So really, a microwave doesn't heat up all your food, it just heats up the water. Yes, really. Keep it traditional with this sage and sausage dressing. I've tried the technique to great success with every commonly available herb in even the fancy supermarkets and while I'll still stick to fresh herbs on a day to day basis, it's a relief to know that I have a good alternative whenever I find myself in a glut. See how much color is preserved? Some HTML is OK: link, strong, em. But there are ways to mitigate this loss. We may earn a commission on purchases, as described in our affiliate policy. The microwave. A few factors. 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