Time to get to drying this year’s basil. Some years I’ve done pesto for the freezer, but have found it’s most useful for our home as a dried herb.
This is my favorite way to dry basil. The house smells so good during the process. It takes between 2 and 3 weeks. I put paper bags around the bundles to catch any leaves that might naturally fall and protect from dust.
Weave string through branch joints because as the basil dries, it shrinks and could slip through the string.
Once dry, it’s easy to pull the leaves off over a bowl and crunch it up a little. I do not chop it by hand or crumble it into fine pieces. I do that when I use the basil in a recipe later. I store some in a jar, and the rest in plastic resealable bags.
Confession time. I am cheating part of the process with one of the rounds of harvesting this year. I don’t know if my new method will work. Either way, I will know in two weeks and let you know.
~Debbie