Pick on a Dry Morning

The best herbs in your winter kitchen are the ones you cut yourself on a bright morning in July. Timing matters more than equipment. Wait until the dew has lifted but the sun has not yet grown fierce, ideally between nine and eleven. That is when the essential oils sit highest in the leaves, which is exactly what you are trying to capture.

Cut herbs just before they come into flower, when the plants are still putting their energy into leaf rather than seed. Use sharp scissors and take stems rather than individual leaves, leaving a good few inches on the plant so it can bush out again. Try not to wash what you harvest. If the plants are dusty or a little grubby, a quick rinse is fine, but shake them well and leave them spread on a tea towel for an hour to dry completely. Any moisture left on the leaves is the enemy of good drying.

Air Drying: The Gentle Method

Air drying is the oldest and cheapest approach, and it suits the tough, woody herbs best. Rosemary, thyme, oregano, marjoram, sage, winter savory and bay all dry beautifully this way, keeping their fragrance for months.

Gather six to eight stems into a loose bunch and tie them with garden string, leaving a long tail for hanging. Hang them upside down somewhere dark, dry and airy — an airing cupboard, a spare bedroom, a well-ventilated shed or a porch. Avoid the kitchen, where steam from the kettle and pans will undo your work.

• Bunches: hang from a hook or a line of string stretched across a shelf.
• Paper bags: slip the bunch into a large paper bag and tie the neck around the stems, then punch a few holes in the sides. This keeps dust off and catches any leaves that drop.
• Bay leaves: lay them flat on a cake rack or thread them onto cotton, then hang the string like a garland.

Most herbs are ready in one to three weeks. Test by rubbing a leaf between your fingers: it should crumble easily and the stem should snap rather than bend. If the weather turns muggy and damp — a familiar British problem in late summer — move the bunches somewhere warmer, or finish them off in the oven.

Oven Drying for Damp Days

When the air is heavy with rain, gentle heat is your friend. It is also the better choice for fleshy, moisture-rich herbs such as parsley, mint, basil and chives, which can turn mouldy before they dry on a hook.

Set your oven to its lowest setting, ideally around 40–50°C, and prop the door open with a wooden spoon so moisture can escape. Line your trays with baking parchment and lay the herbs in a single layer, not touching. Check every twenty minutes. Two to four hours is typical, depending on the herb and the oven.

The leaves should end up brittle and papery, not browned. If they change colour, the heat is too high and much of the flavour has already gone up in the steam. A dehydrator does the same job more evenly, and a microwave works in short thirty-second bursts for a small handful, laid between sheets of kitchen paper.

Freezing: Best for Soft Herbs

Soft, leafy herbs lose their character when dried. Basil, coriander, dill, tarragon, parsley, chives and mint keep far more of their fresh, green flavour in the freezer.

• In oil: chop the leaves, pack them into an ice cube tray, and cover with olive oil. Once frozen, tip the cubes into a bag. Drop one straight into a hot pan.
• In water: the same trick with water instead of oil works well for mint, lemon balm and herbs destined for soups or teas.
• Whole leaves: freeze them loose on a tray, then bag them up. They will be limp when thawed, so crumble them straight into cooking while still frozen.
• Snip and shake: chives freeze wonderfully. Chop a handful into a bag, shake it, and use from frozen by the pinch.

Frozen herbs will not work as a garnish, but their flavour is closer to summer than anything dried. A jar of pesto in the freezer is simply another way of storing basil.

Which Herb, Which Method

• Air dry: rosemary, thyme, sage, oregano, marjoram, bay, winter savory.
• Oven dry: parsley, mint, chives, basil, dill, fennel fronds.
• Freeze: basil, coriander, tarragon, dill, chives, parsley, mint.

Many herbs happily take two routes. Mint, for example, dries well for tea and freezes well for cooking, so do a little of each and see which you reach for first.

Storing Your Winter Larder

Once thoroughly dry, strip the leaves from the woody stems and store them whole in small glass jars with tight-fitting lids. Keeping them whole rather than crushed preserves the oils, and you can crumble them into your palm when you cook. Label each jar with the herb and the month you dried it, and keep them in a dark, cool cupboard away from the hob.

Whole dried herbs will hold their flavour for about a year; after that they fade, though they are still perfectly good for stocks and slow-cooked casseroles. For winter teas, a jar of dried mint, lemon balm or thyme with a spoonful of honey is a fine thing on a grey afternoon. And a few stems of rosemary or bay tied into a bundle will flavour a stew from the first frost to the last.