How to dry grass quickly?

How nice to take a bath with fragrant medicinal herbs or drink tea from fees! In summer, this is done easily - you just need to take the plants you need and use them according to the suggested recipes, and in order to be able to enjoy such procedures in the cold season, you need to know how to pre-harvest correctly, that is, how to quickly dry the grass. You will learn about this from this article.

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Why dry herbs?

It is necessary to dry the grass so that it retains its useful properties, so that during storage the leaves, roots and stems do not rot and annoying insects or rodents wound in them. If you know how to properly dry the grass and adhere to a certain sequence of actions during harvesting, all the plants that you like can retain their properties for up to 2 years.

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Grass Harvesting Rules

Before you dry the grass, ask yourself how much you are willing to spend time on this. The usual procedure will take several weeks, and during this time you will need to do some manipulations with the plants and constantly monitor the process. But this is the only true option for maintaining the maximum amount of nutrients.

Such a harvest of herbs looks like this:

1. Collect the herbs you need early in the morning - the best time when the dew has already evaporated.
2. Sort the plants by type. Remove all broken or imperfect parts.
3. Separate those parts of plants that are useful to you - stems, leaves or roots and seeds. If you can use one plant as a whole - this is not necessary.
4. Rinse each branch well, removing soil, insects from leaves and stems, and washing away possible impurities of chemicals if the area has been treated with such.
5. Gently shake to remove most of the water.
6. Spread evenly with a thin layer on a paper or fabric towel - a prerequisite: the litter should absorb moisture well.
7. Lay on a flat surface in a well-ventilated room or outdoors, but only away from direct sunlight.
8. Bundle as soon as the main moisture comes out. It is advisable to make small bouquets, wrapping them with a thin thread.
9. Hang them down on a rope in a room suitable for this - with good ventilation, possibly even without light, so that there is no access for bugs.
10. Wait for the herbs to dry completely.

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How to dry grass quickly?

If you are not a bright follower of long procedures or you simply do not have time for this, but you want to make some preparations from aromatic herbs, there are several ways to quickly dry the grass. Take advantage of the option below that is convenient for you.

Method 1

If you have a dehumidifier in your home, use it. The advantage of such a device is that you can independently control the temperature and intensity of the air circulation. In solving the problem of how to quickly dry the grass, this device is used in this way:

1. Turn on the appliance and allow it time to warm up.
2. Set the temperature in the range of 35-41 ° C. If the room has high humidity - it is allowed to increase this indicator to 51 ° C.
3. Place the desired plants in special trays for drying with a mesh bottom.
4. Install next to the dryer.
5. Wait for the herbs to dry.

Important! The time for such drying is usually from 1 to 4 hours. This depends not only on the created conditions, but also on the natural moisture level in specific types of herbs. For example, drying such herbs takes less time:

• rosemary;
• parsley;
• thyme;
• sage;
• thyme.

A longer process will be for such varieties:

• lemon balm or mint;
• oregano;
• basil;
• tarragon.

Please note, if you do not have time to solve the question of how to dry the grass of these species in time, they will rot due to the increased moisture content in the stems and foliage.

Method 2

Another modern method that home craftsmen increasingly use to quickly dry grass is microwave processing. For this:

1. Put a sheet of paper on a plate without a border and shiny details - take a large and thick sheet.
2. Lay the herbs on it in a thin layer.
3. Cover with another sheet of paper.
4. Put in the microwave.
5. Take a cup of cold water and put it inside.
6. Turn on for 30 seconds, check after this time, how dry the plants are.
7. If not enough, add another 10 to 30 seconds.
8. Repeat switching as many times as necessary until the herbs dry completely.

Important! If the procedure takes more than 1-2 minutes, replace the water in the cup. It is needed so that dry leaves and stems do not catch fire, part of the energy provided by the microwave will go exactly to heat the water. If in deciding how to quickly dry the grass, you gave preference to this particular method, keep in mind that some of the useful properties will go away under the influence of electromagnetic waves.

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How to understand that the herbs are dry and ready for storage?

To understand that it is time to finish the drying procedure and you need to start storing plants as follows:

1. Feel the leaves and stems.
2. If they are dry, crunchy and easy to grind - drying is finished.
3. If soft parts remain or even signs of decay appear, it is necessary to continue, and discard all damaged elements.

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How to store dry herbs?

To maximize shelf life, follow these tips:

1. Grind all the stems, leaves, roots.
2. If desired, prepare immediately the types of fees you need for the selected recipes.
3. Prepare dry and clean containers - containers made of wood, ceramic or thick cardboard, cans, preferably dark glass, or paper bags. Do not take plastic or plastic.
4. Pour dry mixes into containers.
5. Close the covers tightly.
6. Sign each jar - mark what exactly is in it and the date when you filled it.
7. Put in a dry and dark place.

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Helpful hints:

1. When using dry herbs for cooking, take proportions less than 3-4 times than indicated in the recipes.
2. Separate drying of each type of grass will help preserve their shade and will not cause mixing of aroma.

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Now you know not only how to properly prepare the grass, but also how to dry it quickly. Use these tips and in the winter you can pamper yourself with fragrant and tasty dishes, teas or relaxing wholesome bathrooms.