Freezing and preserving herbs

wyrdsister

I'm always buying a ton of herbs then shoving them in the freezer I either use the icecube tray method or in plastic boxes. Dill is one that I've found that doesn't work, it goes all horrible and mushy when defrosting :rolleyes:

Lizzieanne

Another idea is to dry them yourself.

I do this with herbs I've grown in the garden (when there's a glut) and packets of fresh herbs in the supermarket - my local Asda always whoopsies them down to between 5p and 10p per pack when they're at their sell by date.
Spread them out on a large bakings sheet and put them in the oven when you're cooking something else. It only takes 15-20 minutes for them to dry out, then eiher crush them by hand or whizz them in a foot processor.

Pink.

Hi Emenelle,

There's an existing thread with lots of ideas for freezing and preserving herbs so I've added your thread to it to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

IsoChick

I've got a couple of packets of fresh herbs, where I have used the amount I want, but there is still lots left.

How can I preserve them/keep them?

In spring/summer, I have a herb garden, but in winter I have to rely on herbs from the shop.

Can they be chopped up and frozen somehow?

Thanks!

csarina

Put them in a poly bag and freeze them, they will be fine. Another way is to chop them up and then put them in the ice cube tray fill the tray with water and freeze, tt way you can just take our a couple of cubes and lob them in what ever you are cooking, the little drop of water will not hurt.

Pink.

Hi IsoChick,

Yes, herbs freeze well. There's an earlier thread with lots of tips and advice that may help:

Freezing and preserving herbs

I'll add your post to that one later to keep the suggestions together.

Pink

picklepick

i use the ice cube option. once their frozen i take them out the trays and stick them in a bag sp i can reuse my trays. my corriander from last summer is still giving us plenty of lovely curries!

Larumbelle

Hi Isochick

I was going to suggest what the others have - freezing, either 'in bulk' or in ice-cube trays. Ice cube trays is handy if you're starting the slow cooker in the morning before dashing off somewhere, otherwise just freezing them (chopped) in plastic bags is most flexible, they are free-flowing.

YOu can also dry herbs in a really cool oven (either as it cools down from cooking or else having switched on the lowest temperature you can) or air dry them somewhere cool and dark and dry. Personally, though, I despise dried herbs!

You can also make flavoured vinegars and oils, I think this is underrated, especially with salads. I make chilli and basil flavoured olive oil, the tiniest drizzle to finish a pizza and suddenly my too-tight-for-dominos-leftovers-surprise becomes a gourmet treat

evie451

i had a giant clump of chives to get through at the end of the growing season and i froze a lot of it in ice cube trays with some water but i also made chive butter and froze that in the trays too.......its been great!

Lady_Aitch

Goodmorning old stylers, Can someone tell me the best way to keep the soft garden herbs i.e Mint, Marjeram (spelling?) etc. for winter use. I thought perhaps freezing, or will they go all soggy?