By ShowMeStepByStepPublished Updated
Based on a video by The Ripe Tomato Farms.
Use sharp pruners to cut new green shoots from the rosemary plant - about 8 inches long. Avoid woody old stems and anything that's started to flower; flowering shoots dry bitter.
Take cuttings only from a well-established plant, never from a small one. Try to cut all the branches roughly the same length so they dry evenly later.
Tip
Cut in the morning after the dew dries but before the heat of the day - that's when the essential oils are most concentrated.
The simplest method. Bundle 6 to 10 sprigs together at the cut ends with kitchen twine or a twist tie. Hang the bundles upside down somewhere warm and dry with good airflow - a shed, a garage, a closet, or a pantry all work.
The drying takes 2 to 4 weeks. No electricity, no attention. The downside is it doesn't work when the air is humid - moisture in the air keeps the rosemary chewy and can grow mold.
Strip the needle-like leaves off the stems and spread them in a single layer on a plate or piece of parchment paper. Place the plate on a sunny windowsill that gets direct light most of the day.
Stir or shake the leaves every couple of days so the bottom layer gets sun too. Drying takes about a week. This only works when the air in the house is dry - in humid weather the leaves will mold instead of dry.
Spread whole rosemary sprigs on a baking sheet in a single layer, evenly spaced and not overlapping. Set the oven to its lowest setting - 150 to 175 degrees Fahrenheit.
Bake for up to two hours, checking every 20 minutes for the desired brittleness. Pull them out as soon as the leaves crumble between your fingers. Leave them too long and the rosemary turns bitter and burnt-tasting.
Tip
Crack the oven door open an inch with a wooden spoon to let moisture escape. Without the gap, the leaves end up steaming instead of drying.
The cleanest method if you have one. Spread the sprigs on the dehydrator trays just like the oven method - single layer, no overlap.
Set the temperature to about 120 degrees Fahrenheit and run for 4 hours, or follow your dehydrator's manual. The dehydrator dries more evenly than an oven, removes the risk of burning, and the lower temperature preserves more of the volatile oils that give rosemary its punch.
Run your fingers down each stem from the tip toward the cut end and the dried needles pop right off. Funnel the needles into small glass jars, spice containers, or sealable bags.
Label with the date. Stored in a cool dark place, dried rosemary keeps its potency for about nine months - after that the flavor fades and it's time to start a new batch. The spice rack above the stove is the worst place for it; the heat cooks the volatile oils right out.
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