How to dry mint at home for the winter and when to collect it

It is known that mint has a considerable number of useful properties, due to which it is often used in folk therapy for many diseases. Also, the plant is used in the creation of many culinary dishes to make them more tasty and fragrant. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with how to dry mint in order to use greens not only in spring, but also in winter.

Features of mint drying

In order to properly dry the collected greens, it is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the features of this process.

There are six important rules to follow when picking mint for tea or cooking:

Don't collect herbs near industrial plants or roadways. This plant contains many trace elements that can harm a person. It also tastes much worse than home grown mint.
It is not recommended to pick young bushes for drying, as they are not yet ripe. Unripe greens have fewer he alth benefits and no rich flavor.
When harvesting, choose only those greens that have already faded. Before flowering, large mint leaves are collected, as they contain more essential oils.
Cutting mint bushes with whole stems, they are cut off by only a third, and not completely. Thanks to this, after a while, new stems will appear at the cut points, which in the future will also be cut and dried.
Plants are collected only in sunny and dry weather during the day or after sunset. In the morning, there is dew on the surface of the leaves, due to which, during the drying process, the pouring darkens and deteriorates.
When pruning, all leaves are carefully inspected to immediately weed out damaged material.

When to collect mint for drying

Before you start drying mint leaves, it is recommended to determine the optimal time for their collection. If you collect mint at the wrong time, then the probability of damage to the collected plants increases several times. Also, too young specimens cannot be used in cooking, as they are less fragrant.

It is necessary to collect when all the bushes are filled with useful microelements and essential oils as much as possible. This moment comes with the appearance of flowers. Often mint bushes begin to bloom in mid-summer and fade in the second half of August. That is why gardeners are advised to collect during these months. However, there are early varieties of mint that ripen a few months earlier.

In this case, work will have to be postponed to the end of spring and the first half of summer.

The timely harvest is used for medicinal and culinary purposes. Mint leaves are used as a flavoring additive to improve the taste of dishes.

Preparation of mint

Before you start drying the collected mint leaves and their further storage, you need to properly prepare the greens.

After harvesting any plant, it is washed. Therefore, all cut mint is washed in cold or heated water. This must be done carefully so as not to accidentally damage the plant, since any mechanical defects reduce the shelf life. When all the branches are washed, they are completely wiped with a towel or special paper napkins. Then all the wiped sheets are laid out on a small piece of cloth until they are completely dry.

To speed up drying, plants are periodically wiped with a rag or heated with a hairdryer.

All dried leaves are laid out in a row on a flat surface and carefully examined. If there are dark spots or damage on the surface of the leaves, then it is better to get rid of them immediately.

Drying plants

When drying mint stems at home, various methods are used. It is recommended that you familiarize yourself with the features of each of them.

Outdoor

Most often, drying is done on the street under the sun. When using this method, all plants are distributed in several small bunches. Then they are carefully tied with strings, laid out on a flat surface or hung on ropes. Experienced gardeners advise drying mint in shady areas so that the leaves do not deteriorate.

In the oven

Some prefer to carry out the procedure not on the street, but in ovens. The main advantage of this method is its speed, since the branches are dried in this way in just 20-30 minutes. First, the oven is heated to 70 degrees, after which a tray with sheets is placed in it. The readiness of plants is checked every 5-7 minutes. If you do not periodically check the mint, then it will dry out and have to be thrown away.

How to store dried mint

To be able to add fragrant dried mint leaves to various dishes in winter, you should familiarize yourself with the features of their storage.

Mint lasts the longest in airtight containers that won't get wet.

Therefore, food containers or glass jars are used for this. Some use vacuum plastic bags.

Containers with dried herbs should be checked periodically to make sure there is no moisture. If the sheets are damp inside, you will have to re-dry them and place them in other storage containers.

Conclusion

Housewives often harvest dried mint to use in the winter. It is recommended to familiarize yourself in advance with the features of collecting mint leaves and their drying.