FOOD NEWS
Why You Should Never Throw Away Old Herbs
By Elizabeth Pak
There's nothing better than having fresh herbs on hand to garnish your favorite meal, but anyone who has used herbs in their kitchen knows they tend to go bad quickly. However, there is a clever trick that has been used for centuries to help repurpose herbs and prevent them from wilting away.
According to the National Center for Home Food Preservation, drying your herbs is the easiest preservation method to keep them from spoiling. Although dried herbs are more potent due to their lack of water content, using either fresh or dried herbs will make your meal tastier, but dried herbs last much longer than fresh herbs.
MasterClass says that to air-dry herbs the old-school way, you'll want to start by tying the stems of herbs such as tarragon, lavender, rosemary, thyme, or lemon balm into bunches with twine, rubber bands, or twist ties. Fresh herbs can take up to a week to completely dry out, and you'll know they're done once the leaves crackle when touched.