Dried sage gives dishes an individual flavor, alleviates health problems and serves as a decorative dried bouquet. The following instructions with practical tips tell you how to air dry sage leaves, in the oven, dehydrator and in the microwave.

Best harvest date and skilful preparation

In order for dried sage to have the highest possible aroma content, careful timing of harvest is important. Anyone who is patient until the essential oils reach their maximum level shortly before flowering in June/July will be rewarded with premium quality dried herbs. This is how harvesting and preparatory work are carried out:

  • The day before harvest, gently rinse the herb bush
  • Cut off entire branches or shoot tips in the morning hours on the harvest date
  • The plant should be completely dry
  • Discard damaged, wilted plant parts and leaves with white spots
  • Simply shake off dust and dirt

Sage leaves dry better if they are not washed first. Longer storage between harvest and processing has a negative effect on the subsequent taste and healing power.

Sage dries easily in the air

Immediately after harvesting and preparation, start drying. The classic method uses the most natural preservative for this - air. Follow these steps:

  • Tie whole shoots together in small bundles at the bottom
  • Hang upside down in the airy, dark and rain-protected place
  • Individual sage leaves are laid out on a gauze frame or newspaper to dry
  • Alternatively, tie the leaves on their stems with raffia to small bouquets and hang them up

Depending on the weather, the process takes between 8 and 14 days. Since the stems contract due to the loss of water, the binding material is regularly tightened a little. Dried sage rustles and crumbles at the lightest touch. The dried herbs are kept in an airtight container, labeled with the name and date.

Sage leaves dry in the oven - this is how it works

Air drying herbs takes a long time. At the same time, not only is part of the aroma lost, but you keep sweeping small parts of the plant out of the corners. If that is too time-consuming, you can use the oven to dry quickly within a few hours. How to do it professionally:

  • Line a baking sheet with parchment paper
  • Arrange fresh sage on top so the pieces are not touching
  • Preheat the oven to 40 degrees with convection
  • Slide in the baking tray and stick a wooden spoon or cork in the oven door

As the sage leaves dry, turn them every 30 minutes. After about 6 to 8 hours, the process is complete. Leave the herbs to cool down in the switched-off oven before filling them into a dark screw-top jar, either chopped up or whole. Never close the container when it is warm, as condensation will form. Dried sage has a shelf life of up to 2 years.

Dry sage comfortably in the dehydrator

For hobby gardeners with a large harvest of fruit, vegetables and herbs, investing in a dehydrator is worthwhile. This works in a similar way to the oven, in that warm air flows around several sieve floors. The convenient method scores with the advantages that the oven is not permanently occupied and energy consumption is reduced. Thats how it works:

  • Distribute the leaves or shoots on the sieve trays
  • The individual floors occupy a maximum of 90 percent
  • Remove unused sieves from the dehydrator
  • Never dry different types of herbs at the same time

Set the device to the number of degrees recommended in the user manual. The sage leaves usually dry within 8 to 10 hours. If drying is not uniform, switch off the device and replace the lower sieve with the upper one. Dried sage from the dehydrator should still be green in color and slightly pliable.

Dry extra quickly in the microwave

Garden sage is one of the few herbs that are suitable for drying in the microwave. Put the prepared leaves or shoots in a microwave-safe container. Sage leaves also dry faster with this method if they are not stacked. If you place the herbs on top of each other due to the small space capacity, the process is interrupted every 15 seconds and the herbs are turned.

  • Set the microwave to a maximum of 200 watts
  • Check the degree of drying every 10 seconds

The intensity of the treatment causes a comparatively high loss of essential oils in the leaves. Dried sage from the microwave is therefore particularly suitable for use in drying arrangements or for burning off as a smoking material.

tips and tricks

The long-term use of sage as a tea or medicine is not recommended due to the toxic thujone content. In high doses, this natural neurotoxin causes convulsions, dizziness and hallucinations. In a kitchen-friendly seasoning dose, however, there are no concerns.

GTH

The garden journal freshness ABC

How can fruit and vegetables be stored correctly so that they stay fresh for as long as possible?

The garden journal freshness ABC as a poster:

  • as a free PDF file to print out yourself

Category:

Herbs