Anyone who thinks about stocking up on mint in good time will not be left behind in winter. Forward-thinking home gardeners know that dried mint has an excellent shelf life. We have compiled all practicable methods for you here.

Mint is easy to air dry

Dry air is the world's healthiest and cheapest preservative. In order for fresh leaves to turn into dried mint, do the following:

  • harvest whole shoots on a dry morning, just before flowering
  • leave a third of the branch standing so that a new shoot can thrive
  • Rinse the mint thoroughly under cold running water
  • carefully pat dry with a kitchen towel

Tie the prepared mint sprigs into little bouquets with raffia or elastic. Hang upside down in a dark, dry place. The leaves dried within 14 days. Now they can be picked and stored in an airtight container.

In this way, the oven functions as a drying machine

If you don't want to wait 14 days for dried mint, you can speed up the process in the oven. How to do it professionally:

  • Spread fresh, clean mint leaves on a baking sheet
  • Discard leaves with a white coating
  • Preheat the oven to 50-60 degrees Celsius
  • leave on heat for 5 minutes and turn off
  • put the baking sheet in the oven

In the 20 minutes that follow, you repeatedly check the progress of the process. Dried mint can still be green. When the leaves rustle and curl, the process is complete. Pull out the baking sheet to prevent the mint from turning brown.

Comfort drying in the dehydrator

The luxury variant for dried mint offers a practical dehydrator. This is an electrically operated device with an integrated circulating air heater and several sieve trays. Spread the prepared mint leaves over this so that they do not touch. Set the thermostat to the lowest level.

Check the degree of drying of the mint at regular intervals over the next few minutes. As in the oven, crunchy leaves signal that the dried mint is ready.

Mint dry every second - this is how it works in the microwave

You have dried mint at high speed using your microwave. To do this, take a suitable plate and place the fresh leaves on it. Place the plate in the device. In 10 second intervals, run the microwave on the lowest wattage setting. If the dried mint turns brown, it is still suitable for making tea.

Store dried mint safely

Moisture is the biggest enemy of dried herbs. If the process went smoothly, fill the leaves immediately into a suitable container. These include jars with screw caps, airtight Tupperware or vacuum bags.

tips and tricks

Don't want to dry the bunches of mint in the basement or in the attic? Then simply add your dehumidifier. With this little trick, you can speed up the process considerably and effectively prevent the formation of mold.

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The garden journal freshness ABC

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Vegetable garden