The lovage looks juicy green and has grown large. Now it's ready to harvest. But the huge quantities of this strongly spicy herb are difficult to use all at once. But which is better: freezing or drying?
Freeze lovage: This is not advisable
It's quick and easy. Simply harvest the lovage, pack it in a bag and put it in the freezer. However, freezing lovage has two major disadvantages. For one thing, the herb loses its aroma. On the other hand, it becomes mushy when thawed and looks unappetizing.
If you still want to freeze lovage, you should choose this method: chop the maggi herb very finely and put it in an ice cube tray together with olive oil and water. After everything has solidified in the freezer, the ice cube can simply be added to soup, for example, if required.
The better method: drying lovage
Drying lovage to preserve it is much better than freezing it. But some things can go wrong.
The following should always be observed when drying:
- Roots, seeds, stems and leaves can be dried
- The drying process should not take longer than 5 days
- Variants: in the dehydrator, in the oven, on the heater or in the air, e.g. B. in the shade on the balcony
- do not expose to direct sunlight when drying
- choose a dark and air-dry place when air drying
Before drying, the lovage is bundled or roughly cut. It can be hung up or laid out on a tray or other object to dry. If devices are used to help, such as a dehydrator or oven, the temperature should ideally be below 50 °C. Once dry, the herb should not be ground into a powder as this will quickly oxidize it.
tips and tricks
If drying and freezing are too boring for you, you can alternatively put the maggi herb in vinegar or oil or make a lovage salt out of it.
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