[shokkyy]

I want to start harvesting herbs about now, but since last year's harvest I've replaced my cooker with a luvly big range jobbie that has a small oven for slow cooking, so I'm wondering whether I could use that for drying the herbs. Has anyone ever tried drying herbs in a slow oven? If it works ok, maybe I could use it for drying apples and stuff later on too.

As an aside - when you dry apples to preserve them, can you rehydrate them for later use in apple pies and stuff?

[Trillium]

Yes, herbs will dry well in a slow oven. But you must stay around to check from time to time.
Here's more info:
http://www.gardeningknowhow.com/herb/how-to-dry-herbs-various-methods.htm


And yes, dried apple slices can be rehydrated, but they won't look the same. You simply boil the apples in some water until they become tender, then drain off remaining water and proceed with the recipe.

[Val H]

Take a look at this link http://www.allotment-garden.org/allotment_foods/drying-food/index.php

[Trillium]

Smacks self in head. I forgot to look at Val's article on drying herbs. Sorry, Val.

[shokkyy]

Thanks for the replies. And yes, I had read through Val's article on drying, as well as a couple of others, and nowhere have I ever seen any specific reference to using slow ovens. But then I've always been a bit confused whether there actually was any difference between a slow oven and a normal oven turned down to a low temp

Apples are tricky for preserving, aren't they. If you freeze them in chunks, even when dipped in lemon juice they still tend to go brown. The type I grow don't keep too well when stored as is, but I hate to waste them because we have a huge crop every year and they're lovely apples. When you say they don't look the same if dried and rehydrated, do you mean they basically turn into mush when you rehydrate, or do they stay as chunks? Do they discolour? And if I dry them, do I still need to dip them in lemon juice first?

[Trillium]

Odd that your apples go brown in the freezer. We've frozen fresh apples for years, and don't even use lemon juice or sugar. I've never had them go brown except for when we didn't get them into the freezer fast enough.

The trick is to have one person peel and another immediately slicing and bagging the apples, then pop the bags, 2 or 3 at a time, into the freezer as you keep working on more. As long as the freezer temp is low enough, it won't go brown. Also, be sure to eliminate most of the air out of the freezer bags. And do use proper freeze bags rather than storage or lunch bags.

We find the 2 person team works well and gets the job done faster.

And yes, a slow oven is simply an oven set to a low temp. It's just terminology.

[Endymion]

We had an Aga once, it was brilliant even though it took a bit of getting used to. We set up a rack at the back, above the cooker, where herbs could be dried.

I think you might find the slow oven dries herbs too quickly and they'll lose their flavour, especially if you're cooking on the main oven at the same time.

Why not try both ways and see what happens, it won't take long and you'll soon work out which is better for you and your herbs.