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    Home » Gardening

    How to Dry Thyme!

    LAST UPDATED: January 16, 2019 PUBLISHED: August 22, 2018 By Pam Greer 19 Comments As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

    One of the best ways to preserve fresh thyme is to dry it.  Thyme is one of the easiest herbs to dry and it preserves it's flavor so nicely!

    Post may contain affiliate links, full disclosure on side bar.

    Click here to pin How to Dry Thyme now!

    jar filled with dried thyme and tag reading dried thyme

    How to Preserve Herbs

    Well, it's getting to be about that time of year when we start looking for ways to preserve our herbs.  This has been a great summer for rain and I have lots of herbs to preserve!   There are all kinds of ways to preserve your herbs and I think I've done every one of them!

    You can make a simple syrup like Thyme Simple Syrup, infused a vinegar like  Chive Blossom Vinegar, make a homemade pesto like  Basil Pesto, and even infuse some salts  DIY Herb Salts - which make great gifts, by the way!

    Fresh Picked Thyme perfect for drying!

    Harvest Your Thyme

    You're probably not going to believe this, but I have never dried thyme before!!  I always use fresh thyme all summer long and then in the winter, I go buy jars of organic dried thyme.  Hello!  I have organic thyme in my backyard, waiting to be dried!!  I can not believe that this is only occurring to me now!

    Thyme grows best when it is regularly harvested.  Depending on the rain that we've received I harvest it several times through the summer, and make smaller batches of dried thyme.  Harvesting in the morning is best and if you only harvest once in the season, it is best to do it before blooming time.

    Click here to Pin How to Dry Thyme now! 

    Dehydrator

    Drying Thyme with a Dehydrator

    I bought this dehydrator when the girls were small and I used it to dry fruits for them to take in their lunches.  This was after they finished off a very expensive bag of dried apples in a matter of minutes!

    I don't believe that they make this dehydrator any more, if I was going to get one now, I would probably get this  Presto Dehydrator or if you are serious about dehydrating the Excalibur looks amazing and this Ultimate Dehydrator Cookbook would give you lots of ideas!

    Thyme

    thyme sprigs on a dehydrator

    How to Dry Thyme

    All you do is wash your thyme and then lay them out in each tray, turn on the dehydrator and come back in about 3 hours to check on it!  Mine was easily done in 3 hours.  Some sites say it takes 24 hours!  I don't know what kind of thyme they had or what kind of dehydrator, but that seems like way too much time for thyme (ha ha).

    After 3 hours, I just took the dried thyme, rubbed it between my hands and the leaves easily came off of the stems.  You can see that it takes a lot of thyme to make a little bit of dried thyme leaves!

    Click here to Pin How to Dry Thyme now! 

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    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Jann Olson says

      August 28, 2018 at 10:06 pm

      I love drying my herbs. I usually just hang them and air dry. Thanks for sharing with SYC.
      hugs,
      Jann

      Reply
      • Pam Greer says

        August 29, 2018 at 9:43 am

        I hang mine too sometimes, but the dehydrator is so easy!

        Reply
      • Pam S. says

        October 14, 2021 at 8:22 pm

        Do just tie up the whole plant at the base and hang it upside down from a rafter in the shed? I hope?

        Reply
    2. Nikki Gwin says

      August 27, 2018 at 5:13 pm

      I have recently started drying my own home grown herbs. I've always thought a dehydrator might be fun but have never purchased one because of storage space. How big are they?
      🙂 gwingal

      Reply
      • Pam Greer says

        August 27, 2018 at 7:18 pm

        Mine is slightly bigger than a slow cooker, so not very big at all!

        Reply
    3. Pam Richardson says

      August 27, 2018 at 12:47 pm

      Pam, I have loads of thyme this year and I have never dried it before. But now I should! Thanks for sharing at Gardens Galore!

      Reply
      • Pam Greer says

        August 27, 2018 at 7:19 pm

        You should!

        Reply
    4. Kimberly says

      September 29, 2014 at 7:11 pm

      I have never tried this before! What a awesome idea. Pinned. Lou Lou Girls

      Reply
      • Pam Greer says

        September 29, 2014 at 8:16 pm

        I can't believe it took me this long to actually do it!

        Reply
    5. swathi says

      September 27, 2014 at 10:33 pm

      Very nice I need to look for dehydrator for myself, thanks for sharing with Hearth and soul blog hop. pining.

      Reply
    6. kitchen flavours says

      September 25, 2014 at 11:43 am

      Hi Pam,
      Making your own dried thyme with homegrown thyme is simply wonderful! I usually buy dried thyme off the rack. As for fresh thyme, we have it all year round. My thyme plant is not huge right now, and I would love to make my own dried thymes. Since I do not have a dehydrator, I would have to use the oven method. Now I'm getting impatient for the thyme plant to grow bigger!

      Reply
    7. Deborah Davis says

      September 24, 2014 at 4:55 pm

      Hi,
      I just hopped by from Hearth and Soul Blog Hop to see your dried thyme post.I am so delighted to see your compact electric dehydrator. It looks like the perfect piece of equipment for my small apartment kitchen. All the best, Deborah

      Reply
      • Pam Greer says

        September 25, 2014 at 6:46 am

        I don't use it all that often, but when I do, I love it!

        Reply
    8. Edible Celebrations (@lavesta) says

      September 23, 2014 at 9:29 am

      Never once has it occurred to me to dry Thyme, Pam. I have a big patch outside but I usually bring in a clump for the Winter. I really should think about preserving it another way. Perhaps even drying it! Thanks for sharing, Pam...

      Reply
    9. cheri says

      September 22, 2014 at 11:45 pm

      Hi Karen, working on drying herbs now, love your dehydrator!

      Reply
    10. Amy @Very Culinary says

      September 22, 2014 at 3:22 pm

      It's funny - my garden did the opposite this year. All my herbs were a monster, but my vegetables were pathetic :/

      Reply
    11. Marjie says

      September 22, 2014 at 2:51 pm

      I didn't see any pictures? But drying your herbs is a much better idea than paying out the wazoo for organic herbs in the store. More money to spend on cookbooks 😉

      Reply
    12. Melynda@OurSundayCafe says

      September 22, 2014 at 7:40 am

      Your thyme is much more delicate than mine, what type do you grow? Great idea by the way, I don't dry the stuff in my backyard either, but now........

      Reply
    13. Joanne says

      September 22, 2014 at 7:00 am

      Perfect way to preserve herbs! I rarely use thyme fresh, so having it dried is actually super useful.

      Reply

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