Preserving Herbs By Steeping
by John Yazo
Warnings for preserving herbs along with any other crop from your garden or purchased elsewhere are the concerns of pesticides, the use of chemicals in your garden or neighboring areas and improper storing or preserving can cause Botulism. Botulism can be a fatal food poisoning. Some characteristics of Botulism are blurred vision, breathing difficulties, speech problems and progressive paralysis. Without the proper diagnosis and treatment these symptoms can be fatal. Consult your local health department for the proper methods needed to preserve any type of herbs or crops before attempting it.
The first step in preserving herbs along with any crop is to properly harvest them. herbs can be either annual or perennial. Annual herbs can be pulled from the ground, cut the stems or leaves and dispose the roots and any other unwanted portions of the plant in the compost.Perennials are plants that will survive the winter months and have new growth the following season. These herbs need to be harvested by cutting the stems off at the base of the plant, leaving the root system to reproduce a new crop the following year. When harvesting herbs care needs to be taken not to bruise the leaves.
Once the crop has been harvested they need to be carefully cleaned. If there is excessive dirt on them then the best method to clean them is to spray them with a fine mist of water and gently hand wipe them clean. Patting them gently on a dry paper towel will also work in removing access moisture. leaving the herbs to air dry after washing leaves a risk for mildew to accrue. It is best to make sure the herbs are dried off before starting the preserving process.
Steeping is another method of preserving herbs in oil. Olive oil is the preferred oil to use for this method, but oil that you generally use will be fine.Clean the herbs as you would for any other method of preserving. The only difference is that with steeping you can leave the leaves attached to the stems. leaving the leaves attached to the stems is most common when you are using the oil as a herbal flavored oil. This method is usually done in a jar and the stems with the leaves are left in the jar for decorative purposes.When steeping leaves that are being used for cooking they can be stored in a container or a wide mouth jar for easy access to remove them for cooking.
Herbs that are preserved by the method of steeping in oil need to be stored in a refrigerated area and they will have a shelf life of about six months.Other methods like drying and freezing are two other methods that can be used to preserve your herbs.
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