Drying peppermint - that's the way to do it!

"Fresh mint smells wonderful and adds a particularly fresh spice to many dishes. To use the herb also after summer, you can dry peppermint. We present three different variants and explain what you need to consider.

When should you harvest peppermint for drying?

The best time to dry peppermint is just before flowering in early June. That's when the herb tastes most aromatic and thus releases a lot of flavour even when dried. If the summer was particularly sunny, the mint can still be harvested in autumn. Then it had enough time to accumulate new essential oils.

Air-drying peppermint

The easiest way is to air dry peppermint. To do this, cut off the stalks of the mint in the desired quantity with scissors or a sharp kitchen knife. If it can be avoided, the mint should not be washed. This causes it to lose essential oil and the stalks need more time to dry.

Tie 2-3 peppermint stems together with kitchen string. Then hang the mint bunches upside down in a place without direct sunlight to dry. A room temperature of approx. 20 °C is ideal. Suitable places are an attic with a window or a bright cellar room. Depending on the thickness of the stems the drying time is 2-3 weeks. Peppermint is properly dried when the stems can be easily broken through.

Drying peppermint in the oven

If you want to dry peppermint without much waiting time, you should choose the oven version. To do this, first line a tray with baking paper. Pluck the leaves from the stems and spread them out on the baking tray. To ensure even drying, the mint leaves should not overlap.

Preheat the oven to 50 °C and let it run for 5 minutes. Then switch off and place the tray with the mint in the oven for about 20 minutes. The peppermint is completely dried when the sides of the leaves curl and rustle slightly when moved.

Drying peppermint in the microwave

It's even faster in the microwave. To do this, pluck the mint leaves from the stalks and place them on a plate at a distance from each other. Now heat the leaves at intervals of about 10 seconds and check the degree of drying after each pass. This should be reached after about 1 minute. The peppermint is dry when the leaves are slightly curled at the edges.

Store dried peppermint

When the peppermint is well dried, it can be bottled for storage. For this purpose, airtightly sealed jars are ideal. Add the mint leaves, seal the jars well and store in a dark, dry place. In this way the aroma of the peppermint is preserved until winter.

What can dried peppermint be used for?

Besides preparing peppermint tea, the dried, aromatic herb can be used in many ways in the kitchen. Especially in oriental and Turkish recipes mint is often used, for example in yoghurt sauce for falfael, vegetables, rice dishes or meat skewers. It adds a fine spice to salad dressings and provides an extra portion of freshness in fruit salads for dessert.