Regardless of what the haters say about bay leaves (Laurus nobilis) having little to no impression on the flavour of the recipes they’re utilized in, this traditional cooking herb performs an necessary function in creating layered taste.
I believe those that can’t style the impression are simply utilizing previous, flavorless leaves which have been sitting within the cabinet too lengthy.
Bay leaves are used entire in cooking as a result of they are often too pungent when crushed or damaged.
Go forward, snap one in half and take a whiff. Think about that herbaceous eucalyptus scent overpowering your dish. Bay is supposed so as to add refined taste. It shouldn’t shout.
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Essentially the most pungent taste comes from while you use freshly harvested foliage.
They lose their taste the longer they sit in storage – therefore the complaints about including no taste – so gaining access to contemporary ones is a deal with and one of the best ways to expertise what this herb really gives.
In our guide to growing bay laurel, we talk about how you can domesticate these timber in your backyard.
If in case you have your personal provide that you simply wish to harvest and use, however you’re unsure how you can go about it, this information may help.
We’ll talk about the next to carry out the perfect in your bay:
Tips on how to Harvest Bay Leaves
Earlier than you can begin plucking the leaves and utilizing them, it’s a must to know when to begin working. Let’s cowl that, first.
When to Harvest
For those who plan to make use of the bay leaves contemporary, you possibly can harvest any time. In any other case, you possibly can dry small batches all year long and use them instantly.
What number of you possibly can take directly relies on how giant your plant is. You by no means wish to harvest greater than 10 p.c of the foliage at anybody time.
If in case you have a big bush, meaning all year long, you possibly can just about take as many as you should utilize in a small family.
Keep away from harvesting within the winter, although a number of right here and there gained’t harm the plant.
If you wish to dry a bunch all of sudden so you possibly can promote or give them away, or simply so that you simply don’t have to fret about having a prepared provide, it’s finest to reap within the peak of summer time when the shrub is at its peak.
If in case you have a alternative, you need to all the time wait to reap within the top of summer time. That’s when the foliage has the very best important oil content material and, in consequence, the strongest taste.
Which Leaves Are Finest?
Bay timber ship out new foliage all through the spring, summer time, and fall, with a lot of the leaves rising within the spring.
These might be smaller, softer, and brighter inexperienced than the mature ones. Don’t harvest these younger leaves, you need the older ones, which needs to be bigger, darker inexperienced, and firmer than the younger ones.
Keep away from harvesting any bay foliage that’s broken, eaten by bugs, or discolored.
For probably the most pungent taste, you wish to harvest the mature leaves in summer time when the important oil content material is at its peak.
Tips on how to Harvest
There are two methods to reap out of your bay. The primary is to easily pluck them off utilizing your fingers. That is finest in case you are solely taking a number of leaves right here and there.
In any other case, use a clear pair of scissors and neatly trim them off close to the stem. You don’t wish to let any a part of the leaf stay, so take it off as near the stem as you possibly can, whether or not you might be plucking or reducing.
If in case you have a big shrub, you possibly can take off small branches as an alternative of harvesting particular person leaves.
The benefit of harvesting branches is that you could grasp them in bundles to dry.
The drawback is that additionally, you will seemingly have some younger leaves on the department which gained’t style so good, and also you’ll wish to simply pluck these off and toss them out.
Use a pointy pair of pruners to chop off the department as near the closest department or stem as you possibly can.
Contemporary or Dry?
It’s superior gaining access to contemporary bay, however the leaves may be considerably bitter. The perfect taste emerges when they’re contemporary however dried.
Those you purchase within the retailer is likely to be months (or years) previous, so it may be revelatory utilizing contemporary foliage dried proper off the tree.
Be at liberty to experiment with contemporary leaves and see what you assume. Some folks favor the stronger taste in some dishes, myself included. Once you want a extra mellow however advanced taste, dried is the way in which to go.
The contemporary foliage has extra of a eucalyptus, licorice taste, whereas dried leaves settle right into a mellow, natural taste that has the identical notes as thyme and oregano.
Let’s discuss how you can dry leaves.
Tips on how to Dry Bay Leaves
When you’ve harvested the foliage, give it a rinse and let it dry.
The simplest technique for drying a small batch is to set them in a single layer on a plate or baking sheet on prime of paper towels.
Lay paper towels on prime and set them apart in a cool, darkish space. Test each few days to see if there may be any mildew forming. If that’s the case, toss these with mildew and unfold the remaining ones out a bit extra. Flip them after every week. They need to be dried and able to use in two weeks.
You can even use a dehydrator to hurry up the method. Comply with the producer’s instructions for drying herbs. Sometimes, this implies drying at a temperature of round 95°F for one or two hours.
After an hour or so, examine the leaves and search for any inexperienced, pliable areas. For those who see any, preserve drying. They need to be crisp and grayish-brown when they’re prepared.
For those who don’t have a dehydrator, you may also use your oven. Flip it on to a bake setting on the lowest temperature and place a single layer of leaves on a baking sheet.
Bake them for an hour, flipping them each 20 minutes and checking for dryness.
For those who harvested branches, strip off the bottom leaves and take away any younger, shiny inexperienced foliage. Tie the branches collectively on the base and grasp them the other way up in a cool, dry space out of daylight to dry.
Retailer the entire, dried bay leaves in an hermetic container, whether or not that’s a baggie or a glass jar, in a cool, darkish space. They keep their taste for as much as a yr. Sure, they’ll proceed to look nice for lots longer than a yr, however they lose most of their taste so toss them out or use them up.
A Bay-Youtiful Harvest!
As a result of it may be arduous to inform how previous the leaves are within the jars you purchase on the grocery retailer, to not point out how costly they are often, gaining access to contemporary foliage is superior.
Now inform me, how do you want to make use of your bay? What’s your favourite recipe? Share within the feedback!
Hopefully this information helped you determine when to reap the foliage and how you can dry it out.
And if you’d like more information about growing bay laurel in your garden, take a look at these guides subsequent: