I have been very successful growing basil to the point it was going to waste. And although I love to cook with fresh basil, the fact that I am doing a diet and my intake of pasta has gone to about 10 ounces a month and thus making less sauce, leaves me with an abundance of the herb I hate to see go to waste.
So I resorted to dehydrating it.
I check dehydrators and people want good money for them, specially if you can adjust temps. Luckily our toaster oven will drop all the way to 150 F and time it for an hour to hour and 15 minutes which experts say is the right temp and time for herbs. The phot is showing about half a bowl with fresh, another half in the oven and about equal amount in the jar already dried.
Next, the frigging parsleys are getting too big for their britches.
If you like pesto, you can take the basil leaves, grind them up in a food processor with some olive oil, and freeze the result. When you want pesto, you take the basil and olive oil paste out of the freezer, add the cheese, garlic, and pine nuts, and, (couldn’t resist) presto, you’ve got pesto. You could probably add the garlic before freezing, as well.
We like pesto enough that I regularly refer to the basil plants growing in pots on the portch as “pesto plants.”
YMMV…
The Instant Pot air-fryer lids will work as dehydrators. I haven’t tried it, but it’s already a heck of a combination appliance.
Around here you can find dehydrators cheap or free on Craigslist and FreeList. We picked up our last 3 at the “transfer station” swap shop. Translation: The town dump where they do forced recycling. Our taxes pay for free use of the transfer station or you can pay the people across the street to collect your garbage.
I use the dehydrator to dry brass after I wet tumble it. De-prime the brass, run in my ball mill for 30 minutes with stainless steel pin media drain, rinse, run for another 30 minutes. Dawn dish soap and limi-shine. Make the brass SHINE.
Worse thing we’ve ever had happen is we ended up with a bunch of garlic from our share of the CSA Farm (we buy a couple of shares each year). Somebody decided to dehydrate the garlic. We ended up with a house, yard, and neighborhood that reeked of garlic. it was horrible, and I like garlic
One of my favorite ingredients in Thai and related cuisine is “Hot basil”. It’s much like regular basil but it has a bite to it.
I keep wanting to get a big bunch to turn into Thai Pesto. 🙂
I want some of Miguel’s mom’s peppers. Chemical warfare at the best.
Grandson was watching Scoopy-do today and shaggy grabbed a bit pepper, held it in the face of the monster and squeezed. Juice and seeds in the face of the monster.
I looked at it and thought “and here is where somebody got the idea for pepper spray…”
Actually, a good dehydrator is not all that expensive. I got a Nesco GardenMaster (or something like that) from WalMart.com for $89, free shipping. Has timer, adjustable temp, four trays. Expandable to I think something like 20 trays.
Not the quietest unit, but I put it in the oven when it is on to 1.) preserve the heat, and 2.) keep it quieter.
Whoops. It is selling for $104 now. Must have hit a sale or something.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Nesco-Gardenmaster-FD-1040-Digital-Pro-Food-Dehydrator/25719349