How to Dry Rosemary Without a Dehydrator

Hi all! Today we’re talking about drying rosemary cuttings from the garden without using a dehydrator. I love, love, love growing rosemary—perennial varieties look great all year, and it’s one of my favorite scents.

We downsized some of our kitchen stuff when we moved a few years ago, though, so we don’t currently have a dehydrator. Until I can find one secondhand for a good price, we’re dehydrating the old-fashioned way—air drying—or using the oven. Let’s walk through what you need to know to do both!

Take & wash cuttings

First you’ll need to take cuttings. Unlike propagating rosemary cuttings, you don’t have to be too particular about where you take the cutting from on the plant. It can be from the older, woodier growth, or it can be from the softer tips. That means that when you prune your rosemary plant, you can dehydrate all of the cuttings. Don’t let them go to waste!

Once you have all of your cuttings, rinse them thoroughly in the sink. I don’t use soap or anything. Just warm water. This will remove all of the dirt, as well as any little bugs or cobwebs. Pat the excess water off of the sprigs using a dish cloth, and then shake them vigorously in the sink to dry them a bit more.

To air dry…

The first drying method we’ll choose is the oldest and easiest way—air drying. This method takes the longest, but you probably don’t have to buy anything to do it. Plus, the cuttings smell lovely while they are drying.

First you’ll want to use your fingers to remove a few sets of leaves at the bottom of the sprig. This just gives you a clean area to work with. Then you’ll use twine or—in my case, pipe cleaners—to hang the sprigs upside down in a dry spot.

It’s winter here in Maryland, so that means pretty much anywhere in our house is dry enough. I used pipe cleaners from my daughter’s craft bin to hang these from a small curtain rod on our kitchen window.

Simply monitor the sprigs for signs of drying. You’ll know the sprigs are completely dry when the leaves are so fragile that they will fall off with just the slightest touch. Also, if you can snap the individual leaves in half, that’s a good sign they’re dry, too! It should be a few weeks before they’re ready depending on the environment.

To oven dry…

Oven drying is another method you can use. This method is much faster than air drying, and you probably have an oven you can use! For this method, you can bake entire sprigs, or you can remove the leaves before baking.

I did a mix of both for this tutorial, laying everything out on a sheet of aluminum foil. I set my oven to the lowest possible setting, 170 degrees Fahrenheit. Then I baked the sprigs for about 2 hours. I highly recommend checking on them after they’ve been baking for an hour—then every half hour after that.

Depending on the moisture content in your sprigs, they could dry out fast and burn. Make sure to monitor! Much like the air drying method, you’ll know they are completely dry when you can snap an individual rosemary leaf in half.

If you can easily crush up all of the cuttings into more of a power-like mix, that’s also a great sign that everything is dry! You’ll see that’s what I did below—I will be mixing these into a homemade salt scrub, and I like to get the pieces as small as possible without grinding them.

And that’s it! As for storing your dried rosemary, you can do so in air-tight containers if it is completely dry. If you have any doubts that there is any moisture content left in the rosemary, I would recommend storing it in something breathable like a paper bag.

When I dehydrate herbs myself, I like to do so in smaller batches so I use it up rather quickly. That way you can ensure what you’re using is always fresh! Questions about the process…drop them below in the comments 🙂 Enjoy your rosemary!

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