How to Dry Sage? The 3 Ways!

You can easily dry sage; In this blog, we will discuss how to dry sage. Local sage super or from your own herb garden, you can dry it all. It is fun to do and who has kept what who has what. How nice is it to use the herbs that you have picked and dried yourself in your dishes. Take a moment for it. It is so easy!

Rinse the sage well and remove, for example, cobwebs, sand, or pesticides. Drain the sage on kitchen paper. Combine a few sprigs of sage and tie it with a string. Hang the sage to dry for a few weeks. 

In this blog, you can read what you should pay attention to when drying sage and what the options are.

Picking sage

If you decide to pick sage for drying, make sure you have the following items.

• Scissors
• Sage
• Paper towel
• A (nice) piece of string
• Storage tin
• Stickers
• Dry, well-ventilated area

How to Dry sage

When you have bought sage and you have (again) leftover, it is easy to dry sage and then store it. If you want to cut sage from the garden as an herb, this is of course also possible, but then you have to be sure that this is the Sage Officinalis. You can only eat the Sage Officinalis.

There is an easy way to dry sage. That way is just let it air dry.

Cut sage from the garden or whatever you have leftover after cooking and bundle the sprigs. Take a few twigs, not too many, and tie a nice string around them. Make sure you can hang these bundles in a warm, dry place that you can ventilate. An attic could be ideal, but in a barn, which is dry, could of course also be. After 3 weeks these herbs are dry and you can store them in a storage box or tin. You can keep this dry sage for about a year or as long as it looks good and dry. Put a sticker on the can with the name ‘Sage’ on it!

Dry Sage in Oven

When you have cut Sage Officinalis from the garden, you can wash it to remove sand, cobwebs and bugs. Cut all the leaves off with clean scissors and let them dry with kitchen paper (or pat dry). When you have sage from the supermarket, it has been washed clean.

Place the leaves, separate from each other, on a clean baking tray. Heat the oven or food dehydrator to 35 and 50 degrees Celsius (as low as possible). The lower the temperature, the more flavor is retained in the leaves. Place the baking tray in the middle of the oven and leave the oven ajar. If necessary, put a wooden ladle in between so that the door does not close.

It is best to leave the door open because this way all moisture can escape from the oven and the leaves really dry well. After about 8 to 12 hours you will look and feel how the leaves have dried. If they do not yet feel dry and if you cannot crumble them yet, they can still be used for a while.

Dry Sage in Microwave

When the leaves have been washed, you can put them on a plate on kitchen paper. This way they can drain. After they have dried, you can remove the kitchen paper. Spread the leaves apart as much as possible so that they dry evenly. After 3 minutes in the microwave, on the highest setting, the leaves are dry. Check this because it depends of course on the amount of leaves you have put on the plate, otherwise, you give them a spin or something.

Preserve sage

Do not crumble the leaves when you store them after drying. Harmful substances can be released when the sage is crumbled. You do not know exactly how much you use when crumbling, so keep the leaves intact and keep them in a storage box, tightly closed. The leaves can be kept for a year. You can of course crumble the leaves during use. You then know exactly how much you use.

Buy sage

If you want to buy a jar of fresh Sage that you want to use as herbs, you have to buy the Sage Officinalis. All other types are really for decoration in the garden. You cannot eat other types of sage.

If you want to buy sage in a garden center, make sure there are no bugs in it and that it looks nice and fresh and green. Then you have a good chance that the sage will start when you put it in your garden or in a pot. Also give some nutrition to the soil in a pot. Sage that you buy in a jar really only has nutrition in the jar for a few days. So a little organic food will help the Sage grow well and stay healthy.

To dry sage you also need good quality sage. This contains the most flavor and nutrients and will also best serve a dish after drying.