How to Store Mint? Several ways

There are different types of Mint. Spearmint is mainly used for mint tea. In this blog, we will talk about how to store mint. All types of Mint release the substance ‘Menthol’ which is used for many products. This blog is about fresh Mint and what is the best way to store fresh Mint?

How to Store Mint

Here are several ways of how to store mint:

1. Keep in the refrigerator for a few days
2. Keep in the freezer for 12 months
3. Keep dried, cool and in a dark place, until used up.
4. As a plant in a pot, indoor, a few months
5. Mint can be kept for years in the garden.
6. You can keep mint for a long time on the balcony, well cared for.

Below you can read how you can store fresh mint for the longest time. There are tricks to extend the shelf life of mint.

How to Store Fresh Mint

When you buy fresh mint at the supermarket, you always buy the furthest looking mint in the plastic container. This closed container contains a certain concentration of oxygen, carbon dioxide and nitrogen, which means that the coin can be kept longer as long as it remains closed. This also has a shelf life that is stated on the packaging.

Have you opened the package or have you bought a fresh bunch of Mint from the market, then it is important to package it well to keep it fresh for as long as possible.

How to Store Mint in Refrigerator

• Keep the mint in a damp tea towel. And put it in a plastic bag. Then put the mint in the kitchen drawer. This has the right temperature for the mint and it will now stay fresh for as long as possible. This will keep for a few days. Do not place a damp tea towel with other vegetables in the vegetable drawer without a plastic bag because they can rot more quickly.
• You can also roll the mint in damp kitchen paper and put it in a closed refrigerator container. Replace the paper towel when it gets too dry. Also keep this in the refrigerator drawer for about a few days.

You should always wash mint under running water before using it because it always contains some pesticides.

How to Store Mint in Freezer

There is a possibility to freeze mint and keep it for 12 months. After that, the taste of the Mint deteriorates rapidly. Frozen Mint will not be a success as a decoration on a beautiful cake because the leaves will become limp after thawing.

But if you want to use frozen mint leaves in a dish or in tea, this will taste delicious:

• Wash the leaves well under running water.
• Beat the water from the leaves.
• Remove the leaves from the stem and cut them into strips or freeze the entire stem with the leaf.
• Place the leaves or twigs in a freezer container and spread them out a little. Don’t overdo it. This is how they freeze the fastest and that benefits the taste.
• Put a sticker on the tray and put the date of packaging on it so that after a while you know how long it can still be kept.

When you cut the mint small and put it in the container of the ice cubes, it looks great in a glass of water. In addition, this tastes delicious once it has thawed.

Mint Storage and Drying 

If you know that you want to store mint for a long time but do not want to freeze it, drying Mint is also an option. Dried Mint always has more flavor than fresh mint because the same amount of flavoring is contained in less tea leaf that has been dried. You don’t have to use as much of it as fresh.

Also Read this: How to Store Mushrooms

You don’t have to perform any antics to dry Mint. Take some precautions so that you can keep the Mint longer:

• Make sure that the bunches of mint that you have bought or picked from the garden are well washed under running water and free of pests.
• Remove leaves with brown edges. Make sure you have nice green leaves on the stems.

Dry Mint on the heater

You can place the mint bunches on the heater to dry. The drying process takes about a week. Then check if everything is dry.

If some moisture remains inside and it starts to dry slowly because you have removed it from the heating, it can start to mold. So open the bush and check that all moisture is gone.

You do this by crumbling or breaking the leaves and stems. Otherwise, leave the bunch on the heater for another day.

Crumble the Mint by hand or if you have a hand blender or food processor, this can be very handy. When you use mint for the tea, you can coarsely grind the mint so that it can be put in a tea egg.

You can also dry it in the sun, but this will take a day or 2 longer. You then have less ‘hassle’ with the heating.

Dry Mint in the Microwave

You can also dry Mint in the microwave in no time. Take the same precautions as described above for Mint storage and drying.

Place kitchen paper in the microwave and put a bunch of mint on top. Spread the mint over the kitchen paper and switch on the microwave at 650 Watt. Set the timer for 4 minutes and then check if the Mint has dried properly. When this is the case, you can crumble the Mint or let the food processor do its work.

Dried Mint should be kept in a closed jar. It ensures that the Mint stays dry. This will allow you to keep the Coin until it is ‘used up’. Preferably put the tea away in the dark if you are going to store a glass jar.

Store fresh Mint in a jar

If you want to keep Mint at home, this can also be done in a jar. The Mint will never be as strong as a plant outside in the garden. It is easier to store or keep a jar of Mint on the balcony than indoors. But it is possible.

What should you pay attention to when you keep a jar of Mint at home:

• Always put the Mint in the light. Mint needs at least 3 to 4 hours of sunlight per day.
• Give a little water about 4 times a week. Only water when the soil feels dry inside. So put your finger in the soil.
• Provide nitrogen-rich fertilizers to promote leaf growth.
• Harvest regularly as this also stimulates growth.

If the Mint is kept in a pot on the balcony, it will grow well because there is enough light. Here too, the water level and fertilization must be monitored.

Store Mint in the Garden

And last but not least the most difficult way to store mint when you have a garden is to plant one. Make sure that the roots of the mint cannot grow in all directions.

If you plant Mint in the garden like this, it will remain in the garden forever. This is a big loan shark. This means once in the ground, always in the ground. It grows everywhere in between when you have not taken precautions against shoots.