I recently made a shrimp scampi recipe that required parsley. I had to buy a huge bundle of fresh parsley, and of course I was not able to use it all. I don't have any dried parsley right now, though, and I wondered if I might be able to save this by drying it myself.
The Internet said yes, and what follows quickly turned into a lengthy parsley drying experiment delayed, mostly, by clouds and rain, and ultimately...well, you'll have to read on for what happened.
Parsley Drying Options
So you have your fresh parsley that you don't want to go to waste, but are not going to be able to use. You have a few different options of methods. Probably the most classic is to hang it upside down in bunches. Do this in a paper bag. We, however, have nowhere to hang bunches of parsley in brown paper bags, because we live in 700 square feet.
As with the banana chips, the oven is an option.
If you have extra cash and space, you could get a dehydrator, but I don't have extra cash, and I have even less space (circumstances which also resulted in the bread experiment).
Because I was feeling adventurous, I started with the final option: sun-drying. I put the parsley out in the sun. I am from Florida. I have full confidence in the sun's abilities to dry out this parsley except between 3:00 and 5:00 PM on summer days when it's thunder-storming.
I may have been overconfident.
I wash, air dry (I could pat it dry) and chop up the parsley, disposing of the stems. I put the chopped up parsley pieces on a baking sheet.
I set this baking sheet on the balcony in the sun, which will work wonders and dry it out over the next few summer days easily. I bring in the baking sheet when it starts to get dark.
Day Two:
I wake up planning to put my parsley outside again immediately. It is overcast. The forecast yesterday said only 10% chance of rain! I believe fully that it will be sunny by the afternoon. I am wrong. I check the weather forecast again, which now says 50% chance of rain for the next two days. I turn on the oven light and hope that maybe it will help dry out the parsley a little, but knowing that it won't.
Day Three:
I hear the rain immediately, because this is not just 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms. This is a downpour, and it shows no signs of letting up. I sigh and look at my aspiring dried parsley flakes. I should have chosen the oven method while I had the chance. I turn on the oven light again, but this time because the weather has made it so dark in my house, not because I believe it will help. I gave that hope up ages ago.
Day Four:
I realize in the early afternoon while making salsa that the sun is out at last, and I rush the parsley flakes back outdoors. They have dried a bit while inside, but hopefully will do much better outside in the sun. In the early evening, though, I notice that the pan looks a whole lot shinier than it did before, when there was a lot of parsley on it. In fact it looks like there is very little parsley on the baking sheet now. I hope it has just been blown into the edge of the pan, where I can't see it.
My hopes are dashed when I go outside though, and see only a few remaining parsley flakes on the cookie sheet...and some on the balcony. The rest have been taken by the wind.
I was originally going to proudly bag my new dried parsley flakes and be finished here, but I can't leave it like this.
If you have extra cash and space, you could get a dehydrator, but I don't have extra cash, and I have even less space (circumstances which also resulted in the bread experiment).
Because I was feeling adventurous, I started with the final option: sun-drying. I put the parsley out in the sun. I am from Florida. I have full confidence in the sun's abilities to dry out this parsley except between 3:00 and 5:00 PM on summer days when it's thunder-storming.
I may have been overconfident.
Test One: Drying in the Sun
Day One (yes, this experiment had to be measured in days):I wash, air dry (I could pat it dry) and chop up the parsley, disposing of the stems. I put the chopped up parsley pieces on a baking sheet.
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| That's all the extra parsley that was going to go to waste. |
I set this baking sheet on the balcony in the sun, which will work wonders and dry it out over the next few summer days easily. I bring in the baking sheet when it starts to get dark.
Day Two:
I wake up planning to put my parsley outside again immediately. It is overcast. The forecast yesterday said only 10% chance of rain! I believe fully that it will be sunny by the afternoon. I am wrong. I check the weather forecast again, which now says 50% chance of rain for the next two days. I turn on the oven light and hope that maybe it will help dry out the parsley a little, but knowing that it won't.
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| All of the parsley flakes, just waiting for the sun to come out. |
I hear the rain immediately, because this is not just 50% chance of scattered thunderstorms. This is a downpour, and it shows no signs of letting up. I sigh and look at my aspiring dried parsley flakes. I should have chosen the oven method while I had the chance. I turn on the oven light again, but this time because the weather has made it so dark in my house, not because I believe it will help. I gave that hope up ages ago.
Day Four:
I realize in the early afternoon while making salsa that the sun is out at last, and I rush the parsley flakes back outdoors. They have dried a bit while inside, but hopefully will do much better outside in the sun. In the early evening, though, I notice that the pan looks a whole lot shinier than it did before, when there was a lot of parsley on it. In fact it looks like there is very little parsley on the baking sheet now. I hope it has just been blown into the edge of the pan, where I can't see it.
My hopes are dashed when I go outside though, and see only a few remaining parsley flakes on the cookie sheet...and some on the balcony. The rest have been taken by the wind.
Conclusion of Test One:
Well, that was a failure. If you have a nice sunny area that's protected from the wind, go for this option. It was easy! You won't get to have any dried parsley if the wind blows it all away though.I was originally going to proudly bag my new dried parsley flakes and be finished here, but I can't leave it like this.
Test Two: Oven Drying
I dig around in my fridge for any remaining parsley. There is a little bit, and I will try this with whatever good parsley I have left, even if it is only a few flakes.
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| This is all that is left now. |
Step One (this is a one day activity): 5 minutes
I wash the little remaining parsley I have left, and then chop off just the stems. Meanwhile, I have a bot of water boiling.
Step Two: 2 minutes, if you don't count any continued waiting for the water to boil
I boil water and blanch the parsley. Then I arrange the blanched parsley onto a baking sheet, this time to put into the oven where there will be no wind to blow the parsley away. Meanwhile, the oven is preheating to the lowest possible setting, as specified in the directions.
Step Three: 2-4 hours
Now the parsley goes into the oven on the lowest possible setting, and I am free to work on other projects. I ended up leaving my parsley in the oven for 3 hours. No more waiting on the sun! After three hours I take the parsley out, and a few hours later I put it in a plastic bag.
Annice Watson
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| The blanched parsley, waiting to go in the oven. Look at how little there is now... |
Now the parsley goes into the oven on the lowest possible setting, and I am free to work on other projects. I ended up leaving my parsley in the oven for 3 hours. No more waiting on the sun! After three hours I take the parsley out, and a few hours later I put it in a plastic bag.
Conclusion of Test Two:
Oven drying proved to be far more reliable for someone who lives in a windy area. The parsley stayed put on the baking sheet, just as it was supposed to. It is more green than the parsley I tried to dry in the sun and what you would buy in the store, and I don't know if the texture or flavor will be different.
Results
Test One was a bit of a comical disaster, given that I had to wait days for sun after I started and then when the sun finally came out all of my experiment blew away. Consider the weather if you're going to go that route, and don't be overly optimistic like I was. The second method worked better for sure.
Time: The time investment was only whatever time it took to chop up the parsley. The rest of the time was spent waiting.
Difficulty Level: Easy, if you pay attention to your environment...which I didn't.
Price: There was nothing to lose here, really, because I had to buy the fresh parsley for another recipe and it was just going to to go waste if I didn't do something about it. I wouldn't buy fresh parsley just to do this, but if you have some herbs that are going to go to waste, these methods will extend the life of the purchase.
Final Decision: I'd do this again with leftover herbs that dry well. It was an easy way to keep food from going to waste. I would also check to see if there are any variations in technique for different herbs if I end up with leftovers of a different type.
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