Using Dried Herbs instead of Fresh

[JennieAtkinson]

I made the Sage and Onion Stuffing recipe from this months GYO last night and it was delicious , but I used mu own dried sage and felt that it could have done with a bit more.

Anyone know if there is a general rule of thumb for working out how much of a dried herb to use instead of fresh?

[Alison]

Don't know if it's right or not but if it says a handful of fresh then I'll substitute for a pinch of dried and then adjust as necessary if that doesn't seem right.

[Birdie Wife]

It's different for different herbs too. Things like sage and bay keep a lot more of their flavour on drying than basil, for example. The only sure guide is to taste and check for seasoning. If it needs a bit more, bung some in.

[Alice]

Hi Jennie, I think the rule is teaspoon of dried is about the equivalent of a heaped tablespoon of fresh.
I freeze my herbs as I find the flavour keeps much better. I chop them, spread them out on a tray and put in the freezer until frozen then put them in a freezer box. They keep great and come out free flow and looking like fresh herbs (use from frozen) No use for garnish but great for all else.

The one thing I've found which doesn't do well by this method is the celery leaves which I love for soup. They discolour and don't look good. That's why I'm trying the Par - Cel (celery flavoured parsley) as the parsley keeps great.

[Sunbeam]

the usual rule of thumb is to use half the quantity of dried to fresh - ie if 2 teaspoons of fresh use 1tsp dried -

[trousers]

alice one can also use the leaves of celeriac as a celery subsitute if thats any help

[Alice]

Thanks for that Trousers - but I don't have any celeriac - yet. I will get round to giving it a go.

[madderbat]

I also freeze herbs instead of drying them. I got about 3lb of parsley this year, and just chopped it and put it into bags (there was too much to do a lot with). Now when I want some I get the bag out of the freezer and either bang it to separate or get a knife and take a few slices
Thyme dried on the stick and went into the herb box, whilst everything else is still in the ground, even chives!

[STeALtH]

Personally I'd go with a ratio of 1/3 dried to fresh, 'most' fresh herbs contain a fair bit of water, (frozen even more) when dried the water is evaporated off giving in 'most' cases a stronger flavour.

Powerful herbs like Rosemary, Thyme or Oregano I might use a little more sparingly.

Every dish should be tasted and seasonings adjusted if neccessary right the way through, even then it's all down to the individual palette.

Regards

S

[Earthbabe]

Alice have you tried Lovage as a celery substitute?

I dry things like rosemary/thyme/sage for giving away (or sage bundles for selling) everything else is used fresh as much as poss. Chives and tarragon etc. tend to go in the freezer.

[JennieAtkinson]

Thanks to you all! I was surprised yesterday when I went into the greenhouse (not been there for a few days) and saw a pot of sage sitting at the back of the staging! So I could have used fresh, although would have used up the whole plant I think!

[pigletwillie]

In France Earthbabe, Lovage is known as false celery or bastard celery for that very reason.

[Earthbabe]

A useful tidbit of info there, thanks PW