Drying Rosemary

     Fall is here and it's a great time to cut rosemary for drying. The drying rack I've used was built by Ken and you can see the instructions on how to build one for yourself in our newsletter from September 17, 2004 Newsletter.

Here's what you'll need:

A rack to attach the rosemary to.
Fresh rosemary branches.

Cut the branches and bundle into small groupings, tie and hang over a drying rack. Our drying rack lets the air flow all around.
Once the rosemary is dry there are a lot of things you can do with it. Here are a few:

Strip the needles off the branches. Package them in air tight jars. Use them in cooking recipes.

Use whole branches in your bar-b-que for smoking. Soak whole dry branches in water for 10 minutes. Place on top of the coals while cooking your food. Keep the lid down on your bar-b-que to hold in the smoke.

Use broken up branches or only the needles in a winter potpourri. Mix rosemary, cedar chips, cinnamon sticks and dried orange slices. Use whatever combination smells good to you.

Throw branches on an open fire in your fireplace. Burning rosemary will fill the room with a peppery, foresty fragrance.

Use whole branches in your smoker. Soak the branches in water for 10 minutes then place them in the tray with other smoker chips. It's great when smoking Salmon.

Place whole branches or needles in your bottled vinegars and oils.

Those are just a few ideas. I'm sure there are many more but this should get you started.

We hope you liked this project. If you build it and your friends ask where you got such a clever idea, please tell them that you got it at RunnerDuck.com.