5 Ways To Store Rosemary [Last for Months]

Rosemary is known for its aroma and flavor and is an essential herb in some dishes. However, it can only last for a few days after being harvested. Despite this, did you know that you can store your fresh rosemary longer?

The 5 best techniques to store rosemary include 1) use of wet tissue, 2) freezing, 3) infusing, 4) ice cube making, and 5) dehydration.

Rosemary Storing Technique	How Long Does It Last?
Wet Tissue	up to 10 to 14 days
Freezing	up to 5 to 6 months
Infusing	up to 10 days
Herbal ice cube	2 to 3 months if properly stored
Dehydrating	6 months up to 1 year for best flavor

There are some ways in preserving your fresh rosemary without losing its flavor, color, texture, and especially its aroma. Find out and learn more.

5 Ways To Store Your Rosemary

Typically, freshly harvested rosemary can only last for 3 to 5 days if left on your countertop at ambient temperature. On the other hand, newly store-bought rosemary will probably last less than the newly harvested rosemary.

These are the 5 ways to store your fresh rosemary to last for months.

Wet Tissue

With a wet tissue, you can make your rosemary fresh for more days.

You can do this by following these steps:

1. Clean your rosemary in running water.
2. Pat dry the rosemary with your tissue.
3. After drying the rosemary, get the used tissue.
4. Use the tissue to wrap the rosemary
5. Store it in the refrigerator.

Using this technique your rosemary can last up to 10 to 14 days.

Freezing Technique

Freezing is one of the recommended and easiest ways to make your fresh rosemary last longer without losing its taste, aroma, and texture.

This technique requires to:

1. Rinse the rosemary.
2. Dry it with a tissue.
3. Depending on how you like it, you can either remove the leaves from rosemary stalks or cut the rosemary in a manageable size.
4. Place the rosemary in the ziplock or container.
5. Put it in the refrigerator.

With the Freezing technique, your rosemary can last up to 5 to 6 months.

Infusing Technique

The infusing technique is a simple method for storing rosemary. You only need your herbs and your choice of solvent, either oil, water, or alcohol, to infuse it with. Infusing rosemary can be very useful in your kitchen. With these steps, your rosemary can last for a few days.

The steps in infusing rosemary using oil are:

1. Get your rosemary and clean it in cool running water.
2. Dry your rosemary very well. You can use a salad spinner or a kitchen tissue.
3. Get a pot and your oil.
4. Cook the oil with rosemary in low heat for up to 5 to 10 minutes.
5. Let it infuse for up to 1 hour.
6. Strain the infused rosemary.
7. Store in an air-tight jar.
8. Place it in the refrigerator properly.

Infusing rosemary in oil can preserve it for up to 10 days if properly stored.

Ice Cubes

This method only needs an ice cube tray, your rosemary, and the liquid you’re gonna pair your rosemary with. Mostly, people make iced rosemary and put it in drinks.

The steps in making rosemary ice cubes are:

1. Clean your rosemary in running water and let it dry.
2. Depending on how you’re gonna use it, you can either remove the leaves from rosemary stalks or just cut them to fit in the ice cube tray.
3. You can either add some oil, water, or butter depending on how you’re gonna use it.
4. Store it in the freezer until the solid and ready to be used.

This technique can make your rosemary last up to 2 to 3 months if properly stored, depending on the type of liquid you added with rosemary.

Dehydration

Dehydrating is the oldest method of preserving herbs such as rosemary.

The steps in preserving rosemary using dehydration are:

1. Clean your rosemary.
2. Bundle it.
3. Use kitchen twine to tie the rosemary together
4. Hang it in your kitchen or any place with nice air circulation.

Dried rosemary can last up to 2 years but for better flavor, it is recommended to use it up to 6 months to 1 year only.

4 Methods For Drying Rosemary

Food drying is one of the oldest methods of preserving your herbs. It can make your herbs last for a year.

You can do these steps, instead of just placing your rosemary in your refrigerator.

Drying In the Sun

You can simply dry your fresh rosemary by placing it outside under the natural sunlight.

Here are the steps on how we dry rosemary in the sun:

1. Harvest your fresh rosemary or get your newly store-bought rosemary.
2. Rinse it.
3. You can either use some clean cloth or you can use a drying net.
4. Place it in a place where there is enough sun heat.
5. Spread the rosemary.
6. Check your rosemary everyday to avoid mold.
7. Check your rosemary if it’s already dried. It takes up to 1 or 2 weeks for this herb to dry completely.
8. Separate the dried leaves from the rosemary stalks.
9. Store it in an air-tight jar or sealed container.

Drying rosemary in the sun can make it last up to 6 months to 1 year.

Spreading your herbs in clean cloth is one of the oldest ways of drying herbs in the sun but with a drying net, you can guarantee that there will be no insects that will go near your herbs.

Hang Drying

Hang drying is the most recommended method in drying rosemary because it can retain its flavor and color.

The method in air-drying rosemary are:

1. Rinse your freshly harvested rosemary.
2. Bundle your rosemary and tie it with kitchen twine.
3. Hang it upside down in your kitchen or pantry. It is recommended to hang it indoors.
4. Hang drying rosemary takes up to 10 to 14 days depending on the air circulation of your house.

Hang drying rosemary can last up to 2 to 3 years but it is mostly suggested to use it up to 1 year.

Using a Dehydrator

This method produces more quality dried rosemary compared with the other method of drying herbs. It is also faster and prevents your rosemary from having molds or being infected with insects or spiders.

Steps in drying rosemary using a dehydrator are:

1. Wash your rosemary and let it dry.
2. Put the rosemary stalk in the dehydrator.
3. Let it dehydrate for 3 hours or more until the rosemary is completely dried.

Using a dehydrator can make rosemary last up to 6 months to 1 year.

If you want to buy a dehydrator, this is a good dehydrator to use.

Oven-drying

One of the methods in dehydrating rosemary is to use an oven.

The method in oven-drying rosemary are:

1. Wash your rosemary.
2. Dry it with dome kitchen tissue.
3. Place your rosemary stalks in a baking tray.
4. At 150 Fahrenheit, cook your rosemary for 2 hours.
5. Check your rosemary every 20 minutes depending on your desired brittleness.
6. Do not overcook your rosemary.
7. Turn off the heat and remove it to the oven.
8. Let it cool.
9. Remove the leaves in rosemary stalks.
10. Store in a sealed container or airtight jar.
11. Store in a dark, dry, and cool place.

Drying rosemary using the oven-drying method can make the rosemary last up to 6 months to 1 year.

Tips In Storing Dried Rosemary

Properly storing dried rosemary is important to preserve its flavor, texture, and aroma. Below are some tips for storing dried rosemary.

1. You should store your dried rosemary in an airtight container to prevent it from losing its flavor, texture, and aroma.
2. Place it in a dark, cool, and dry place.
3. Once dried, you can either remove the leaves in the rosemary stalks or let it stay like that depending on the way you’re gonna use the dried herb
4. Dried rosemary shouldn’t have any moisture (you will notice if it become brittle – that’s a good sign).
5. The shelf-life, flavor, and aroma of your dried rosemary can depend on how you store it.

Summary of How To Store Rosemary

1. You can store rosemary and make it last longer by using techniques such as the use of wet tissue, freezing, infusing, ice cube making, and dehydration.
2. In preserving rosemary, you can dehydrate it using methods such as sun drying, hang drying, and dehydrating with the oven or a had-hock tool.
3. It is critical to properly store rosemary in order to retain its taste, aroma, and texture.

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