Chopping washed herbs

[MelissaH]

You know how you see people on TV chop their parsley and cilantro into a beautiful fluffy green pile? I can't do that with the herbs I get at the supermarket.

 

Both the cilantro and parsley I can buy are grown in dirt. I know this because the dirt is clinging to the stems and leaves. Since I don't feel the need for extra mineral content in my diet, I need to wash the herbs before I use them. (Once, I tried chopping then washing. Big mistake.) Once I wash them, I can't get them dry enough to chop into anything but a soggy mess. I've tried a vigorous shake, a trip salad spinner, a roll in paper towels, a roll in cloth kitchen towels, and just about every permutation of these. I've tried doing the washing and the drying in the morning, when I won't need to use them till late afternoon or evening. I still can't get them dry enough to chop easily. About the only things I haven't done yet are to aim a fan at them and blast them with the heat gun.

 

Is there a good way to dry my parsley and cilantro? When they're dry, I have no trouble chopping them.

[dcarch]

You know how you see people on TV chop their parsley and cilantro into a beautiful fluffy green pile? I can't do that with the herbs I get at the supermarket.

 

Both the cilantro and parsley I can buy are grown in dirt. I know this because the dirt is clinging to the stems and leaves. Since I don't feel the need for extra mineral content in my diet, I need to wash the herbs before I use them. (Once, I tried chopping then washing. Big mistake.) Once I wash them, I can't get them dry enough to chop into anything but a soggy mess. I've tried a vigorous shake, a trip salad spinner, a roll in paper towels, a roll in cloth kitchen towels, and just about every permutation of these. I've tried doing the washing and the drying in the morning, when I won't need to use them till late afternoon or evening. I still can't get them dry enough to chop easily. About the only things I haven't done yet are to aim a fan at them and blast them with the heat gun.

 

Is there a good way to dry my parsley and cilantro? When they're dry, I have no trouble chopping them.

 

This will sound absolutely stupid, but I have a habit of coming up with stooooopid kitchen ideas.

 

1. Wash your herbs well and shake off as much water as you can.

 

2. Put the herbs in a plastic produce bag with a few sheets of paper towel.

 

3. put the bag in your clothes washer and set the washer to spin cycle.

 

You should have your herbs ready for chopping after the spin cycle is done.

 

 

dcarch

[djyee100]

My method is to spin the herbs in a salad spinner twice, emptying the water out in between spins, then laying out the herbs to dry further on a flour sack dishtowel for 10-15 mins. It works for me. It helps that I live in a dry climate most of the year.

 

In olden days, lettuce and herbs were put in a net bag, and the kids were sent out to the backyard to swing the bag around until the greens were dry. I haven't tried that one. But it didn't make an appearance on your comprehensive list, so I add it here.

 

Rolling up herbs in a flour sack dishtowel and shaking it will take off some excess water too.

 

Other than that, would you have better luck with moist herbs if you used kitchen herb shears rather than a knife?

[Lisa Shock]

I wash the herbs I buy as soon as I get them home, that's usually a day or more before I use them, so, they have dried out in the fridge by then. And, as a bonus, the fridge stays a bit cleaner.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

I use a small salad spinner and then blot on paper towels.  I've not yet tried, but it might be instructive to run the washed and dried herbs through the chamber vacuum sealer, without sealing.  This should drive off most of the remaining moisture.

[CatPoet]

I  just wash them let them hang dry a bit and then use my scissor to "chop" them finely.

[ChrisTaylor]

Wash and dry them with a good shake some time before you chop them. Just let them sit in a colander or on some paper towel.

[huiray]

Sometimes I do what others have mentioned - wash then let dry for a while (usually when I get distracted and go do something else and leaving the prep of stuff to "sit" for a while) but usually I am not bothered (or greatly impeded) by chopping my parsley and coriander leaves "wet".  And yes, I always wash my herbs, or at least run some water over them, even if plucked from my deck.  I don't need my chopped herbs to be a fluffy pile or to be a very fine mince and also like to see individual pieces (whole leaves, even) of them in many applications.  In some cases I use the entire fronds (intact stem+leaves) and toss them into whatever I am cooking.  Some soups, stocks, braises, certain curries; and in salads definitely whole leaflets/leaves; while in other cases a chop somewhere between fine and coarse is satisfactory to me.

[MelissaH]

Thanks for all the suggestions. After yesterday's batch, I think I've traced part of my issue to rolling up the bunch of herbs in paper towels: the water on the inside leaves can't evaporate, doesn't get wicked away, and keeps things wet. I just stuck each bunch in a jar with an inch of water in the bottom, and let the tops splay open to dry. Lucky for me, I don't need to use them for a few hours yet, so they have time, and if they're still looking wet after another couple of hours, I'll put a fan on the counter to blow it away.

 

The chamber sealer suggestion has merit, but the scientist in me cringes at the thought of purposely sucking away all that moisture without a proper trap to keep it out of the pump!

[mkayahara]

Count me among those whose preferred method is a trip or two through the salad spinner, followed by spreading out on towels or paper towels to blot any moisture that's left. If you have time to let them air dry after that, that's even better.

[Anna N]

I don't know where I learned this method. If I did I would give credit. I have two ceiling fans in very close proximity to my prep area. attempting to chop bone dry herbs results in a very interesting but messy experience! I wash and dry my herbs without spending a lot of time trying to get rid of the last dampness. I then chop them which I find quite easy gather up the chopped herbs, place them in a cotton or even a paper towel and give them a couple of good squeezes. Don't wring them out. You will wring out the color and much of the nutrients, just a few gentle squeezes. This results in a pile of fluffy herbs that are then easily sprinkled on whatever.

[CatPoet]

I found another way of cleaning herbs,  first chop them, then lay them in a larger bowl then you think you need and pour over cold water,  stir and wait a bit . Dirt sinks and herbs floats,  scoop them up with a slotted spoon and leave to drain.  Same works for leaks,

[pbear]

And spinach.

 

Another solution to this problem is a food dehydrator.  It's a scalable process, so one can evaporate the surface moisture without actually dehydrating the herbs (use a shorter time).  For the OP's purposes, I'd dry before chopping.  For storage, after chopping (in which event, fine-mesh screens are highly advisable).  Obviously one wouldn't get a dehydrator just for this, but it has several other uses (e.g., making glace fruit) which, taken together, have earned it a space in my small kitchen.

[patrickamory]

Olney says not to wash herbs that you have grown and picked yourself, so I don't.

 

Actually, I never wash supermarket herbs either!

[Martin Fisher]

Folks say lots of stuff....I wash them because I don't like bird poop and the like in my food. 

Hang upside down to drip dry. I've never had a problem with soggy herbs.

[JoNorvelleWalker]

The birds poop on my basil...your mileage may vary.

[andiesenji]

With either purchased herbs or stuff I pick from the garden, I wash them as soon as I bring them in, dry them a bit with paper towels and put them in a tall glass with just a little water in the bottom and put them in the fridge.  After a few hours the tops are dry and they chop easier when they are cold.