Gadenin日本語Get the appCut sprigs, and cut only in the green
Pulling individual leaves off thyme is slow and leaves a bare stem that will never releaf. Snip whole sprigs instead, four to six inches (10 to 15 cm) long, and strip the leaves in the kitchen by running your thumb and finger down the stem against the direction of growth. Every sprig you take is also a pruning cut that makes the stem below fork into two.
The one hard rule is the same as for pruning: stay in green, leafy growth and leave at least two pairs of leaves on the stem you cut. Cut back into the bare gray wood and that stem stops for good, which is how enthusiastic harvesting turns a good plant into a bare one in a single season.
- Take a third at most Never remove more than a third of the plant at one cutting. Beyond that there is too little leaf left to drive regrowth and the plant sits still for weeks.
- Work around the plant Take sprigs from different sides rather than shearing one patch bare. It keeps the dome shape and stops one side outgrowing the other.
- Use scissors or snips Thyme stems are wiry and pulling by hand tears the bark down the stem, which lets rot in. Cut cleanly.
- Cut in the morning Cut once the dew has dried but before the day heats up. The volatile oils that carry the scent are at their highest then and start dispersing as the sun gets on the plant.
Light picking can start once a plant is roughly six inches (15 cm) across, which is usually its second season from seed and its first from a bought plant. Take a token amount in a plant's first few months.
The best scent is just before the flowers open
Essential oil content in thyme rises through spring, peaks when the flower buds are formed but still closed, and drops once the plant is in full flower and putting resources into seed. If you are cutting a batch to dry for the year, that pre-flowering window is worth waiting for.
For cooking day to day, cut whenever you need it. Thyme is evergreen in mild winters and you can pick a sprig in any month; it simply grows back slowly in cold weather. Winter-cut thyme is milder but perfectly usable.
| Time of year | Flavor | Best use |
|---|---|---|
| Spring, new growth | Fresh, mild, soft stems | Fresh use, salads and dressings |
| Just before flowering | Strongest of the year | The main cut for drying |
| In full flower | Softer, slightly sweet | Fresh use; flowers are edible |
| After the summer cut back | Good, on fresh regrowth | A second drying batch |
| Winter | Milder, tougher leaves | Slow-cooked dishes |
The big cut back after flowering is also your biggest harvest of the year. Do not compost that material: it is a third of the plant, at good quality, and enough to fill the herb jar.
Dry it, do not freeze it
Thyme is one of the herbs that genuinely improves in convenience when dried and loses very little. The leaves are small, tough and low in water, so they dry within a few days and hold their aroma for around a year. Frozen thyme goes limp and the leaves are then hard to strip from the stem.
Dry it as whole sprigs, in the dark, with air moving. Light bleaches the color and heat drives off the oils you are trying to keep, so an airing cupboard or a shaded, ventilated shelf beats an oven or a sunny window.
- Do not wash it if you can avoid it Water on the leaves slows drying and encourages mold. Shake off dust and any insects. If it really is muddy, rinse and pat completely dry before hanging.
- Bundle loosely and hang Tie 10 to 15 sprigs into a loose bunch with the stems together and hang it upside down somewhere warm, dark and airy. Tight bundles trap damp in the middle and go moldy.
- Judge it by the leaves It is dry when the leaves rustle and crumble between your fingers and the stems snap rather than bend. That is usually one to two weeks hanging, or two to four days in a dehydrator at 95 to 105F (35 to 40C).
- Strip and store whole Rub the sprigs over a bowl to release the leaves and pick out the stems. Store the leaves whole, not ground, in an airtight jar somewhere dark. Crushing them at the last moment keeps the aroma far better.
Dried thyme is roughly three times as strong as fresh by volume. A teaspoon dried stands in for a tablespoon of fresh leaves.
What goes wrong with a stored batch
Most disappointing home-dried thyme was cut at the wrong moment, dried too hot, or jarred slightly damp. All three are visible in the finished jar, and knowing which one it was tells you what to change next season.
| What you see | Cause | Fix for next time |
|---|---|---|
| Condensation inside the jar | Jarred before fully dry | Tip it out and dry another two days |
| Gray or musty patches | Bundles too thick, poor airflow | Halve the bundle size |
| Pale, straw-colored leaves | Dried in direct sun or too hot | Dry in the dark below 105F (40C) |
| Almost no smell | Cut in full flower, or stored ground | Cut before flowering, store leaves whole |
Write the year on the jar. Dried thyme is at its best for about twelve months, and next summer's batch is always better than the one you kept for two years out of thriftiness.
Woody stems are worth keeping
The bare stems left after stripping are not waste. They carry plenty of aroma and are the ideal thing to tie into a bundle with a bay leaf and parsley for stocks, braises and soups, where you want the flavor without leaves floating in the dish. They are stiff enough to fish out whole at the end.
Woody thyme stems also make good skewers for small pieces of meat or vegetables on a grill, and a handful thrown on the coals scents whatever is cooking above them.
Keep a small jar of stripped stems by the stove rather than binning them. They keep more or less indefinitely once dry.