Love mint, but hate paying the ridiculous prices for it at the store? Grow your own instead and learn how to dehydrate mint for tons of different uses below…
Growing mint of any kind is not a difficult gardening task. Honestly, it’s probably one of the best things to start with if you’re just getting started in the garden. It grows prolifically without much effort and before you know it, you’ll have more mint than you know what to do with in one season! Learning how to dehydrate mint is one of the best things you can do if you’re going to grow it and there are so many things you can do with it, so let’s get started…
Abundance of Mint 2022 – Food Life Design
Why Dehydrate Mint?
Because it’s SO good for you! Plus, it tastes great, too!
Mint comes in all different shapes, sizes and varieties…
There’s peppermint, sweet mint, spearmint, chocolate mint, apple mint, pineapple mint, ginger mint, lavender mint, horsemint, water mint, wild mint, pennyroyal, catmint, orange mint, grapefruit mint…
mint kebobs…
mint scampi…
(not really those last two, but you get the picture.)
Not to mention all the various mint “cousins”, like lemon balm.
There are over 7,000 different species in the mint family, so it would be quite a lot to list them all here. However, each and every member of the mint family offers medicinal benefits and they are all incredibly good for your health.
Some of the potential medicinal properties of mint include:
- antispasmodic
- carminative
- decongestant
- antioxidant
- anti-inflammatory
- Digestive
- anti-allergenic
- Diaphoretic
- anti-microbial
- anti-fungal
- Nervine relaxant
- Nervine stimulant
- Topical analgesic
Throughout history and today, mint has been/is used for the following health ailments:
- digestive disorders
- respiratory distress
- sore muscles and pain
- to reduce allergy and asthma symptoms
- as a decongestant for cough and colds
- to promote brain health
- reduce acne and skin ailments
- remedy morning sickness and nausea
- to boost the immune system
- and more…so, much more!
As you can see, mint has tons and tons of health benefits and it’s a wonderful herb to have on hand throughout the year.
Please note: I am not a doctor and I am not claiming to treat, cure or otherwise heal anything. I’m simply sharing my recipe, along with the research I have found pertaining to the health benefits of the mint family. The use of any herbal remedy could cause allergies and/or interactions with your medications. Please check with a medical professional before trying any herbal remedy.
So, are you ready to learn how to dehydrate mint at home?
Awesome!
Let’s get started…
Sweet Mint 2022 – Food Life Design
How to Dehydrate Mint at Home
Use a Dehydrator
Remove the leaves and lay them flat on your dehydrator trays.
Turn the dehydrator on low temperature and follow the directions in your manufacturer guide for the necessary amount of time.
Use an Oven (a standard oven or a toaster oven)
Preheat the oven to the lowest setting or 135 degrees Fahrenheit.
Cover a baking sheet with a piece of parchment paper.
Lay the mint on the covered baking sheet.
Place the mint into the oven.
Leave the door ajar and allow it to heat for 30 to 45 minutes or until the leaves are dry to the touch.
Hanging the Herb
If you don’t have the option of a dehydrator or an oven for dehydrating your mint, just hang it to dry in a cool, shady location instead. Allow it to dry for 2 to 3 weeks.
Ways to Use Dehydrated Mint
Create your own medicinal capsules
Make your own homemade mouthwash.
Use it in your homemade bath salts.
Make a body scrub.
Sew some scented sachets.
Whip up some Mint Chocolate Chip ice cream.
Brew an herbal oil.
Make a soothing salve or vapor rub.
Have a mojito after dinner.
Make a homemade inhaler.
Create some homemade candy for the kids.
Make mint chocolate syrup.
Brew some mint schnapps.
Brew mint extract for baking.
Make a mint simple syrup.
Make Homemade Mint Powder
Reduce wasted space in your pantry and turn your dehydrated mint into mint powder instead! It’s perfect to use in medicinal capsules, homemade baked goods, to make oils, salves and so much more!
Place all of your dehydrated mint into a blender or food processor and blend until it creates a fine powder.
Providing your mint was fully dehydrated, it should only take a couple of seconds to turn it into a fine powder.
Store in a glass jar until ready to use.
I hope you’ve enjoyed learning how to dehydrate mint! As you can see there is a TON of different ways to use dehydrated mint and that’s just a start.
Use your imagination and come up with new ways to use all that mint you’ve got growing – the possibilities are endless.
You never know when you might need to know!
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Have an Awesome Day!
~Vanessa
Vanessa Hamlin is the owner and founder of Food Life Design and VLHamlinDesign. With her passion for frugal living and homesteading, Vanessa loves to write about easy recipes, making money, gardening, home remedies and everything else that a good life entails! When she’s not writing for Food Life Design or creating products for VLHamlinDesign, you’ll find Vanessa reading, drawing, gardening, cooking or spending time with her family.