How do you dry your stevia?

[PunkinPeep]

I know it's a little early in the season to start on drying my stevia, but one of the branches broke off, so i wanted to make use of the leaves.

I wasn't sure how to go about it, so i just spread the leaves on a dinner plate and put them in the oven on a low heat.

It took a long time to do. Today, they seemed dry enough, and i crushed the leaves. The residue that you get on your fingers is SO sweet! But i'm having a hard time getting it all crushed down so it will be pleasant and usable for sweetening tea and so forth.

This is my first try ever. I would love to hear your tips.

 

[dragonlaurel]

The commercial stuff is pretty processed- yours will have a bit of green flavor with the sweet. I love it. It's great in teas and cooking but I've heard it's not as good with coffee.
Don't know it that helps.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I love the way it retains its green color. But i want it to be more powdery. Some of it is very very powdery, but not all of it. I don't know if i should dry it more and then try crushing it some more. ???

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I just recently discovered Stevia and love it. Never thought about growing my own. Have to look into that.

I wonder if you could bag it with or like the tea. It'd be presweetened and ready to drink. LOL Then you wouldn't have to worry about making it dissolveable, since you would just boil it and then filter out the leaves.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I just recently discovered Stevia and love it. Never thought about growing my own. Have to look into that.

I wonder if you could bag it with or like the tea. It'd be presweetened and ready to drink. LOL Then you wouldn't have to worry about making it dissolveable, since you would just boil it and then filter out the leaves.

I considered that and really wanted to do it. But the reading i did gave me the impression that it wouldn't be very successful. The stevia leaves, right off the plant are very sweet and yummy to eat, but you're supposed to wait until as late as possible in the fall to harvest the leaves and dry them because that's supposed to be how you get the greatest sweetness. So based on that, i refrained from taking the leaves throughout the year.

And it's true, after you dry and crush it, it's a lot sweeter than the leaf right off the plant. we probably have at least another month before the frost, so i'm hoping for lots of sweetness when i harvest the whole plant.

 

[Bettacreek]

I'm not 100% sure if it will work for stevia or not, but it works great for mint plants, and I learned it through the grapevine from people who grew or dried pot, lol, so I know it works for some things... Anyways, take a paper towel (or a dish towel may work, to keep waste down), put it into the microwave to line the "floor". Put your leaves on it, one layer only, you don't even want them to touch really, but if they do a little bit, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Nuke them for about two minutes. Keep an eye on them though, to make sure that you're not catching anything on fire (can happen with the paper towel, I've turned spots of them black before). Just renuke until they're dry to the point that pleases you. Shouldn't even take five minutes.

 

[PunkinPeep]

I'm not 100% sure if it will work for stevia or not, but it works great for mint plants, and I learned it through the grapevine from people who grew or dried pot, lol, so I know it works for some things... Anyways, take a paper towel (or a dish towel may work, to keep waste down), put it into the microwave to line the "floor". Put your leaves on it, one layer only, you don't even want them to touch really, but if they do a little bit, it shouldn't be too much of an issue. Nuke them for about two minutes. Keep an eye on them though, to make sure that you're not catching anything on fire (can happen with the paper towel, I've turned spots of them black before). Just renuke until they're dry to the point that pleases you. Shouldn't even take five minutes.

....through the grapevine......


heeheehee!

(not questioning your truthfulness, just a little tickled. )

I have actually been concerned that company (those with an untrained eye) would mistakenly think that dish of dried green leaves (while i was still working on it; now it's in the freezer) had something illegal in it, so i always make company taste it just to make sure everyone's clear on what's in that dish.

Oh, and more importantly, thank you for the tip! I hadn't thought of the microwave. Too busy trying to do things the "old" way i guess. haha

 

[BarkerChickens]

While I haven't had the opportunity to try it on Stevia, I have read that it is best sun dried, then either crumbled in the hand for cooking for grinded into a powder (eith food processor or mortar and pestal).

 

[PunkinPeep]

While I haven't had the opportunity to try it on Stevia, I have read that it is best sun dried, then either crumbled in the hand for cooking for grinded into a powder (eith food processor or mortar and pestal).

I think i need a mortar and pestal. It is always humid here, so i'm not really going to attempt the outdoor sun drying. I've been drying in the oven, but crumbling by hand still doesn't get the bits even small enough to put in tea to sweeten. I haven't tried just brewing them together for sweetness yet.