Browsing: Kitchen Basics

Using flowers in dishes is not a new practice. People have been using various parts of the flowers to enhance their dishes’ taste from the early days. Not only this, the flowers and their petals were used to make essential oils, fragrances, and so on. One such popular flower species whose uses have been known since the ages is the rose flower. Not only is it beautiful when it blooms on the plant, but it is lovely when you use it in your fragrances, in the dishes you are cooking, and so on. But, today, we are not going to discuss the rose flower. Instead, we will be talking about how to dry rose petals at home, preserve them safely, and use them in various ways. So, without wasting another second, let’s get started with the impending discussion that has been plaguing your mind since day one! A little explanation about the rose flower Well, going by the definition of botany, you can say that rose is a perennial plant that bears the beautiful flowers as long as it stays alive. The shrubs are woody and grow straight, without any curvatures in the alignment. Even though the roses look quite beautiful on the plant, the thorns can be a real pain in the head. There are many different flower species and way more varieties of cultivars native to Asia, North America, Europe, and even some parts of Northwestern Africa. The rosebud remains at the center, surrounded by numerous petals that form the bloom's main structure. A perfect way to separate the petals from the flowers Not many people know precisely how to separate the petals from the flower. Without this knowledge, you won’t be able to dry flower petals efficiently. So, here is a small tip about how to separate the petals by tearing them off. Snip the flower using a scissor from the shrub. Be careful about the thorns, and for safety, you can wear the rubber gloves so that even mistakenly, the thorns don’t prick into your skin. Once you have taken the flower, use a small scissor to remove the stalk, the leaves, and other buds if there are any. Slowly remove the green sepals that sit at the bottom of the flower. The best way to do this is by dragging the sepals away from the body of the flower. After this, remove the petals slowly, in the same way as you have done with the sepals. The petals will vary in shape and size as you will move from the exterior cover to the innermost one. This complete information will help you in learning more about how to dry rose petals effectively. Top ways about how to dry rose petals Since you have learned about removing the petals, you can now concentrate on how to dry rose petals effectively. Here, we will be discussing five different methods, where the mode of drying will vary. Also, the temperature and the setting will vary as per the method. So, let’s get started! Book drying rose petals: Remember when as kids we used to dry leaves and petals of flowers inside books? Do you recall this would initiate the drying process unknowingly? But, you will know how to dry rose petals intentionally by using a book. Take a thick book and move over to the last pages of the same. It will be best if you are taking a hardcover book since the pages will have more pressure in between, as compared to a soft covered book. In the meantime, once you have taken out the petals, place them in water so that they don’t wilt away. This will delay the process of dehydration and affect the quality of the dried petals. Place a paper towel on one side of the open book. After this, take out the petals one by one and then place them over the towel. Do not overlap the petals since that might delay the dehydration. Leave an ample amount of gap in between so that they can get compressed without any hurdle. Place another paper towel covering the petals without disturbing the arrangement. If you want to dry rose petals in bulk, you can either use another book or use another page. Close the book and place it under other books for at least a week. Once the week is over, open the concerned page and check whether the petals have become brittle and crisp or not. If you feel that moisture is still present, leave the arrangement for the other two or three days, depending on the flower part's degree of softness. Drying rose petals in oven: If you don’t want to wait for so long, you can learn this method for how to dry rose petals. Here, we will be using an oven to remove the petals' moisture content and make them brittle and crisp. First, preheat the oven to a temperature of a hundred and eighty degrees Fahrenheit. In the meantime, place a paper towel or a cooking sheet on the tray. This will prevent the petals from burning since the tray will get hot after putting it into the oven. After you have plucked the petals from the flower, immediately put them in a water bowl. Do not forget this step since the lack of water might cause wilting of the flower. Now, dehydrating wilted petals wouldn’t be quite productive. After you have arranged the tray, please pick up the petals from the water bowl, and press them between towels to remove the external moisture. Then place the petals on the tray. Make sure you are not overlapping them because that might pose as a hindrance in the drying process. When you are learning about how to dry rose petals, you need to know that you will have to keep an ample amount of distance between the adjacent petals even while using an oven. This will allow the proper flow of air in between. Put the tray inside the oven and close the door. Set the time to thirty minutes and let the petals get dry inside. After the twentieth minute, you will see how the flower parts are getting dehydrated and becoming darker in color. You need to follow this entire process to learn how to dry rose petals using the oven at your home. Drying flower petals in a dehydrator: A dehydrator is an appliance that looks almost like an oven but its functions differently. You can cook various dishes in an oven along with drying other raw ingredients. But, in a dehydrator, you will only have several objects' drying functions, starting with fruit slices to herbs and now even rose petals. So, let’s learn about how to dry rose petals using a dehydrator appliance of any size and shape. First, pluck the petals off the flower just like we have instructed previously. After this, put the petals in the water bowl to prevent the loss of moisture unexpectedly. Take the dehydrator tray and cover it with a paper towel. This will prevent the burning or charring of the petals. Take out the flower parts from the water bowl and press them softly between the folds of a towel to dry off the water droplets. After this, arrange these in a single layer on the tray without overlapping them. It will be best if you handle one petal at a time. While placing them, leave at least an inch of space between the adjacent petals. Put the trays inside in case you are drying rose petals in bulk. Set the dehydrator setting to low and leave the tray inside for two hours. Once the timer will go off, take the trays out and check whether all the petals have dried off or not. If you still think some of the petals haven’t dried, separate them from the ones that have been dried. Repeat the arrangement with the still soft petals and again put them inside the dehydrator for another half an hour. The time depends on the softness of the petals. You might have to alter the trays to allow the flow of heat properly. Open dried rose petals: Leaving the petals out in the open is one of the traditional drying flower petals methods without any appliance. However, the traditional way is divided into two methods- the sun drying method and the air-drying method. Even though the former is faster than the second, the petals will lose its color and fragrance under the sun, which is not at all wanted. In this section, we will be discussing the air-dried method of how to dry rose petals. First, pluck out the petals from the flowers and keep them in the water bowl. Now, most people often leave petals without water for hours before arranging the drying process. This isn’t very good practice since it can cause the petals' wilting, or sunlight can cause the loss of color. So, leave in water till the time you are arranging for the tray and other things. You can either use an oven tray or a meshed plate for the natural air drying process. Cover with a paper towel if you are using the meshed plate. There is no need to use protection for a tray since you expose the holder to high heat that will cause charring of the petals. Arrange the flower petals in a single row. However, don’t forget to press the petal sin between the towel folds to remove the surface's excess water before this. While placing the flower petals on the tray, make sure you leave an ample amount of space in between. This will help in the proper flow of air across all the flower parts. Keep the tray in a place with no direct sunlight, less moisture in the atmosphere, and low humidity. You can choose the attic or an unused room with nothing inside. It would be best if you avoid places like the kitchen, balcony, basement, and the bathroom since these places are quite moist, and it can trigger the rotting of the petals rather than drying. Microwave oven-dried petals: The last step of how to dry out rose petals that we will discuss here is using a microwave oven. Remember, this method is not applicable if you are drying bulk volumes since the plate to be fitted inside won’t be able to hold a lot of petals on it at a time. Choose a proper microwave-safe tray that can hold the maximum number of petals at a time. It will be best if you choose a square or rectangular-shaped tray instead of a circular one. After this, place two layers of the kitchen towel on the tray and press it with something so that they won’t come out of the object. Take out the rose petals from the water petals and dry them off by pressing them inside the folds of a towel. Do not press too hard since the rose petals are very delicate, and under physical pressure, they might tear off. Once dried, place the petals on the paper towel sheet. Arrange them in single rows and do not make overlapping arrangements. The best way to dry rose petals in bunches is by drying them in batches. If this is the case, every batch should have the petals of almost similar sizes, which will cause the drying process to be uniform. Cover the entire arrangement of the petals with a paper towel and insert it into the microwave oven. Set the temperature of the appliance to high and the timer to thirty to sixty minutes maximum. The time will depend on the size of the flower petals. After all, the smaller petals will take less time as compared to the larger ones. Once the timer will go off, take the trays out and then see whether all the petals on the tray have dried off or not. If not, separate the moist leaves and then repeat the arrangement once again. Place the tray inside for another thirty seconds depending on how much more heat they need to become completely brittle. Preserving the dried rose petals After knowing how to dry rose petals, you need to know the tips to store the dried petals safely. After all, you cannot afford to lose the fragrance and the color of the dried flower parts. So, let’s see how you can effectively store it for later use. Always store the dried petals away from direct heat, sunlight, and moisture. Choose a cool, dark, and dry place for storing the petals. Use an airtight container to keep away the moisture from the dried petals. If somehow the moisture comes in contact, it will lead to the petals' rotting in no time. Do not mix moist and the dried petals. If you have missed certain soft and moist petals at the drying time, check the batch once again before putting them in the container. If you are planning to dry different varieties of roses, use a separate container for each variety. Ways to use the dehydrated rose petals Knowing about how to dry rose petals without learning how to use it would be quite an injustice for you. This section discusses the best ways to use dry petals in your regular lifestyle. You can use the dried petals in preparing the detox bathing salts. Rose water can be prepared perfectly with the dried petals. If you are making a potpourri mix, use the rose petals with other dried herbs and spices. You can fill up small cotton bags with the dried petals for closets. You can garnish cakes and pudding using the sprinkles of dried rose petals. Making herbal tea with an infused flavor of rose can be easily done with the dried petals. Use carrier oil and infuse the rose flower’s essential benefits by keeping the oil petals for a couple of days. Freeze the dried petals in the ice tray with water filled in to make rose ice for cocktails. You can even put the dried petals in hot water and use the steam to hydrate your face. Use dried rose petals and citrus peel in a chocolate mousse. Infusing the dried rose flavor in whipping cream for the filling of éclairs Conclusion Here, you have learned everything about how to dry rose petals, the perfect way to preserve them without harming the quality, the different ways to use the dried petals, and so on. With all this information, we hope you won’t be facing any problem the next time you try to dry the petals.

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