# Stevia info and photo



## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Here is the stevia leaves and small stems dehydrated overnight. They are crispy enough in the bowl to shatter with your hands. I grind them in a coffee grinder to make a fine powder used to sweeten tea and to cook with. Vicki


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Looks lovely Vicki! Such a darn shame you can't paper bag dry them You get the best dry out of a paper bag. 
Tam


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Yep, nothing can be that easy in our humidity. I just purchased real drying racks for herbs for my dehydrator and also trays to make fruit roll ups *fruit leathers*. I listen to Lee about this kind of stuff so much that mine has been in constant use most of the summer. Vicki


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## Anita Martin (Dec 26, 2007)

My big excalibur dehydrator got turned into a soap dryer last winter....I guess I should put some of tammy's garlic in it to get rid of the soap smell....haven't even thought about putting food in it since then!


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

Refridgerators that have the self defrosting freezers often do a good job of dehydrating with less loss of color and flavor than any heat dehydration which often drives off varying amounts of the volatile oils and flavors.

With many herbs, Stevia especially, heat can impart a kind of bitter edge to the flavor. I can taste a difference in mine done in the fridge. Cilantro, basil, and tarragon are others I notice a big difference with.

Some also say you must harvest before any flowers for the most sweetness, that once it forms buds, it will not make any more leaves that are as sweet, that its then just in reproduction mode.

It does seem strange to not be able to just hang a loose paper bag out on a hot day and have it dry herbs nicely. I've lived on the west coast most of my life, just visited your humid places long enough to know I don't want to live there in summer!


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Maybe akin to your hanging a bag full of herbs outside while it's raining


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

LOL, good point! We don't have that many good drying days, but when we do its easy.

For The Other many months here, I can put paper bags of herbs/plants to dry in front of heater vent and they dry pretty well if I turn the bag when I walk by from time to time, and fill it only VERY loosely. I almost gave in and turned on heat the other night, I try to hold out for Oct 1.

For light/thin leaves, I have 2 HEPA filters in bedroom that blow a fair amount of air out and putting the loosely filled bags in the outflow air sometimes works too. Probably defeats some of the HEPA filtration, lol to be blowing clean output thru stuff brought in from the garden, but since HEPA is mostly for helping me sleep/wake less stuffy-headed while living with non-negotiable house dog &cat, the garden stuff seems ok for me. Honestly I might try giving up the filter, I'm having just so many less allergy problems since being back on raw goat milk for years now. My whole immune system just works so much better... sorry going way OT...

Fridge drying still gives the best fragrance and quality I think, but hard to do for any but very small quantities.


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

WOW Vicki !! Your Stevia looks about ready to use ! 
I grew some 2 years back but never knew how or what to do to be able to use as sweetener, so I still have a lot of seeds and will try growing some more this spring. I know one thing tho, I dont want to grow herbs and then let them go to waste anymore and stevia is $$ in the stores ! After you grind them up, how do you store it,in a jar ? Do you add a homemade powder milk bag thing to keep moisture out or do you save and use the plastic moisture things that come in meds and vitamins to use or ? 
linda


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

I have never had to do anything like that Linda. My husband does this everclear thing to make a liquid one, I just keep mine in a sealed mason jar with a lid. Anything I add it to is liquid, cooking, my granola cereal, my tea etc....so it is no biggy to me if it may clump because I put a wet tea spoon in it  I also try to keep them in the small 1/2 pint jars so it's kind of a months supply, because I am awful about stirring my tea and then adding just a pinch more with the same spoon.

The one plant is so prolific we don't even let more than one start up growing, it takes over and will shade the whole herb bed if you let it...alot like the echinecea with thousands of seeds per flower, it could self sew itself into a nightmare if you let it. Vicki


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

Thanks Vicki ! Very good information and I may email you for a few seeds as mine did not grow as well as I really had to pamper it to keep it alive and my soil was a very rich soil as I get fish guts from the boat dock place ,well not this year tho as the boats cant even be launched out :down and some plants produce better than other plants even tho they are the same types .


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Well it is flowering right now, so there will be thousands of seeds!


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

Bella Star said:


> ...I really had to pamper it to keep it alive...


Linda,

I'm not seeing your location in your post, but if you are somewhere that cools off at night like here in W WA, the stevia will just never be as happy and thriving as in TX etc. Its a plant that likes warmth and even temps. I see a big difference here if I plant it in a little microclimate like on the sunny side of a big boulder.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Okay, funny question but here goes anyway since I am a paper bag dryer for the most part,

Have you noticed any difference from heat drying compared to a fresh drid, like right off the plant? Right off the plant would be about as close to paper bagging as possible so I was just curious, as I know dehydrating does tend to deplete cetain properties in herbs.
Tam


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

Sorry there is no such thing as fresh dried here in our humidity. Perhaps with the wood stove going like now and the house is drier than normal? But then there isn't much of anything left in the garden to pick and dry  Speaking of which my husbands STUPID helper (we always end up with crack heads or just plain idiots) pulled up all my strawberries when weeding a bed....a bed he was to weed on the other side of the garden...all of them into the fire...I was so mad (all I did was leave him long enough to lambar some kids) I told my husband at lunch today he wasn't working for me anymore...he ended up fireing him, he thought I liked him, I thought he liked him!


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

OH NO! I would be livid! UGH. 

Okay, well I was watching a video that Benice put up about it, he lived in Vegas and was saying something to that effect about them being sweeter off the plant.
Tam


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

I will send you more 
Going to move a big patch and will have plenty to share.


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

Drying stevia with as little heat as possible makes it as sweet as possible. If you have one of those frost free refrigs that any unwrapped veggie wilts fast in, that's ideal, you'll get the best results. Otherwise, moving air can help a little, if its moderately humid, but I know some places in the south are hopelessly humid sometimes. In those cases, if you don't have the refridg option, then just heat air as barely as possible to knock the humidity down a little. It will dry slower, but have better flavor.

Some freezers will do it great too, some give "off" freezer burn flavor fast, just try a sprig and see. If it works in yours, its very fast, then get out of there or it will get freezer flavor.

For the refrig/freezer method, do smalll batches, I always have the wasted headspace on one shelf above the jars there, with something drying shoved loosely above it. If you can put it closest to the cold air outlet, that's the fastest. Put in the loosest, thinest paper you can handle and use. I've used lunch bags, paper towels, unfolded napkins, wrapping tissue (white). 

If I'm concerned about germs on paper (rarely), sometimes I'll microwave the paper for just a few seconds first, but y'gotta be careful with that and know if your microwave is sort of even or has real hot spots. I did have paper scorch almost instantly once, must have had some kind of oil or something I couldn't see on it. The germs I'm concerned about are human ones, not farm ones :lol so its when I've gotten a wild hair to use recycled wrapping tissue etc. Most germs don't survive being dried out, but a few do, its in my worrywort moments or if I'm feeling particularly vulnerable or paranoid like when I'm over tired or just got over being sick...


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## buckrun (Mar 7, 2008)

Great suggestion Lacia! Thanks.


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## Caprine Beings (Sep 19, 2008)

Lacia thank you for your insights. When I paper bag method I never use recycled paper...ever due to bacteria. I use a freshly opened paper towel roll for sticky plants like comfrey for drying also decreasing the risk of contaminants. I make sure that I go BUY new paper bags at URM in large quantities so I have enough and don't have to overstuff, thus reducing mildew or scorching. I only dry hanging, never using mechanical help. BUT I am looking at my dehydrator for other things like veges, or a quick dry for the next days use, is why I was asking. I am very natural about my drying as much as possible so I keep all the desired oils and constituants available from my herbs. I do not like playing guessing games on amounts of dried herbs in my butters, which happens with store boughten dried herbs I do prefer to use herbs straight from the garden fresh when possible so this leads to another question,
Does raw fresh stevia produce a sweet flavor over dried or is it the dried that provides the best flavor?
Tam


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## LLB101 (Sep 29, 2009)

Dried has better flavor most people say, but it varies on individual taste. Fresh and dried do taste "different" just preference which is "better"  

I like them both for different uses. Fresh in a sandwich or salad with really bitter greens is awesome I think, but tastes vary  I like fresh in lemonade, double duty with the fresh green leaves, crush or chop to your preference, there's no objective "better" to most of this.

I usually use new paper too, but there are those days when its "what's within reach or not going to get done" and then the microwave is right there handy  I was just sayin'....

I like as natural as possible too most of the time, but the refrig method is really great for rainy days or for certain things that just taste different, fresher. I can't think of a time I've used electric for herbs except to experiment and its always had less flavor than natural, non-electric. There might be something I'm not thinking of right now, but generally I only like electric for extremely rainy days with thick or especially juicy things or in rare rush. So if I score 10 lbs of blueberries all at once for example, and its not super hot and dry weather for here, I will resort to electric, but they are never as good as naturally dried.

I did do try some elderberry in the refridg this year, had mixed results, only a bit of mold which is often a problem with "natural" elderberry (black one) drying. Electric seems best for elderberry but I keep the heat as low as possible. I want to try washing them well with grapeseed extract or similar next year before drying. Mold is just rampant here at the time when elderberries are ripe and they seem especially prone.

Oops, getting OT, thread drift... it just happens so naturally...


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## Greylady (Mar 28, 2012)

Are there dehydrators that do not use heat to dry?


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## Bella Star (Oct 27, 2007)

Whew , I am about finished with 1 peach tree so now I have time to dehydrate my stevia and I am thinking I should have grew more !


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## swgoats (May 21, 2010)

I bought a stevia plant, and it seems to be doing well. I keep seeing more growth on it. Guess it likes hot and little water. How do I know when to harvest and how much to harvest? I don't even know if it is an annual or perennial. Will it come back next year or self seed? I'm a lazy gardener. I like things that just come up and grow without too much fuss, lol.


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## NubianSoaps.com (Oct 26, 2007)

It will self seed, millions of seeds so I keep the flowers cut back until I want to collect seeds, when winters are mild my plants do not die back. If you keep trimming it, it will get bigger, I butcher mine back.


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## Tallabred (Jun 12, 2008)

I cut mine way back and dry it. I use it to make tea. Roll a small fresh leaf with lemon balm or mint. Candy in the garden!


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