What Are Bay Leaves Used For

Download Article

A bay leaf is a type of aromatic foliage produced past various trees and shrubs in the Lauraceae family unit (more usually known as laurels). Because of their woody, herbal flavor, they're well-nigh often used to impart subtle notes to slow-cooked dishes like soups, stews, and sauces. Withal, bay leaves accept also seen many other uses throughout history, including pest-repellent, air freshener, and fifty-fifty medicine.

1
Go with dried bay leaves over fresh ones for culinary use. This is ane case where the bulk of chefs recommend using a dried seasoning rather than one that'south been freshly-picked. The reason for this is that fresh bay leaves really come up from a dissimilar plant altogether (Umbellularia californica, to be exact). Though they're similar in most respects, these leaves have more of a minty, astringent gustation that doesn't work well with many ingredients.^[one]
- Fresh bay leaves have a deeper green color and more than supple texture compared to stale ones.^[2]
- The bay leaves sold in the spice alley of well-nigh supermarkets are pre-stale, and so you shouldn't have to worry near buying the wrong kind by accident.
2
Add bay leaves to tiresome-cooking meals. The next time y'all've got a batch of beefiness stew, short ribs, or pasta going on the stovetop or in the crock pot, try adding 1 or 2 whole bay leaves. The dried leaves release their flavor gradually every bit they rut upward, which makes depression-and-boring recipes the perfect place to permit them work their magic.^[3]
- Only use whole leaves. Bay leaves aren't meant to be eaten, so grinding them upwards or breaking them into small pieces will only make them harder to fish out subsequently.
- A couple bay leaves could also make a welcome addition to a savory goulash, a braised cutting of meat, or a pot of rice, couscous, or risotto.^[4]
Advertisement
iii
Utilise bay leaves to lend an bawdy richness to soups, stews, and sauces. Like other slow-cooking methods, simmering is a good fashion to unlock the bitter, woody, faintly tea-like notes of the little leaves. The key here lies in the arable moisture, which serves every bit a base for the effluvious infusion.^[5]
- You lot can throw a bay leaf or 2 into any mixture you please. However, they work especially well in culinary staples similar marinara, béchamel, and curries.
Tip: For a more traditional touch on, try putting together your own boutonniere garni, a classic French seasoning solution made by bundling an assortment or fresh or stale herbs.^[six]
4
Boil or steam fresh foods with bay leaves to raise their natural flavor. Try calculation 2-3 leaves to the water that you employ to cook tender or delicate offerings like root vegetables, greens, and fresh-caught fish and seafood. They'll assist create a more complex profile without overwhelming your ingredients or interfering with their more than subtle qualities.^[vii]
- Feel complimentary to use bay leaves in addition to any other seasonings y'all like for boiling and steaming, such as lemon, vinegar, olive oil, garlic, ginger, or fresh herbs.^[8]
v
Limit the number of bay leaves yous use in a given dish. A single bay leafage goes a long way. In general, information technology's best to avoid adding more two or three leaves to any you're cooking. If you overdo it, you could easily end up overpowering the master flavors of your dish.^[9]
- This is particularly true when the recipe you're post-obit already calls for other biting, smoky, or musky ingredients.
6
Remove the leaves from completed dishes immediately after cooking. Ever continue track of the number of bay leaves y'all add, and take a moment to ostend that you've retrieved them all before you ring the dinner bong. Though bay leaves are complementary to a broad diverseness of foods, they're not very appetizing themselves. This is why it'southward then of import to utilise whole leaves rather than smaller pieces.^[ten]
- Advise your dinner guests to keep an eye out for stray bay leaves in their meal in case you happened to miss i.
- Unlike many other herbs, bay leaves remain rigid even after hours of exposure to intense heat. For this reason, they could as well nowadays a choking hazard or cause minor cuts or abrasions if ingested accidentally.^[11]
Advertisement

1
Scatter bay leaves effectually your kitchen to ward off common pests. Leave a few dried leaves on the shelves of your pantry or around your dry nutrient storage containers to ward off mice, ants, flies, cockroaches, weevils, and other unwanted critters. The powerful aroma that makes bay leaves a versatile seasoning likewise makes them a practiced natural repellent for small-scale pests.^[12]
- Crushing or grinding your bay leaves will help strengthen the scent that they requite off, making them a more than constructive deterrent.
- You can even hide a couple bay leaves right inside your loose flour or grain if you suspect that your uninvited guests take been making a repast of them.
2
Incorporate bay leaves into a homemade simmering potpourri. Add 6-eight whole bay leaves to a saucepan or crock pot, forth with fresh orange and lemon slices, cinnamon sticks, and whole cloves. Embrace your components with h2o, so place them on the cooktop to simmer over depression heat. As they warm upward, they'll begin to fill your dwelling with a warm, comforting fragrance.^[thirteen]
- Simmering potpourris are ideal for providing a sense of atmosphere for afternoon luncheons, teas, vacation parties, and other go-togethers.^[fourteen]
- You tin also combine whole dried bay leaves with other pleasant scents like rosemary, fourth dimension, oregano, sage, cardamom, allspice, and pine for a more subdued dry potpourri.
3
Experiment with using bay leafage tea as a health supplement. Many cultures throughout the globe have been employing bay leaves against a wide range of maladies for thousands of years. To try it yourself, steep three-5 bay leaves in xvi fluid ounces (470 mL) of hot water for about 20 minutes, then transfer the brew to a mug and beverage up. If you like, you tin can add a cinnamon stick or the juice from 1 or 2 lemons to the concoction to make the finished tea more than palatable.^[15]
- Teas and infusions fabricated with bay leaves are said to assistance in digestion, reduce flatulence, promote breathing, soothe aches and pains, and even improve diabetes symptoms.^[16]
- If the thought of drinking bay leaf tea doesn't appeal to you lot, consider purchasing some bay laurel oil to use as a topical treatment.^[17]
Alert: Keep in listen that there's non much hard scientific bear witness to back up these claims, then if yous determine to apply bay leaves as an alternative to conventional medicine, you'll exist doing so at your own chance.

Advertisement

1
Air-dry freshly-picked bay leaves to strengthen their flavor naturally. Fold the lush green leaves upwards in a newspaper towel, then seal the bundle inside a plastic zipper handbag and put it away in a absurd, dry identify. In around 3-5 days, yous'll have a set supply of stale bay leaves to draw on for all your needs, culinary or otherwise.^[xviii]
- Of course, you also take the choice of but picking up a package of dried bay leaves from your local supermarket if y'all don't want to become to the trouble of drying them yourself.
Tip: A dim pantry or unused chiffonier or drawer that's situated at a distance from your major kitchen appliances tin can be a great place to air-dry bay leaves and other fresh herbs.
ii
Dry out your fresh bay leaves in the oven to salve fourth dimension. Lay your fresh bay leaves out in a unmarried layer on a baking canvas and stick them in an oven set to its lowest heat setting for iii-4 hours, or until they take on a stake brownish-green color and get brittle to the touch. The constant circulation of warm air will aid speed upward the aridity process a bit.
- Leave the oven door cracked to permit more moisture to escape.
- A dehydrator volition as well go the job done nicely. For best results, set the machine to a temperature between 95 °F (35 °C) and 115 °F (46 °C) and leave your bay leaves in for 4-6 hours.^[19]
3
Keep fresh bay leaves in the refrigerator until you lot're prepare to dry them. Wrap the green leaves in a newspaper towel, then slip them inside a plastic zipper bag and seal them upwardly tight. Tuck the bag away in your refrigerator'due south crisper drawer, where the leaves will stay cool and dry.^[20]
- When properly sealed and refrigerated, fresh bay leaves will proceed for roughly the aforementioned amount of fourth dimension every bit other types of fresh herbs, about one-2 weeks.
- Make sure you label the bag that your bay leaves are in so you'll be able to identify its contents at a glance.
iv
Store your unused bay leaves in the freezer to make them concluding longer. If y'all want to maximize the shelf life of your dried bay leaves, you lot can't practice better than to freeze them. Have the leaves out of the jar or handbag they came packaged in and place them in an airtight zipper purse or plastic food storage container, then stash them in your freezer until you need them to create your next culinary masterpiece.^[21]
- Freezing bay leaves will preserve their season and odour for years, if not indefinitely.^[22]
- No thing which storage method you choose, it's important to ensure that your bay leaves are exposed to equally footling heat, light, and moisture equally possible.
Advertisement

Add New Question

Question

How many bay leaves should I add to a stew?

Information technology depends on your liquid content. Even so, i or two dried leaves should be more than enough. I'k not sure about fresh, but I would assume the same.
Question

Can bay leaves be used to brand tea?

Yes, and the tea is known to be benign for helping to manage type Two diabetes. For a pot of tea, tear or cut (for fresh leaves) or crumble (for dried leaves) 3-v leaves (depending on the size of the leaves and strength desired) into a preheated teapot and cascade on boiling h2o. Steep for five minutes, then strain into cups or mugs. It's forcefulness is similar to chamomile tea and it has a subtle rosemary/anise/chamomile/citrus flavour.
Question

How can I infuse bay leafage season if I have forgotten to add together it to the soup in the outset?

You tin add it later if you forgot, simply boil the soup for a few more than minutes to let the leaf to release its flavor.
Question

Can I employ bay leaves when cooking sauerkraut?

Admittedly. In Alsace, we likewise add together a few juniper berries.
Question

How do I melt pasta with bay leaves?

Add it to the water in which you lot're cooking the pasta before bringing to a boil.
Question

What can I practice if I want to use them for domicile protection?

Bay leaves won't do annihilation to protect your home, unfortunately.
Question

Do I demand to wash bay leaves before using them?

No, due to the cooking temperatures and their ability to fight off germs and fungus, you will be able to use them immediately.
Question

Tin can I use a bay leaf in java?

You can if you really like the taste, one modest leaf is enough for 1 mug of coffee/250 ml.
Question

How do I become bay leaves?

Y'all can buy fresh and dry bay leaves in most grocery stores. They're sold in bulk by commercial food service suppliers, and are also sold at some farmer'south markets.
Question

Tin I mix bay leaves with my body foam?

Aye, y'all tin. Bay leaves detox and relax the body and are used in many bathroom remedies soaps and creams already.

See more answers

Ask a Question

200 characters left

Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.

Submit

Advert

Video

The notion that bay leaves are poisonous is just an old wives' tale, so use them as freely equally you like without worry.

Thanks for submitting a tip for review!

Things Yous'll Need

Various cookware
Wooden spoon or tongs (for removing bay leaves after cooking)

Bucket or crock pot
Spice grinder or food processor (optional)
Bay laurel oil (optional)

Plastic attachment bag
Paper towels
Airtight food storage container
Oven and baking canvas (optional)
Dehydrator (optional)

Well-nigh This Article

Article Summary X

To use bay leaves, add together 1 or 2 whole leaves to irksome-cooking meals similar casseroles, stews, soups, marinades, and pasta sauces so they can release their unique season during the cooking procedure. You lot can also steam vegetables, fish, seafood, and craven with a few bay leaves for a nice flavor. E'er remove the bay leaves before you serve the dish, though, since they're non meant to exist eaten with the food. For tips on using bay leaves decoratively, read on!

Did this summary help you?

Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 317,250 times.