Drying rose petals

15 years ago

I got a recipe for Ras el Hanout, a Moroccan spice mix, from the Cooking Forum. It calls for dried rose petals as an ingredient. My pasture rose is in bloom right now and before I shovel prune it I thought I would dry some of the petals for future use. The problem is, I don't really know how to do this.

I'm assuming pick early in AM, dry for a few days and then store. The thing is, these wild roses are skimpy on petals and big on the stamens in the middle. Anyone ever done this?

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Comments (7)

ksrogers
15 years ago
May not be the right kind of rose petals. A dehydrator is necessary to speed up the drying as quick as possible. If not, most of the smell will be lost if just air dried.
readinglady
15 years ago
I've only dried rose petals once. When my MIL died I went to her rose garden, picked all the fragrant varieties and created "Rene's Country Rose Garden Potpourri" which I put in some of her antique bail canning jars and gave all the children, grandchildren and greats for Christmas.

I dried them outside on screens. A dehydrator or oven will tend to inhibit the delicate scent.

Even then I did add just a few drops of essence of rose, but for culinary uses that shouldn't be necessary.

I found a discussion of drying rose petals on the dried and pressed flowers forum. Check the link below.

P.S. for your meals, don't forget the Persian tea. I got this recipe from a young Iranian woman:

1 part "light" black tea (i.e. not assertive like Irish breakfast) and 1 part Darjeeling. Brew with crushed green cardamom and a splash of rosewater to taste.

Be sure to get the right brand of rosewater. Some taste like soap.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Drying Rose Petals
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Thank you, Rosefolly, much appreciated. You are right it's the invasive lemon balm, ugly white flower. Verbena annuals are what my neighbor gave me every year. Verbena come in many bright colors, red, purple, pink, etc. - very tender to frost. I found info. on how to dry rose petals from a previous forum: Posted by davidmark z5 IL (My Page) on Thu, May 12, 05 Hello Sunrisefairy! First of all, it is spelled potpourri. What kind of roses do you grow? They have to be very fragrant while fresh to be able to have fragrance when they are dry. The best roses for fragrance when dried are the antique roses like damasks, centifolias, gallicas, albas, bourbons, mosses and portlands. (Visit GardenWeb's Antique Rose Forum to learn more about these roses.) The gallicas are very fragrant when dried, especially Rosa gallica officinalis (Apothecary's Rose) which actually is more fragrant dried than fresh. As far as color goes, all rose petals will lose and change their color when dried. They turn a more subtle hue, from black-red to flesh, from soft magenta to pink, from clove-brown to chamois. It is a lot of work to dry rose petals correctly. Ideally, you must harvest them in the morning, after they have first opened and the dew has evaporated. You then must gently pull the petals off and lay them singly on a drying screen, such as old window screens, where air can circulate all over and under them, out of direct sunlight. The amount of time it takes for the petals to become crispy-dry depends on how hot and humid your days are. But they must be crispy-dry like corn flakes or you'll risk molding. (You could dry them in a barely warm oven, but I would advise not to. It is easier and faster, but the roses will lose some of their fragrance from heating of their oils.) After completely dried, store them in tightly sealed glass jars in a dark place out of the sun or light. Properly dried and stored rose petals will retain their fragrance for a long time if not exposed to air. If you want to preserve their fragrance for years to come in a potpourri, I advise first dusting them while still moist with ground orris root, right befor placing the petals on the drying screens. Orris root is a fixative which will greatly extend the lifetime of the fragrance.
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I don't know much about roses but your rose looks a lot like a white climber for sale at Edmunds roses named Cloud 10 that I was considering buying. This is Edmunds description of it: "Spring finds this modest climber heavily flushed with pure white, full and fluffy blooms that resemble English roses. As we now expect from William Radler introductions, Cloud 10 exhibits exceptionally clean, dark green, matte foliage with a high level of disease resistance to black spot, rust and mildew making it especially good for Southern regions. Reblooms throughout the season. It is hardy to Zone 5, but there it may resemble a large shrub rather than a climber - it's beautiful either way. Flower Size: 4-5". Fragrance: Not noticeable. Hybridizer: Radler, 2013"
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I suggest that you search for a crafts website and do a search for a satchet or potpourri fixative. Commercial satchets are made with petals with essential oils if they are of a natural and high quality, with a fixitive to preserve the scent. Traditionally orris root, which is the powdered root of an iris corm, was used as a fixitive. I bought some orris root years ago and made potpourri with it, and the scent only lasted 2-3 weeks long. Last year I started using an all natural Centifolia and Damask rose water spray from India, made from only rose petals and water and a little alchohol as a preservative. It smells great and is light enough to use as a room spray. Indian stores have far more rose products than western stores and many products use Centifolia, or Damask rose petals and little else in rose spray, rose water, rose oil and rose jam. Look for the word 'Gulab' on the front label, and the back label should list the type of rose, R. centifolia and R. damascena are popular. Once in a blue moon I see rose oil made from R. alba. Good luck, Luxrosa
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You can air dry them by laying them out on a stack of newspaper or you can press them between sheets of white paper, weighed down by heavy books or bricks. You want to use several sheets of white paper between layer of petals and leave space around each one. Do not layer them. After 3-7 days your petals should be dry.
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lpinkmountain
Original Author
15 years ago
I have an unopened bottle of rosewater, maybe I should just use a drop of that instead. These are wild pasture roses and not very smelly as is, so I'm wondering if they will even have any rose "taste" as it were. The hips were sure boring when I made them into jelly last year. Besides being a rambling beast, that's the main reason I am shovel pruning this baby--it just has a ho hum bloom in June and that's it--the hips are small, hard and hairy, not worth the trouble either. The rest of the time it is a thorny beast that sends runners out all over my yard and the neighbors yard. I tried to dig it out to give it to a friend and it broke my shovel. The best I could do was give her some of the shoots. The main beast is anchored down like iron--I'm going to have to cut it out. I do so hate to hack up plants!! But if I don't do something it will take over my yard, and the neighbors yard. It was so cute two years ago when I first got it, lol! Little did I know . . .
readinglady
15 years ago
Probably not. Usually the best roses for culinary purposes and potpourri are the old-fashioned damask varieties, but not dog roses and such. It sounds with your specimen that digging it out is the most sensible option.

Sometime you might check out the source below. Mountain Rose Herbs is an excellent company; their products are superior to many others. If you have a need for spices, teas, etc. you could tack on a small order of rose petals.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: Mountain Rose Herbs
lpinkmountain
Original Author
15 years ago
I actually was just about to do a Penzey's order!! I have to get more Adobo seasoning, I am addicted to it. Mt. Rose seems like a fun company, lots of great products. And you can't beat the name ;)
readinglady
15 years ago
Have you checked out The Spice House? It's run by another Penzey and is the original parent company. I've been surprised to discover how much better I like their products than Penzeys. Just my opinion, but I have found their spices to be fresher and of a higher quality.

Even if you decide not to order, their annotations for spices are very helpful and their recipe archive is a rich resource. Take a look.

Carol

Here is a link that might be useful: The Spice House
lpinkmountain
Original Author
15 years ago
Yes, I used to order all my whole spices for potpourri from the Spice House, back in the day. But friends turned me on to Penzeys before I even joined GardenWeb. Now I'm addicted to Adobo seasoning and vanilla sugar and sandwich sprinkle!! And as long as I'm ordering, then I get my other spices too, since I'm paying the postage anyway. There's nothing that special about Penzeys IMHO, except their marketing, and I like a lot of the recipes that come in the catalogs.
I miss the days when I bought spices at a little independently owned spice shop in Grand Rapids. I imagine them getting a Penzeys put it out of business if it wasn't out of business already. Back then in the prosperous 90's, there was an independent coffee and tea shop and spice shop. There's a tea and coffee shop at the Allentown Market but I haven't been impressed with their wares.

Drying rose petals

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Drying rose petals

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