Freezedry Harvest
Rubs and seasonings
Whole leaves look rustic in a herb salt or meat rub; ask for a milled grade if the blend must flow evenly.
Ingredient · Thyme
Whole thyme leaves,
certified organic.
Our freeze-dried organic thyme is supplied as whole leaves, grown on our own farms at Lake Naivasha and frozen the day it is picked. It is certified USDA and EU Organic by Ecocert, packed in metalized pouches with a lot number, and keeps 3 years sealed. Ground thyme and blends are made to order.
01 — What thyme is
A small woody herb with a long cooking life.
Garden thyme (Thymus vulgaris) is a low, woody shrub of the mint family with tiny grey-green leaves. Its taste is earthy, savory and a little floral, carried mainly by thymol in the leaf oil.
It goes into bouquet garni, herbes de Provence, Caribbean jerk, stocks and braises. Unlike soft herbs, thyme holds its flavor through long cooking. We grow it on our own farms and with contracted growers around Lake Naivasha, harvested all year.
02 — From field to pouch
Cut in the morning, frozen the same day.
Every step happens on one site, inside one export processing zone, so the herb never waits on a truck between farm and dryer.
- 1
Harvest
Cut on our own farms to the drying schedule and taken straight to the packhouse.
- 2
Sort and wash
Graded on the sorting line and washed the day it is picked.
- 3
Freeze and dry
Frozen solid, then dried in a closed vacuum chamber: the ice turns to vapor while the leaf stays cold.
- 4
Cut to form
Taken to the standard leaf, or to the cut, powder or blend you specified.
- 5
Pack and test
Packed straight into metalized pouches with a lot number; lots micro-tested in our own lab.
Each lot can be traced from field to pouch: farm, plot, harvest date, dryer run and packing date.
03 — Why dry it cold
Greener leaf, lower moisture, quicker to soften.
Thyme is often sun dried or dried with hot air, and reviews of herb drying report significant losses of color and aroma with both. Freeze drying uses no hot air, so it avoids the heat that breaks down chlorophyll and drives off volatile oil. Results vary by herb, so compare our samples.
European spice-trade quality minima allow conventionally dried thyme up to 12 % moisture; freeze-dried herbs typically finish at a few percent. The leaf is also porous, so it softens quickly in a sauce or broth.
04 — Where it is used
Three places thyme earns its keep.
Product developers mostly use thyme in savory systems, with a smaller share going into herbal blends.
Soups, stocks and ready meals
Add early, with the liquid or in the dry soup base; thyme stands up to long simmers.
Herbal teas and infusions
Blended dry with lemongrass, mint or ginger; the leaves keep their shape in a loose blend.
05 — Working with it
Practical notes for the bench and the warehouse.
Thyme is strong, so the main risk in a new formula is using too much.
- Dose: start well below a recipe written for fresh thyme; there is no fixed conversion.
- Wet systems and doughs: no soaking; the leaves take water from the recipe.
- Storage: 3 years sealed. Keep cool, dry and dark; reseal once opened.
- Free samples ship globally with a spec sheet. No minimum order; pilot runs come with full paperwork.
Questions
Questions buyers ask about freeze-dried thyme.
Is FD Harvest's freeze-dried thyme whole leaf or ground?
The standard cut is whole leaf. Ground thyme, other cuts and blends are made to your specification, and thyme is never powdered unless you ask.
Is your freeze-dried thyme certified organic and kosher?
Yes. The thyme is certified USDA Organic and EU Organic by Ecocert, and it is processed in an FSSC 22000 plant that is OU Kosher. Certificates are available on request.
When should I add freeze-dried thyme to a soup?
Add it early, with the liquid or in the dry soup base, because thyme holds its flavor through long cooking. In an instant cup soup it goes into the dry mix and rehydrates when the hot water is added.
How should freeze-dried thyme be stored?
Keep it in the sealed metalized pouch, somewhere cool, dry and dark, where it keeps for 3 years. Once opened, reseal it, because freeze-dried herbs take up moisture from the air.
Is there a minimum order for freeze-dried thyme?
No. Samples are free with a spec sheet, pilot runs carry no minimum order, and supply ships by sea from Mombasa or by air.
Contact us to discuss your product requirements.
Tell us what the thyme goes into, and we will send whole-leaf samples with a spec sheet.
Contact usSources
- Thamkaew et al., review of herb drying methods, Crit. Rev. Food Sci. Nutr. (2021)
- CBI, thyme market entry (ESA quality minima)
- Moisture and water activity of freeze-dried powders, Gdynia Maritime Univ.
- Marabi and Saguy, porosity and rehydration, J. Sci. Food Agric. (2004)
- Ratti, hot air and freeze drying of foods: a review (2001)