Thyme is our least favorite of all the herbs. Oh, we love it’s taste! But stripping all those teeny little leaves off the stems can get extremely tedious. Complaining to a chef friend recently, he gave us a tip: just add the stems, tiny leaves and all, straight into the dish.
The leaves gradually loosen during cooking and come off on their own, he explained. The leaves are generally so small that it doesn’t matter that you didn’t mince them beforehand. When cooking is done, just pull out the now-stripped stems of thyme along with the bay leaf and anything else you’re not actually serving.
We gave this a try in our last batch of Beef and Barley Stew and it worked like a charm. The thyme leaves infused into the dish just as they’ve always done and gradually worked their own way off the stems as we stirred. The stems themselves were easy to find and pull out once the leaves were off.
This trick works with other herbs, too. It’s just that most other herbs, like rosemary or oregano, have leaves that are large enough that they really need to be minced before going in the pot. But if you’re planning on pureeing your soup or the liquid from a braise, this technique of adding the whole stems is fair game!
Related: From the Herb Garden: Lemon Thyme
(Image: Emma Christensen)
On Saying No to Paleo: Why Eating Isn't One Size Fits All
Perfect Summer Cocktail Recipe: Honey Bourbon Lemonade
Good Food to Share 
The Big Book of Small, Cool Spaces 
Apartment Therapy Presents 
The Eight-Step Home Cure 
Elizabeth Apron fro...
100 DIY Ideas for the 3-Day Weekend
Danielle's Charming, Classic Walk-Up
We do this at home by tying them into a bundle using a long stem of thyme. It's easier to find them when its time to pull them out.
I find thyme very easy to strip. Just hold the bottom of the stalk upside and run pinched fingers down. Voila! Leaves off in a neat little pile. This also works great for rosemary and other stick-like stalked herbs.
I do the same as Flotisserie--tie the stems together and pull them out at the end of cooking. I often just make a mini bouquet garni with all the fresh herbs, to make removal easier.
my mom just taught me this trick at thanksgiving! much easier than stripping all the leaves off (i can never get them all, b/c of all the little branches coming off each stem of thyme).
I agree -- thyme can be really stubborn. The strip method sometimes works, but sometimes it only manages to separate 20% of the leaves from the stem. I've tried the whole stem method in liquid, and it works, but when I'm using fresh thyme to season burgers for the grill, I usually end up picking them off one at a time. *sigh*
I just do a bouquet garni. Tie a bunch of herbs together and just pull the whole works out at the end.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/40964542@N08/4563781668/in/set-72157622974854427/
well, duh.