Culinary: Bay Leaves

I just discovered I have a bay leaf plant. Are you supposed to clip the leaves to use them or clip the stem? Please help...desperately seeking fresh bay leaves!

 

Leaves, without stems.

 

Are you sure that your plant is a culinary bay? There are a few shrubs with similar looking leaves. Does it smell like bay?

I use bay leaves in stews and soups. Make sure to remove the whole leaf from the finished dish. Apparently the leaf spine is quite stiff and should not be eaten. One time I forgot to remove the bay leaf and it got blended with my soup. The leaf bits were quite hard and really detracted from the meal!

 

I'm not 100% sure it's culinary bay, but it does smell like bay.

 

Leaves, not stems, and be advised that fresh is much much stronger than dried.

 

If you have a local garden store that sells bay plants, maybe you could cut a sample from your tree and bring it to them for identification.