It's easier to strip off the leaves if the stem is dry. But why bother removing them at all? Why not just put the whole sprig into the soup while it's cooking, and remove it before serving? As you do with a bay leaf. Simple.

I will try to work with it as a dry stem. French onion soup (the good recipes), have it sprinkled over the top. It is not anything like bay leaf. Bay leaf is one large leaf used to flavor the dish and removed after it has done its duty, whereas thyme, in particular with this soup dish, is used as a garnish over the top. Once the soup comes out of the broiler (used to make the cheese a golden color), it releases the aroma of the thyme. Some herbs are used during the cooking process and others are used as garnish.

I use thyme a lot on my grilled pizzas and I had some trouble with this too. I find that starting at the top (holding the end furthest from the root) and sliding the other hand down, they pop off easily EXCEPT the top end of the stem does not always hold up well and I find the whole top often snaps off and I can't really get those small leaves off. Then, if there are side shoots, you still get a little stem sometimes & then I usually decide if I want to waste some of the small leaves or eat the small piece of stem!

I've also decided to keep an extra pair of scissors outside on the balcony where the grill is, and I can usually just snip along the sides getting most of the small thyme leaves off. I use the scissors for my rosemary & oregano too. Not sure if this helps but that soup sounds delicious!!

We love thyme too. We cut it and dry it (but I also use a lot of it fresh). In the winter, as we are sitting in the evenings and watching comedies, we will strip the leaves off as Sister K describes. I then run it through a metal strainer to get any missed stems out. Labor intensive, but the flavor beats any commercial thyme hands down!

Those thyme leaves are hard to get off, aren't they? Scissors work well if I'm chopping them up, since I don't have to be precise. But if I want the leaves whole, scissors don't work so great. If the stems are young and soft, you can chop them all up before the stems get too woody.

I've also heard that freezing the thyme makes it easier to strip the leaves.

Using the entire sprigs work well when roasting meat or in stews where it's not a garnish since you can remove it, as was mentioned. But since you want it as a garnish, that wouldn't work for you.

Oh, I forgot about pizza!!! I will have that for lunch today and put thyme on it! Well thanks for all of the advice. Scissors it will have to be -LOL

If you drop your sprigs of thyme in your soups, the leaves will fall off of the stem, and then you just remove the stem at the end.

You can tie a bundle of thyme stems with sowing thread and hang it over the side of the pot and tie to the handle, then just put it out and throw away. This system is used for many herbs when they are needed to be removed later.

I find that when I strip the leaves, if the branch breaks it's tender enough to go in the food with a little mincing. Don't know why you'd need whole leaves except for visual effect. Larger leaved thyme also makes leaf removal easier.

You can use thyme where oregano is used, that is in italian pasta, meat balls, sauces,.. I prefrer thyme over oregano.
I Also add to yogurt dip, mashed potato and all kinds of beef and chicken dishes.
(try adding thyme, finly chopped cives/scalions to mashed potato.with a touch of oil or butter and some salt to taste. it is wonderful).

There is another herb that is very close in aroma to thyme, which is savory(both summer(anual) and winter (perenial).
I would use just a little bit of all the three and oregano.
They enhance each others flavor.
I stay away from rosemary. It is to pungant. I use it only
to give aroma to roasts and baked fish, similar to bay leaaves.

All these herbs dry well and keep their aroma for a long time. So try to drying some for winter.