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If you are ever lucky enough to have more morels than you
can use, you can preserve some for later use. Dehydrating them is a good choice
because you are not reliant on a power source to keep them safe if you freeze
them and they don’t take up valuable space in your freezer this way either.
Morels come out of the soil with some of the dirt still on
them plus whatever you might pick up in the harvesting process. Be sure to
rinse them thoroughly before you preserve them. Use care though, because these
little morsels are fragile and will break easily. Let them air dry on a paper
towel while you set up the dehydrator. Use 135 as your temperature setting.
With any batch dehydrating, you want the pieces to dry
evenly. The best way to accomplish this is to make sure your pieces are all of comparable
size. Slice the mushrooms lengthwise once or twice and compare them to one
another as you go. Trim where necessary.
Place the pieces on your trays evenly, in a single layer and
so that none of the pieces are touching one another. IF they are touching
during the drying process, they will likely stick to one another when you try
to remove them. This will contribute to further breakage of your morel pieces.
The process takes between four and eight hours, depending on
the size of the pieces and the humidity in the air. After fours, check every
hour so the pieces don’t become over-dried and unusable. When they are
finished, slip them into mason jars, zippered plastic bags or vacuum sealed
bags. Store them in a cool, dark place and use them within a few months of
processing. Label the containers with a date and the contents to make using
them before they expire easier.
