Its a little early this year but the elderberries are ready to harvest. Pick the ripe berries. The bushes are heavy with the berries. I dry the berries in my electric dehydrator . I have a large dehydrator that has a thermostat.
Several of the small round plastic models do not have a way to regulate the temperature. Temperature is very important. 100 degrees seems to be the optimal temperature to dry herbal plants. Too high and you cook the plants instead of dry them.
I lay the berries still attached to the stems and put them in the dehydrator for several days until they are dry. I then clear the berries from the stems which are very small. You can use a cookie drying rack to help clean the stems from the berries.
The second method is to freeze the fresh berries. This post is from Jo.
How to freeze elderberries to use later
You just found that bumper crop of elderberries and you don’t have time to dry them, freezing is a great option. Here are the steps to freeze elderberries to use at a later date.
After picking them you do want to lay them out on a paper towel or newspaper to let the bugs crawl off the berries if there is any. While you are doing that, get a cookie sheet ready and if you have any parchment paper cover the cookie sheet with it. This makes for an easier clean up. If you don’t have any, that’s ok.
Next you want to clip the elderberries from their main stem to small bundles and spread them out on the cookie sheet. Do not overlay any berries. You want them to have room.
Place the tray in the freezer lying flat for an hour or two. Try to keep the berries on the stem, this makes it easier to remove the stems. When you are ready only remove about a third of the tray to work on. The berries defrost real fast and if they defrost it is difficult to work with them.
Next carefully start gently pulling the berries off the stem and place them into a strainer, pulling off as many stems as possible.
Decide how much you want to freeze together, whether it’s by ounces, pounds or cups. I divided mine into cups based on the recipe I will be using. Make sure you label the bag with the date, the item and how much is in the bag
