Collect your dulse (Rhodymenia palmata) from a clean seashore. I collect my dulse off Sidmouth beach which is MCS recommended. This means it has the highest water quality standards.
Step 1
Make sure that you cut your dulse just above the holdfast, leaving a little bit of the stalk and the blade. This allows the dulse to regrow.
The holdfast is the section of the plant that attaches the seaweed to the rock. Don’t just pull the dulse off the rocks as this will break the holdfast and the plant won’t be able to regrow.
Step 2
Rinse the dulse in cold water, and then spin dry in a salad spinner. If you are particularly paranoid about “germs” then pour a cupful of hydrogen peroxide into the water and leave to soak over night. If you do this, you will leach out the sea salt and have a very bland snack. But that’s okay if you are going to be adding your dulse to dishes rather than eating on its own.
Step 3
Lay your dulse in a food dehydrator, and dry for between 30-60 minutes depending on quantity and thickness of your dulse.
After drying store your dulse in an airtight container. I eat my dulse as is, or mix into rice dishes or soak to rehydrate and add it to salads etc.
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{ 17 comments… read them below or add one }
Hi there.. i was just wondering how long it would take to air dry seaweed as dehydrators are pretty expensive to buy.. cheers!
Karen you can lay the seaweed on muslin, and dry outside on grass or hanging up and it shouldn’t take more than a few hours on a sunny day. Just make sure that you lay the seaweed as thinly-layered as possible on the muslin.
Hi,
Is harvesting a seasonal thing? When is the best time to harvest or can it be all year round?
thanks,
Sue
Sue: Thanks for your question. I answer it in my article “best time to harvest seaweed“.
hi robin, just wondering, how long can the dried dulse be stored?
thanks for all your work, eat weeds is a great site!
tom
Tom: Providing that you make sure that your seaweed is dry and kept in an airtight container, it should last for a couple of years, if not longer.
thanks alot robin
Robin,
A friend and myself are starting a cottage industry of dulse production. We are both fanatical about this wonderful sea vegetable and want to produce it for local and overseas markets. The most important thing to us is the drying process without the salt leeching that sometimes occurs during natural drying (although still delicious like this to the the dulse enthusiast) it isn’t as aesthically pleasing to a consumer market! I have heard of machine drying to dry process the dulse ready for packaging. Do you have any information about the types of machine used to do this? Also storing the dulse, is there anyway to store it in containers once dried to stop the salt leeching look?
Great article thanks. Can you recommend a good dulse beach in Somerset or South Dorset?
Jennifer – Sorry I don’t know of any dulse beaches your way.
hello,
i would really like to collect some dulse. i live in teignmouth, – are there any to be found there? also, sidmouth beach, as i remember it, has not much in the way of rocks and such, – does dulse grow on rocks and do i need a very low tide?
thanks
Folks – OK yes dulse grows on rocks, and yes you need to harvest it at low tide… BUT… Please don’t ask me if such and such a plant is in your area. Foraging is about taking responsibility and going out onto the land and discovering the various plants yourself. To ask me if a plant is in your area is to miss the whole point of foraging. Know your place. Not in any doffing of your cap to a master, but to get to KNOW your local landbase yourself. I know that’s not much help, but foraging is all about taking personal responsibility and not simply asking for someone to spoon feed you. Sorry if that sounds harsh, but I have to field hundreds of questions like this from folk. Deep peace to you all. Robin the forager.
Hi Robin,
Do you know why it’s referred to as ‘Rhodymenia palmata’, as I’ve been informed that its binomial name was ‘Palmaria palmata’? Do you know why taxonomists have decided on this change?
Henry: No idea why the change, taxonomists make changes all the time.
i’ve rinsed well in sea then fresh water – then pegged on tent guy ropes to dry on sunny day. Dried in couple of hours be careful not to overdry.
I think people should be aware of how dirty some of our coastline is in the UK. Seafood and seaweed is well known for absorbing all sorts of toxins. In my area of Middlesbrough we’ve been warned for years not to touch local shellfish etc.
Otherwise, seaweed is probably one of the most nutritious foods we can get. The book ‘The Descent of Woman’ explains exactly why.
hi i live on the bay of fundy in nova scotia canada and i have collected dulse all my life.fresh water ruins dulse you never put fresh water on it you pick it and dry it in the sun preferably on beach rocks but can use plastic tarps laying in the direct sun.the best way to store it is bag it in plastic bags and put it in the freezer it will last a very long time and can be eaten directly out of the deep freeze.dulse is rich in iodine and is a healthy snack and i cant imagine dulse without the salt left on it.