Tips On Preserving Olives
Many people have olive trees in their garden or yard but they may not know that they can learn the method of preserving olives themselves. Instead of purchasing store bought olives, you can learn to preserve your own and you can also pickle them after you go through this process. This is not difficult to do and it is a great way to save your freshly grown olives to enjoy throughout the year. You can feel good about preparing your own olives and they will taste much better than the store bought brands.
Before you even start to think about preserving olives, you will have to know when the olives are ready. Only use bright red, green or striped colored olives. Black olives are too ripe to preserve but it is fine to use an olive that is starting to turn purple. When an olive turns purple, it is the last step before it fully ripens, so never use any olive that is riper than that. You will have to have a large glass container for the olives to sit in. They must go through a soaking process before they are ready to preserve.
You can use lye and salt to remove the bitter flavor of the fresh olives. Lye is highly toxic to humans, so always use gloves when you are preserving olives. When you buy the lye, make sure that it is 100% pure. Many lye labeled products have a small percentage of other types of chemicals in them and they cannot be used while preserving olives.
Whether you choose to use olives from your own olive tree or if you purchase them elsewhere, you will need around 5 pounds. Pick through the olives and remove any scarred, blackened or dead olives, then wash them thoroughly. To continue on with the process, you will need a long wooden spoon, clean water and your large glass container.
You can start by boiling 8 cups of water in a large pot. You will want to add 10 teaspoons of lye into the mixture but you will have to do it slowly. After adding each teaspoon, stir the mixture with your wooden spoon. Remember that lye is poisonous, so you will have to be cautious while doing this. You can fill the glass container with fresh water, while you are waiting for your lye mixture to cool.
When the mixture has completely cooled off, add it to the glass container and weigh the olives down by placing a small plate over the top of them. You want them to soak in the water. Cover the glass container and let the olives soak. For the first twelve hours, stir the mixture and the olives repeatedly every hour. After that you can stir the olives a few times a day and check them every day to see if they are processed thoroughly. You will know if they are ready when you cut into an olive and the inside is a brownish color. If it is still a light green or white color close to the pit area, put the olive back into the solution and allow it to soak for a longer period of time.
Remove the olives from the lye solution and rinse them with water. Put them back into the glass container and again, fill it with boiling water. You will want to add around 25 teaspoons of salt to this mix and stir it with your wooden spoon. Place a plate over the olives to make sure that they thoroughly soak and in 24 hours time, you will have delicious, freshly preserved olives.