How to Preserve Olives at Home

Once humans learned to cure the bitter fruit, olives became an ancient delicacy. Today olive trees are grown as ornamentals as well as in commercial orchards. The process from tree to delicious treat is time consuming but well worth it.

Things You'll Need

• Clean jars with lids
• Red wine vinegar
• Kosher or other fine grain salt (not iodized)
• Abundant supply of ripe olives
• Cold-pressed olive oil
• Two large wooden boxes (such as what fruit comes in)
• Enough cotton or burlap cloth to line the boxes

Instructions

Curing Olives in Brine

1. Choose mature, but not soft, olives. Slightly wrinkled fruit is fine. It is best to pick olives before they fall but there might be a good selection of fruit on the ground after a strong wind.

2. Wash the olives to remove dust and bird droppings.

3. Score each olive with a sharp knife. A slit in one side is enough.

4. Soak the olives in clean jars of water. Make sure the water covers them; use a weight if necessary.

5. Rinse the olives daily and keep soaking them for 6 weeks. If a day is missed, white scum may accumulate at the top of the jar, but it can be washed off easily and is nothing to worry about.

6. Rinse the olives. Add 1/4 of a cup of salt to each quart of water and soak the olives in this solution for 3 weeks, changing the solution every 5 or 6 days. Shake or stir the olives daily.

7. Drain the olives. Mix 4 tbsp. of red wine vinegar, 1/4 cup of salt and 1 qt. of water and heat to a boil. Pour over the olives, filling the jar. Top with 1 tbsp. cold-pressed olive oil.

Curing Olives in Salt

1. You will need 1 lb. of salt for every 2 lbs. of olives.
   Wash the olives and line the wooden boxes with cotton or burlap cloth.
   Spread them out to dry.

2. In one box, alternate layers of salt with layers of olives until all the fruit is covered. Leave them alone for 1 week. Juices may leak out of the box. It can be left outside or placed on newspapers. The juices may stain concrete or flooring.

3. Pour the contents of the box into the other box. This stirs the fruit so that it is evenly coated and allows visualization of the fruit so that any spoilage can be removed. Dump the olives back into the original box. Repeat every 3 days for 4 to 6 weeks. When cured, the olives will be small and shriveled.

4. Strain off salt. Submerge the cured olives in boiling water for 30 seconds and remove. Spread and allow to dry overnight. Coat the olives with seasoned olive oil if desired. Place the olives in clean jars.

Tips & Warnings

• Either brine or salt cured olives should be stored in a cool, dry place. If properly cured they will keep for 1 month, and longer if refrigerated. Plump salt cured olives by soaking in olive oil before serving.

• If olives develop white spots while curing, it is probably due to fungus. Discard any such fruit.

Resources

• Mother Earth News