How to Cure Black Olives in Salt Water

Salt curing is the ideal way to preserve black olives. Salty brine removes much of the bitterness of and hardness of fresh olives. Like their green counterparts, black olives reach peak flavor when they have been cured over a period of several weeks.

The recipe below uses only salt water and olive oil, but you can add herbs and spices, such as oregano, thyme, garlic, and vinegar at the end of the process. Hope you enjoy!

Things You'll Need

• 3 lbs fresh black olives
• water
• salt
• olive oil

Instructions

1. Wash the olives, remove the stems, and puncture each olive with a tooth pick. Some people also expose the meat by making a shallow slice on each olive.

2. In a large bucket, cover the olives with strong saltwater. Use a solution that is about ten parts water to one part salt. Cover the bucket and store in a cool dark place.

3. Change the brine daily, and keep in mind that it takes a minimum of 4 weeks for the olives to cure depending on the batch of olives.

4. At the end of the third week, sample an olive and check if it is still too bitter. If the black olives need more time to cure, leave them in the bucket for another week, and keep checking every seven days.

5. When the olives have cured to your liking, rinse them and place them in jars and cover them with boiling salt water, and a thick layer of olive oil. You can also fill the jars with just olives and olive oil.

6. Saltwater cured olives keep for about a month in the refrigerator.