Olives

How to brine olives
1 month fermentation

From the University of California “Olives: Safe Methods for Home Pickling”: Kalamata-style Olives. For some reason, the PDF is DRM (digital rights management) protected, so I had to transcribe…

Supplies

  • Mature, fully colored (dark red to purplish black) olives
  • Pickling salt
  • Red wine vinegar
  • Olive oil
  • Airtight, food-grade plastic or glass containers

Preparation

  1. Rinse olives
  2. Make 2 lengthwise cuts on each olive, slicing about 1/8" into the flesh
  3. Cover olives with fresh cool water in a food-grade container, keeping the olives submerged with a weight
  4. Close container loosely and leave olives to soak
  5. After 24 hours, drain olives and cover again with fresh cool water. Repear water change daily for 8 to 10 days to reach desired level of de-bittering (can go up to 20 days, but be careful; over-soaking will lead to soft olives with washed-out taste)
  6. Prepare finish brine: add 1 lb. pickling salt to 1 gallon cool water, stir to dissolve. Add 1 quart red wine vinegar. This will be enough to treat 10 lbs. of fresh olives.
    1. Convert this to percentage concentration
  7. Drain olives, cover with finish brine, and pour 1/4" to 3/8" olive oil on top. Close lid firmly an store at room temperature.
  8. Allow olives to marinate in finish brine for about 1 month to develop desired flavor.