So we have an olive tree which came with our home.. what to do? Eat them=p Unless you are our dog or the birds.. it’s too bitter.. So curing is needed.
There are so many methods out there as to how to cure your olives.. The method I choose was one which saved water aka not have to change it everyday;)
I created a 10% salt brine solution [I used 900 ml of water to 100 g of salt per batch] and put that in my bottle of olives and the tip here is to top off with olive oil so that it doesn’t go moldy. [Found that out from experience]
If there is mold on the top of your olives, just scoop it off and wash your olives well and re-bottle in the salt brine solution.
Instead of changing the solution everyday.. I only had to change it once every 7 days.
Also make sure not to fill it too full in the bottles or you’ll have olive oil all over your bench top! [ Ah the joys of experimentation]
So now that I have cured my olives in many batches.. cos the tree just wants to make life interesting for me=p
What do I do next please?
Day 1: Picking olives and separating them into different categories such as whole, green, shriveled and half eaten
Day 1: Picking olives and separating them into different categories such as whole, green, shriveled and half eaten
Day 1: Picking olives and separating them into different categories such as whole, green, shriveled and half eaten
Day 1: Picking olives and separating them into different categories such as whole, green, shriveled and half eaten
Day 1: Picking olives and separating them into different categories such as whole, green, shriveled and half eaten
A process which has not been photographed yet is… The smashing/ cutting of the olives before putting them in the salt brine solution.
This is done to reduce the time it takes to cure.
I personally put a tea towel on top of a chopping block and placed a handful of olives on the top, fold over the sides of the cloth and used a rolling-pin to bruise the olives. I found that it was a lot faster than individually cutting slits on the olives.
Day 10 of olives in a 10% salt brine solution since day 1.
I checked and found mold to be growing on the top. I Panicked but thanks to Jetto Path’s advice, all I had to do was take off the mold and rinse the olives and re-bottle in brine.
Day 18 of olives in a 10% salt brine solution since day 1 with solution changed after 7 days and topped with olive oil to seal it for another 7 days depending on how bitter you want it to be.
Just tasted the half eaten and shriveled ones.. taste pretty good and has the same textured compared to the whole olives. [That is just our philosophy of not wasting anything if possible]
