Having The Best, Brine Curing Black Olives At Home
Ripe black olives are ready to cure immediately with no need to soak and rinse for 7 days before brining. Instead, these can be ready to eat in as little as 7 days...depending on how brined you like them to be.
Put the salt into a stainless steel or ceramic pot large enough to hold all of the water.
Pour two litres of the water at boiling temperature.
Put on the stove and heat while stirring until the salt is fully dissolved.
Add the remaining 6 litres of brine water at a cold temperature to cool the brine.
Either store the brine until needed, or wait until it has cooled to room temperature before pouring over the olives.
Brining the olives
Wash the olives in water with a small amount of vinegar added to remove any road dirt.
Drain the olives
Fill your soaking vessel with the brine, pouring some of the brine into a separate jar to process the lesser olives.
Inspect each olive and slice the perfect ones with a sharp paring knife while holding the olives below the water level in the brine.
Trim the imperfect ones and pop them into a separate jar with brine to process these for immediate use. I like to add these to a tomato sauce.This is for fruit that is generally okay, but has blemishes. If they are soft and mushy, they are unworthy of brining. Toss them.
Pour the brine over the olives. Weigh them down with a plate to ensure that they remain fully immersed in the brine.
Cover with a crock lid or plastic wrap, and let sit for at least a month before eating. You can also use a canning jar,
Notes
Important! If you do not store your black olives in a dark container or a dark space, the colour will bleach out of them and they don't (at least to me) taste as good. If this happens, use them to make a tomato sauce or tapenade.Faded black olivesNote how they appear in this image and make sure to store them in the dark, or in an opaque container..
