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Olive Curing
Recipes
Olive trees for fruit and oil production, gift giving.
Gene Lawler, who has given olive curing
classes at the Canada College Olive Festival for several years, has shared his
recipe for green olives. One of the joys of an olive festival is hearing
everyone's family recipe for curing olives. Although they may disagree on
additives and cure times, all agree that home made olives beat the store bought
article by a mile.
GREEN OLIVE RECIPE
Use two 5 gallon buckets with 11 lbs. olives in each bucket.
Wash and sort green olives. Do not dry.
DAY #1 For each bucket put 2 gals. cold water plus 8 tbls lye. Dissolve lye in
water. Let stand ½ hour, then add olives. Place weight on top of olives. Let
stand 24 hours.
DAY #2 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water, plus 4 tbls. lye for
each bucket. Add olives and let stand 48 hours.
DAY #4 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water, plus 4 tbls. canning
salt (plain salt) for each bucket. Add olives and let stand 24 hours.
DAY #5 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water plus 18 tbls. salt
for each bucket. (18 tbls. = 1 cup + 2 tbls.) Let stand 24 hours.
DAY # 6 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water plus 8 tbls. salt
per bucket. Let stand 24 hours.
DAY #7 Drain olives, wash well. In bucket put 2 gal. water plus 10 tbls. salt.
Leave for 24 hours.
DAY #8 Same as Day # 7. 10 tbls. salt
DAY #9 Drain olives, wash well. In each bucket put 2 gal. water plus ½ cup salt
and 4 tbls. white vinegar. Let stand 3 to 4 days. Can stand one week before
canning. Rinse olives before canning.
TO CAN Sterilize quart jars, heat lids. Pack
olives into hot jars, add a clove of garlic to each jar. Boil one gal. water
with ½ cup canning salt. Fill each filled jar of olives with this liquid. Leave
½ inch air space. Process in canner one hour, medium boil. i.e. Cover jars with
water, and tighten lids tight before canning. Let cool out of draft. Do not
tighten lids while jars are cooling.
NOTE: VINEGAR SHOULD BE AT LEAST 5% ACIDITY
16 tbls = 1 cup, 8 tbls = 1/2 , 4 tbls = ¼ cup
Lye treated green olives - This recipe courtesy U.C.
Davis publications
A. Lye treatment - lye can be purchased at hardware stores. Don't use an
aluminum pot or it will leach out the zinc
- Soak 12 hours in lye solution - 4 tablespoons lye in 1 gallon cold
water. (Solution should not be over 64 to 70 F before adding olives.) stir
occasionally.
- Drain, and soak 12 more hours in fresh lye solution. Cut into a large
olive - lye will change the flesh to a yellow-green, penetrating to the pit.
- If the lye has not penetrated to the pit, soak an additional 12 hours in a
fresh lye solution.
B. Rinse
- Rinse in cold water
- Soak 6 hours in fresh, cold water.
- Change the water and soak 6 hours in fresh cold water, repeating four
times a day for 4-8 days, until there is no lye taste
C. Preservation
To keep up to 2 weeks:
Brine cure l. Cover with salt brine - 6 tablespoons salt per gallon
of water. Let stand 2 days. Refrigerate and use within 2 weeks.
To keep longer than 2 weeks:
Brine cure ll.
Step 1. Cover with salt brine - 13 tablespoons salt per gallon of
water. Store 1 week.
Step 2. Cover with fresh salt brine - 1 pound or 1 2/3 cups salt per
gallon of water. Store in a cool place, preferably a refrigerator.
Use within 2-4 months. Before eating, soak olives overnight to remove
excess salt. Use with 3 days after soaking.
Pickling. Prepare a vinegar-water solution - equal parts vinegar and
water. Add salt to the vinegar-water solution: ½ to 1-cup salt per gallon -
do not omit salt as it prevents bacterial growth. Add garlic an spices if
desired. Cover tightly and store at room temperature. Good for 4-5 months at
room temperature or 10-12 months in the refrigerator.
This is one of several recipes from U.C. Davis
publication 2758 - Home Pickling of Olives
It is usually best to prepare Greek-style olives from
mature olives that are dark-red to black. Mission olives are commonly
used, but any variety will do. Use smaller olives because larger ones
get soft. The olives will become shriveled since they are salt cured.
These olives are salty and slightly bitter, and you may have to acquire
a taste for them.
How To Prepare The Olives
Cover the bottom of a wooden box with burlap. Weigh
out 1 pound of salt for each 2 pounds of olives. Mix the salt and olives
well in the box to prevent mold from developing. Pour a layer of salt
over the olives to a depth of 1 inch. CAUTION Place the box outdoors so
that the brine formed will not ruin the floor.
After 1 week, pour olives and salt into another box,
then back into the first box to mix them. Repeat this mixing process
once every 3 days until the olives are cured and edible. This usually
takes about 30 to 35 days.
Sift out most of the salt through a screen. Dip the
olives momentarily in boiling water. Drain. Let them dry overnight.
Add 1 pound of salt to each 10 pounds of olives. Mix
and put the olives in a cool place. Use within 1 month, or store in a
refrigerator or home freezer until used. Just before using, coat the
olives with olive oil. Do not use oil if you plan to use the olives for
cooking. To coat with oil, put them in a large pan or box and sprinkle a
little olive oil over them. Work the olives with your hands to coat them
with oil. This type of olive is useful for flavoring stews, tamale pie,
spaghetti, and as a relish eaten out-of-hand
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