Pickling olives

cardiffgirl, Mar 25, 11:54pm
I have a tree full of olives that are ready for harvesting.There are a million recipes/ methods on Google for pickling them but I wondered if anyone here has a tried and trusted method that they would share with me. Thanks in advance
davidt4, Mar 26, 12:36am
We've had great success with salt-curing olives.

1. Pick your olives and handle gently - try not to bruise them.
2. Soak olives in cold water to cover for 3 - 4 days
3. Drain olives and pack into jars with plenty of pure sea salt - roughly equal volumes of salt and olives. Cover and leave to cure. Every day give them a shake and pour off most of the accumulated liquid.
4. After two weeks start checking them - when they are slightly shrunken and smell like cured olives they are ready.
5. Rinse off any remaining salt, drain well and pack into jars. Cover with extra virgin olive oil and store in a dark place.
samanya, Mar 26, 12:49am
Gosh davidt4, that sounds so much simpler than when I did some a few years ago. The recipe said that each olive should be pricked with a needle & then from memory they were brined for a while & the end result wasn't that great, either. I don't have olive trees now but that almost tempts me to plant a couple . love them.
davidt4, Mar 26, 1:30am
We were absolutely delighted with the end result. I have been eking them out and still have about a cupful in oil, in perfect condition. I have been using the oil to cook with, so there is no wastage.
samanya, Mar 26, 2:22am
What type do you grow, david?
cardiffgirl, Mar 26, 3:05am
Thankyou david4' that certainly sounds easier than most of the methods I've looked at
davidt4, Mar 26, 3:07am
I don't know the variety - we foraged them from a big local tree (with the owner's permission!). They were quite small olives, mostly almost ripe i.e. a mauvey brown colour.
samanya, Mar 26, 4:03am
Mine were quite small, too & a pain to prick each one 3-4 times.
There are so many more varieties available now, so I'll do some reading & try to find a larger fruiting one.
They taste abysmal raw from the tree & I always had a lot with one only bird peck., I'm sure the birds thought they looked tasty & after one taste, decided against it & I can't blame them!
village.green, Nov 24, 8:49am
That sounds much easier than what my husband does in pricking each one and brining in various things although they do taste really good after a few weeks. Will show him this recipe instead as ours will be ready soon too.